LEE100 Deluxe Kit
● £585 ● www.leefilters.com
FOR MANY photographers, LEE has long been the go-to brand for square filters. A couple of years ago, it updated its 100mm holder to a modular design that’s distinctly different from anything else on the market. It’s available in various sets, with the most expensive Deluxe Kit offering including a polariser, 10-stop ND (the famous Big Stopper), and three GNDs: 2-stop medium, 3-stop hard, and 4-stop medium.
Unlike the other systems we’re considering here, LEE’s holder is plastic, not metal. It’s also designed so that the side-arms are easily swappable, with sets provided to hold either one, two or three ND or GND filters. LEE doesn’t fit the polariser at the back, either; instead, it employs a huge custom 100mm polariser than clips onto the front of the holder. Lens adapter rings must be bought separately; standard ones cost £20 each, while those for use with wideangles are £40. These effectively place most of the holder behind the front of the lens, and I saw no vignetting with a 16-35mm ultra-wide zoom.
LEE’s polariser and GND filters are made from optical resin, while the Big Stopper is made from glass. Resin filters are lightweight and unlikely to break when dropped, however they tend to be prone to scratching, so need to be handled carefully. They’re also a bit less easy to clean and keep dry. There’s no light sealing on the holder itself, so NDs come with a foam seal attached.
Despite its slightly eccentric design, the LEE100 system works well in the field. The front-fitting polariser is uniquely easy to swap in or out as required, and you can change the square filters easily too. But the Deluxe kit does expect you to carry a lot of stuff around, with a large circular case for the polariser, a square tin for the Big Stopper, a separate case for the grads, and a microfibre pouch for the holder kit. Compared to the nicely organised Kase and NiSi kits it’s all a bit of a mess, and you’ll probably want to get LEE’s Field Pouch (£35) for your filters.
Having the interchangeable filter guides is, in principle, a neat idea. But I’m not convinced about whether you’d change them often in practice. After all, the other filter holders under consideration here get by perfectly well with two or three slots.
Verdict
LEE’s kit is popular for a reason; it’s easy to use and works well. But it’s not as sophisticated as the best holders available, and it would seriously benefit from a properly designed case to keep everything organised.