Elia Locardi Filter kit review

Elia Locardi Formatt Hitech filter kitBox and packaging of the Elia Locardi Formatt Hitech Firecrest Pro 100mm filter kit.

Elia Locardi 100mm Formatt Hitech filter kit review, Pro and Ultra versions.
 

 

I have an update to this review over on my new landscape photography website just click here to read it.

 

 

 

 

 

Additional 10% off all Formatt Hitech products with discount code HAYES10, simply enter it at checkout on the Formatt Hitech website.

 

Buy this kit for only £364.49

 

As a photographer, I regularly run Landscape and Seascape photography workshops in beautiful Ireland. Where I can guarantee these filters are pushed completely to their limits.

 

I am always asked on these workshops which filters would you buy?

 

I have been a fan of the Formatt Hitech filters for many years now and some of you will probably know I am a brand ambassador and Featured Artist for their products. It has been a complete honour for me to be partnered with such an amazing and passionate company for over two years now.

 

 

So getting back to the question, which filters should you buy? My default answer is the Elia Locardi 100mm Firecrest Pro or Ultra filter kit.

 

At £364.49 for the Pro Kit after the discount code HAYES10 is applied, it's incredibly good value for money.

 

 

 

 

They are such good value for money that I recently got two kits for myself.

 

As a Brand Ambassador and for transparency I should add that Formatt Hitech gives me a budget every year for filters for my workshops. I should also add I was using their filters already and purchased them with my own hard-earned money before I was asked to be an Ambassador. I was also asked by two other companies but refused politely.

 

 

Buying all the pieces separately would cost you £490.88 + £5.00 shipping £495.88 after 10% discount is £446.79

 

So you save £81.80 and you also get a free filter wallet in the deal.

 

 

 

 

Why buy this kit?

Well, that's simple, it comes with everything you need in a starting set.

Just look at what you get.

 

 

Contents

Elia Locardi Ultra and Pro filter kit contentsThis is the contents of the Elia Locardi Formatt Hitech 100mm Ultra and Pro filter kit.
 

1.-Firecrest 100mm filter holder.

1.- Firecrest ND1.2 (4 stops) Great for shorter long exposure photographs.

1.-Firecrest ND3.0 (10 stops) Ideal for Normal long exposure photographs.

1.-Firecrest ND Soft Edge Grad 0.9 (3 stop Graduated filter) A great graduated filter to help balance most images.

1.-Circular polarising filter.

 

3.- Adaptor rings incl.. 67mm, 72mm and 77mm adaptor threads and the holder has an 82mm thread built-in.

 

1.- Filter holder wallet

 

 

Now priced at £399.99 +£5.- shipping at £404.99 it's good value for money but if you enter discount code HAYES10 at checkout you get 10% off so it's just £364.49 delivered to your door.

 

At £364.49 for a filter holder, 3 filters, adaptor rings and a filter wallet it's fantastic value for money.

 

Going back to the products themselves.

 

 

The Firecrest filter holder.

Is a beautiful bit of kit, with the extra light shield adaptors you can actually stack ND filters. Yes, you can use the 4 & 10 stop filters together at the same time making it a 14 stop filter.

 

Again the extra light shields help protect your filters from sea spray and light rain, for a real in-depth review of the Firecrest filter holder click here where I go into a lot more detail.

 

 

 

Firecrest Pro filters

The Firecrest Pro series of filters are colour neutral, incredibly hard-wearing and the sharpest filters I have ever used (just like the Ultra's).

 

 

So what's the hard-wearing part about? 

A filter is a filter, right?

 

Well, that's wrong... The way the Firecrest filters are made they actually sandwich the ND coating in between two slivers of glass. Yes, the filters are made of two thin sheets of glass and not one.

This has two advantages.

Firstly the ND coating can't be scratched as it's protected by glass on both sides and secondly due to the construction of the bonded glass it makes the filters more resilient to damage than a standard filter.

Again I have an in-depth review of the Firecrest Pro filters here

 

 

Ultra Kit

The same applies for the Ultra kit but there is a difference between the pro's and Ultra's Click here for my in-depth review of the Ultra filters.

 

 

I also have reviews of the following filter kits the...

 

Colby Brown signature edition landscape kit here

 

 

 

 

For a bit more about my Landscape & Seascape photography and a few tips and tricks please click here

 

 

What other filters would I buy?

If I were buying another add-on filter it would be the six stop or 1.8 ND Pro filter.

 

 

If you have any filter related questions then feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] or click here 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my review and enjoy those filters, you won't regret it.