K&F Concept Soft Graduated GND8 3 f-stop Filter Review

I’ve just taken delivery of the K&F Concept Soft Graduated Neutral Density GND8 3 f-stop Filter 100*150mm

I was greatly anticipating it’s arrival as it should be the perfect accompaniment to my K&F Concept ND1000. Up till now I’ve been using a very cheap, resin 100x150mm grad to deal with the sky in my landscape photography.

So let’s take a look at the package.

The filter comes packaged in a very sturdy, and very professional looking card box lined with foam. The filter itself is housed in a very solid faux-leather holder which has a magnetic opening.

Initially the filter is wrapped in tissue to protect it in transit (Up to you if you’d like to keep rewrapping), but the inside of the holder is lined with a nice fluffy lining so it should be well protected.

The specification of the glass is as follows:

Dimensions: 100mm * 150mm * 2mm
20 Layer Double Side Nano-Coating
Water repellent/anti-oil/anti-dust/anti-soil/scratch resistant

The Test Run

I took an hour out of my morning to drive out to Redbrook Reservoir near Marsden, West Yorkshire as it has a nice little jetty and there is a nice big sky to test the ND Grad.

The shot is south facing and the sun was in the frame although covered by the intermittent rain cloud. This was quite a useful setup as it ensured the sky was going to be fairly bright and lacking in detail.

The shots have all been taken with the K&F Concept ND1000 as I want to smooth out the turbulent water surface (it’s always fairly windy up on t’moor).

This is the first shot taken at 10s, 12mm, f/11, without the ND Grad in use.

As we can plainly see the sky is fairly blown out, whilst the foreground is perfectly exposed. Even with a bit of post-production in Lightroom there is no way to get back any of the detail in the clouds.

Grad filter test shot taken with the same settings, 10s, 12mm, f/11.

Bringing the ND Grad into play we can see an immediate improvement in the detail in the clouds. Straight out of camera, the histogram showed not a single pixel was blown out.

As with the K&F ND1000, I can see no colour cast on the final images using ND Grad filter.

To finish off, as you know I love Black and White photography. Here’s my final image.

Another great product from K&F Concept.

If you’re in the UK you can pick one up on Amazon for £74.99