Photographic Kit Review: SRB’s P Size Elite Filter Holder.

So the lovely folks at SRB Photographic sent me their brand new P Size Elite Filter Holder to test out.

Ta da… the new Elite Filter Holder

What is it?

It’s a square filter holder, designed to take P Size square filters and the Elite filter range. You attach it to your lens using an adaptor ring which are sold separately, but for less than £6 each.

Why is it Different to Their Other Filter Holders?

That, is an excellent question. For starters, it feels much more secure. You see the little screw at the top on the picture above? You pull that out, place the holder over the adaptor ring and then let go, and screw into place.

I won’t lie, it’s a little fiddly the first couple of times, particularly when your fingers are cold. But, (and it’s an important but) once it’s on, it feels secure, I don’t feel like it’s going to pop off the lens the second I accidentally brush the camera against my arm.

The filter holder on my D800

What Filters Can I Use?

This is the great news, you can still use all the square filters you did before. They pop into the top the same way as the regular filter holders did. You can however, also use their new Elite filters, like the polarising filter you can see slotted in in the image at the top.

The new filters have been designed to screw into the centre thread of the holder, and they fit flush – a must to avoid light-leak.

You can stack 2 filters, too as it has 2 slots. I found my square ND1000 tricky to get into the slot, but a) that’s probably a good thing, you need it to be tight to avoid any light getting through, and b) I’m guessing the Elite ND1000 will eliminate that issue anyway.

A soft grad filter inside the holder. Yes, I have hobo gloves.

Rotation

The rotation of the old-style holders was useful but too loose, sometimes I’d find my holder had rotated accidentally and that my grad filter was sideways or upside down! The rotation on the new Elite Holder feels much more purposeful, it moves easily, but I have to deliberately turn it.

How Tough is the Holder?

I am known throughout the land for my clumsiness and my first outing with this kit didn’t buck the trend; I dropped it right off the bat. It didn’t scratch, it didn’t chip. It seems very hardy, which is good considering it’ll be in and out of the kit bag, on and off lenses and most likely placed on a number of surfaces. And I’ll probably drop it a lot.

The holder comes in a neat and nicely branded box, but that isn’t particularly useful for your kit bag, unlike the soft bag (and handy lens-cleaning material) of past holders. So unless you want it clunking off your other kit, you’ll need to find a bag to pop it inside of.

What About Your Lens-Cap Obsession?

You still can’t fix a lens cap to your lens while you have the holder attached. I understand the logic and impracticality of this: why would you want the lens cap on if you have a filter protecting it, right? Well yes, but sometimes I like to have no filter in, but the option of popping one in quickly – in the meantime it would be nice if my lens was protected.

I’m guessing it’s also not feasible to have something on the holder to clip a lens cap to whilst also maintaining the functionality of the holder. But in an ideal world…

That Castle Earlier Looks Pretty Cool, did you Actually Take Pictures or do you Just Talk About Taking Them?

Okay, okay.

Taken with a soft grad (0.3) to keep the sky on the right side of exposed.

Taken with the ND1000 – around an 8-second exposure.

The Verdict

Like everything that SRB have thrown at me and dared me to break, their new P Size Elite Filter Holder is great. They’ve upped their game on build quality and functionality and once you’ve mastered the initial fiddliness of the new set-up, I doubt you’ll look back.

It comes with a handy instruction guide with a stunning image on the front (okay, it’s my image, but it’s kinda pretty) and the whole thing is nicely packaged. I do suggest you get yourself a wee bag to put it in to protect it and the rest of your kit while in transit, or wrap it in the cleaning cloth that comes with the holder.