In this article, we will be going over our Kenko lens filter review that we have seen requested by multiple people for some time now. We often see people discussing what they think is the best lens filter brand and out plan is to eventually get around to covering all of the major lens filter brands and this time it is Kenkos turn.
We have tried to include the main projects from their range for our article and offer an impartial and balanced overview of each filter type, its performance, and its cost. A high-quality lens filter can make an excellent photography accessory as well as help to protect your lens so we feel that this article is definitely worth the read!
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Table of Contents
Kenko UV Filters
For many photographers, the lens filter that they will first pick up is a standard UV filter. Back in the day, the UV filter was used to help prevent ultraviolet light entering the lens and potentially damaging your camera’s film. These days it is essentially used to add a protective shield over your lens to help prevent any potential damage while out on location similar to a lens cap while still allowing you to snap photographs when required.
As you would expect, Kenko filters have a number of UV filters in their range and in our post, we will be focusing on their regular filter as well as their Zeta filter range too.
Regular Kenko UV Filters
The Nyumon range of Kenko filters comes with their resistant polished glass technology to help improve the functionality of the lens. This works by increasing the ability of the lens filters glass to deal with harsh environmental conditions without sustaining any damage or interfering with the filters ability to let you take clear photographs with the filter attached to your lens.
The glass of the UV filters are mounted in the slim ring to offer protection from unwanted vignette when used with wide angled lenses while offering a firm and robust frame for the filter. The reduced size of the slim frame system also makes the filters much easier to store in your photography without adding much weight to it allowing you to carry multiple filters of different sizes for your photography sessions.
The Kenko Nyumon Slim Ring UV filter is currently available in the following filter thread sizes and we don’t expect and additional sizes to be added to the range at this stage:-
- 37mm
- 39mm
- 40.5mm
- 43mm
- 46mm
- 49mm
- 52mm
- 55mm
- 58mm
- 62mm
- 67mm
- 72mm
- 77mm
- 82mm
These factors offer any photographer a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to protect their lens of all sizes while out and about on location. As it is much easier and cheaper to replace a UV filter that has been damaged during a photography session than your actual lens, we would always recommend that our readers at least invest in an entry-level UV filter even if they choose to skip the various other filter types.
Another budget-friendly filter brand that is quickly establishing itself as a leader within the lens filter niche is Gobe. Their filters are very well priced while offering the user outstanding performance so we would recommend that our readers also check out their UV filter range (Click here to check for product prices and availability) too.
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Zeta Kenko UV Filters
The additional coating layers on the lens filters in the Zeta UV range can help prevent the hazy or indistinct effect that can sometimes be common when taking photographs outdoors with the UV filter attached to your lens. The best part is that this requires no additional effort or input from you as the coating on the filter glass controls the whole process.
As we mentioned earlier, the main reason that people use a UV filter on their lens these days it to act as a sacrificial glass to take any accidental damage and keep your lens glass safe. That said, the Zeta range of lens filters is able to absorb up to 410nm (99.7%) of ultraviolet rays while also being able to fit a number of traditional styles of film cameras.
The frame of the Zeta range is also slightly thinner than the frames of the Nyumon range with the filter also being slightly lighter. Although technically this does make it easier to store in your photography bag, we feel that Kenko has done an excellent job on the regular Nyumon range and managed to keep their frames thinner than most competing brands.
The Kenko Zeta UV range is available in the following filter thread sizes:-
- 37mm
- 39mm
- 40.5mm
- 43mm
- 46mm
- 49mm
- 52mm
- 55mm
- 58mm
- 62mm
- 67mm
- 72mm
- 77mm
- 82mm
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Kenko ND Filters
The Kenko ND Professional range can also be used to help you get some unique looking images with extended shutter times over bodies of water. This can allow you to get some beautiful photographs of waterfalls or streams.
The ages of super high sensitive and super high-resolution cameras are upon up. The larger and more sensitive sensors in the more modern cameras can sometimes have issues with excess light getting to them and that’s where your ND filter comes in. The ND filter interrupts the amount of light traveling down your sensors path and limits its exposure offering you some excellent photographs that you would otherwise be unable to capture.
The Kenko ND range uses high-quality Japanese glass that is not only extremely robust but also very clear and resistant to water helping to reduce the chance of water droplets or their stains spoiling your photographs.
As you would probably expect, the frames for the filters are made from aluminum offering a strong and resistant outer rim to help reduce the chance of pressure in your photography bag causing the filter damage. The aluminum is also lightweight helping to keep your photography accessory bag as lightweight as possible.
The Kenko ND Professional range is currently available in the following filter thread sizes:-
- 49mm
- 52mm
- 55mm
- 58mm
- 62mm
- 67mm
- 72mm
- 77mm
- 82mm
We have seen a number of people reaching out for advice on what type of ND filters they should be using if they are wanting to either photograph or record a total eclipse with their camera. The Kenko ND 1000 is ideal for this but we would not recommend that use the ND 400 or ND 500 products.
Again, we still feel that the Gobe ND Filter range (Click here to check for product prices and availability) is just as good, if not better than the Kenko ND filters while also being cheaper. If you are looking for a budget-friendly lens filter that offers plenty of functionality, we would highly recommend that you check them out.
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Kenko Cpl Filters
The low price and high quality of the Cpl range have helped Kenko establish themselves as one of the leading brands in the niche with their Cpl filters having earned themselves an excellent reputation within the photography community.
The Kenko Cpl filter range is available in the following filter thread sizes and we do not expect and additional sizes to be released:-
- 37mm
- 39mm
- 40.5mm
- 43mm
- 46mm
- 49mm
- 52mm
- 55mm
- 58mm
- 62mm
- 67mm
- 72mm
- 77mm
- 82mm
The Cpl filters use a patented, innovative polarizing material on the lens filter to offer photographs the best polarizing possible without the need to add pointless weight or size to the filter. That helps keep the filter as small and light as possible while also allowing you to quickly and easily store them in your photography bag without wasting space.
Again, Kenko has chosen to use high-quality Japanese glass in their Cpl filters to make sure that the filter is robust enough to tolerate the common knocks and bumps that your photography kit will sustain while traveling to your various locations. Again the aluminum frames have been used to offer a rugged, lightweight frame for the filters that is easy to use with solid filter threads to help stop cross threading on your lens.
If you are not sold on using Kenko Cpl filters then we would recommend that you take a look at the Gobe Cpl Filters (Click here to check for product prices and availability) as they are the same price, if not cheaper while offering very similar functionality.
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How Kenko Filters Are Produced
The video below explains how Kenko actually make their filters as well as go into detail on the steps they take to ensure that their filters are as high-quality as possible for the end user.
One thing that we would like to say is the more established lens filter brands such as Kenko and Hoya seem to have become somewhat complacent and settled in their ways. This has left a niche open for other smaller brands to quickly establish themselves such as Gobe with their startup drive helping them to exponentially grow.
Related Articles
The Ultimate Kenko ND Filter Review!
The Ultimate Gobe Filters Review!
Our In Depth Hoya ND Filters Review!
Our Full In-depth Marumi Filters Review!
The Ultimate Kenko UV Filter Review!
Additional Reading
Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Kain Kalju – landscape photography essential tool – graduated neutral density filter – https://flic.kr/p/9YUF7a
