Kase Wolverine Armour 100mm system
● £269 (filter holder kit) ● www.kasefilters.com
KASE is a leading proponent of magnetic filter fittings, and its latest Armour system takes this to its logical conclusion. Aside from the adapter rings that screw into the lens, everything fits together magnetically. To make this work, ND and GND filters are housed in metal frames, which should provide extra protection. However, the frames cost £40 each and you’ll need one for every filter, which could rapidly get expensive.
The filter holder itself is a strikingly pared-back affair, with just two small side-arms to orientate the square filters. A dial on one arm rotates the polariser, while a knob on the other locks the square filters in place. A clip on one corner releases the holder from the lens ring.
Unusually, along with standard square filters, the holder can also accept magnetic circular NDs, which cost £125 each. Like the polariser, these are 95mm in diameter and extremely slim. The circular filters snap into recesses in the holder, one at the front and another at the back.
I tested the kit with a set of circular NDs and two of Kase’s double grads, which combine two filters onto a single piece of glass. Together, these provide a remarkably compact, travelfriendly set-up. The holder, lens rings, polariser, three NDs and (in effect) four GNDs all stow neatly together into the matched slimline case (£40) that can be carried over your shoulder or attached to your camera bag. When it’s assembled, the set-up is strikingly low profile and completely light-tight. I saw no hint of vignetting with lenses as wide as 15mm.
In practice, the design takes a bit of getting used to. Kase has used powerful magnets that hold the filters in place securely, but the flipside is that they take quite a lot of force to remove. Also, the filters only fit one way around; try to attach them the other way, and the magnets will repel each other instead. This is disconcerting, to say the least, if you’re trying to attach filters in a location where dropping them would mean losing them irretrievably.
My other practical concern lies with using the circular NDs. When setting up filters, you generally want to adjust the polariser and GND first while you can still see the viewfinder image clearly, then fit an ND last of all. But that’s not possible with the circular filters, as their slot is hidden behind the square filters. Personally, I’d stick with using square NDs.
Verdict
Kase’s Armour holder is a really clever design, but I’m not entirely convinced by the practicalities of using it. However, it’s still an interesting alternative to the firm’s superb K9 system.