The 100 mm filter holders are suitable for which cameras?
The 100 mm systems are the most established filter holder systems on the market with the largest range of different filters. They can be mounted on almost all lenses with a front thread by means of adapter rings. 100mm filter holders are therefore very well suited for lenses with 16-35 mm or 10-24 mm and also everything with a longer focal length. But also medium format cameras can be equipped with a 100mm system including all focal lengths available there.
One advantage is that the handling is very easy and comfortable due to the relatively small size. It is easy to transport due to its low weight and also takes up little space in the already full backpack. As long as no super wide-angle lens without front thread is used, such as the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 or the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8, the 100mm filter system should always remain the preferred system. When using the lenses mentioned above, however, you should go straight for the 150 mm system we offer, which can also be adapted to smaller lenses by means of adapter rings.
Compatibility of the 100 mm systems
Basically, filters from all manufacturers can be used in our filter holder systems. Graduated filters usually have the dimensions 100x150 mm at 2mm thickness and grey filters are also 2mm thick at 100x100 mm. So if you buy a filter holder from Kase, you can also use existing filters from other companies in it without any problems. This applies in any case to all graduated filters. ND filters often have foam on the back to seal against stray light. With old filters, it could happen that the foam edge applied does not guarantee a 100% seal against light with every holder. However, this should not be a problem with the filters currently available. The adapter rings of the various manufacturers are not compatible, as they are used to mount a holder on the lens.
At this point, however, we would like to point out that the different polarising filters make up the biggest differences between the manufacturers' systems. Since the polarising filter is one of the most important filters in landscape photography, the effect of which cannot be reproduced in post-processing, you should by no means disregard this aspect when making your purchase decision. In general, we advise you not to continue using screw-in polarising filters you have already purchased in conjunction with a plug-in filter system. As a rule, the lower focal length range of the lens can then no longer be used without vignetting and furthermore, it is usually extremely tedious to screw the complete filters on and off again if you only want to remove or attach the polarising filter. To avoid this problem, it makes sense to choose the K9 filter holder kit, for example, which comes directly with a polarising filter. This way you only have to screw the lens onto your camera, attach the filter holder together with the CPL filter and you can already experiment with different rectangular filters (graduated filters / ND filters).
The difference between normal and slim filter holders
Our filter systems offer you three slots for any rectangular filter. Some other brands offer filter holders that have only one slot or where the slots can be varied with the help of screws. The K9 filter holder, for example, comes with filter holder rails for rectangular filters of 2 mm thickness as well as for filters of 1.1 mm thickness.
Does it make sense to always leave the polarising filter in the filter holder?
We recommend that you only put the polarising filter in the filter holder when it is actually useful.
If you are a photographer in the landscape or on a tour through a city, the CPL filter can usually always remain mounted. In both situations, reflections often occur, which can be compensated for with the polarising filter. It would make little sense to always remove the filter from the camera.
In most cases, a polarising filter will not have any major negative effects if you leave it mounted in the filter holder. However, the same problems could occur as with a UV filter. The polarising filter slightly reduces the light that hits the camera sensor and can therefore have a negative effect on the pictures in certain situations when it is not actually needed.