After steadily working our way through our list of lens filters that we want to review on our website we finally get to our Kenko ND filter review. Although the Kenko neutral density filter range is not as popular as their other lens filters, we still see a fair number of people reaching out each month asking about the Kenko ND filters.
That said, the Kenko ND range does offer a pretty decent range of filters that are budget-friendly and offer decent quality and functionality without you having to break the bank. You are able to easily control the amount of light reaching the sensor of your camera of choice making sure that you can blend both time and movement to get some pretty unique photographs.
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Table of Contents
Performance And Functionality
When it comes to performance and functionality, Kenko do an excellent job of delivering the goods without having to increase the price tag of their filters. The coating on the lens element allows you to effortlessly control the amount of light that is able to enter your lens of choice and make its way to your camera sensor.
This allows you to capture some excellent and unique photographs in a number of situations ensuring that your images will stand out to clients or on social media. The photograph below is an excellent example of a waterfall captured using a neutral density filter and as you can see, being able to use a longer exposure time has produced the silky smooth water look.
The unique “zero reflection” multi-coating technology that Kenko has added to the filter element also helps to prevent unwanted elements spoiling your image quality too. Being a simple, entry level, budget friendly ND filter there’s not much else to say about the product really other than that Kenko has done a great job when you take into account the price tag of the filter.
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Build Quality
Although not technically related to the build quality of the lens filters, we just want to point out that Kenko has ensured that their range covers a massive number of thread sizes. This includes the majority of the popular ones used by common lenses as well as a decent number of the less popular thread sizes too.
At the time of writing, the Kenko neutral density filter range is available in the following thread sizes:-
- 37mm
- 39mm
- 40.5mm
- 43mm
- 46mm
- 49mm
- 52mm
- 55mm
- 58mm
- 62mm
- 67mm
- 72mm
- 77mm
- 82mm
As the range has been available on the market for a fair while now, we are not expecting any new thread sizes to be added to this particular generation of filters.
Moving onto the actual build quality of the filter. The actual filter element is made from some of the highest quality Japanese glass available on the market right now. Although the majority of the community, as well as ourselves, feel that German Schott glass is still the better material, the Japanese glass that has been used is robust, lightweight, and definitely does a good job.
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Although we have already touched on the “zero reflection” coating earlier in the article, Kenko has also added a number of other coats to the filter element. These help with naturally wicking water and dust off the element, preventing scratches, and controlling light entry to your lens.
The ultra-thin frame profile of the filter helps to ensure that it is easy to keep in your the bag that you keep your camera accessories in without adding much weight or taking up much space. Although the only information that we can find about what it is made of says “unique metal alloy” it does keep the weight of the filter down.
The frame also comes with metal threads to helping Kenko push their filters ahead of the competition when it comes to budget lens filters. Too many filter brands are trying to get away with cheap plastic frames these days with plastic filter threads that just cross thread and make mounting and unmounting them a total nightmare.
Our Verdict
That brings us to the end of our Kenko ND filter review and we think that the filter can make a decent addition to your camera accessories while helping improve your image quality for long exposure photography if you are on a very tight budget. That said though, if you have a slightly larger amount of money available then we would always recommend that you pick up the Gobe ND filter (Click here to check for product prices and availability) as it is a much better product.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
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The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Kenko ND filter range to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
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