My review of the Colby Brown signature edition landscape photography kit from Formatt Hitech.

Colby Brown Signature edition Landscape kitWhat inside the Colby Brown Signature edition Landscape kit and why buy it.

 

I have an updated review of the Colby Brown filter kit up on my new landscape photography website, please click here to read it.

 

 

As a Brand Ambassador and Featured Artist and for transparency I should add that Formatt Hitech gives me a budget every year for filters for my workshops and I get a slight commission from sales.

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.
 

 

 

The great news is an Ambassador I can offer you an additional 10% off selected Formatt Hitech products with discount code HAYES10, simply enter it at checkout on the Formatt Hitech website.

 

 

This kit is perfect for someone looking for a reverse graduated filter and also looking to do shorter long exposure images, the kit has two graduated filters and is great at balancing out your exposures.

 

So if you are a sunrise or sunset shooter then you will enjoy this kit.

 

So what's in the kit?

You get all of the below...

• Firecrest 100mm ND 1.8

• Firecrest 100x150mm ND Soft Edge Grad 0.6 (2 stop) 

• Firecrest 100x150mm ND Reverse Grad 0.6 (2 stop)

• Firecrest 100mm Filter Kit

  • 100mm Filter Holder

  • Soft Touch Outer Case

  • 82-82mm Rotating Adaptor Ring

  • 67-82mm Step Ring

  • 72-82mm Step Ring

  • 77-82mm Step Ring

  • Firecrest 82mm Ultraslim polariser

• Filter pouches

• Exclusive Colby Brown booklet

 

 

See my video below on the Firecrest 100mm filter holder that's included in this kit and why I believe it's the best 100mm filter holder out there.

 

 

Getting back to the kit...

 

So first things first I have to say the quality of the product is second to none. Beautifully presented and delivered to your door worldwide for a great price. 

 

Would I buy the kit personally? Well, probably not as it doesn't suit my particular style of photography. In saying that it could be absolutely perfect for yours. If it is then it really is a complete bargain. My personal go-to kit is the Elia Locardi kit click here to learn more about it.

 

You get the complete kit for £449.99 + £5.- delivery.

With the extra 10% it's only £409.99

 

A Firecrest reverse grad on its own is £225.-

The filter holder is £156.91

The six-stop pro nd filter is £98.99

The 2 stop graduated filter is £135.99

Making the price if bought separately £616.89

 

So buying the kit and using the discount code saves you a staggering £206.89 

 

Now priced at £449.99 +£5.- shipping at £454.99 it's good value for money but if you enter discount code HAYES10 at checkout you get 10% off so it's just £410.- delivered to your door.

 

Colby Brown filter kit boxThe box of the Colby Brown filter kit. This box holds the filters, filter holder, cpl etc...

 

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 a 4 & 10 stop filter together at the same time making it a 14 stop filter. How fantastic is that?

 

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.

 

Colby brown filter kit contentsThis is a flat lay of the Colby Brown filter kit and it's contents.

 

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.

 

 

 

What other filters would I buy?

I would add the 10 stop or 3.0 ND Firecrest Pro filter.

 

If I were looking for a great all-round starter kit then I would go for the Elia Locardi kit as it has the same filter holder, a 4 stop and 10 stop nd filter and a 3 stop graduated filter. So yes there is no Reverse grad filter in the kit but you can always buy that afterwards. I have a blog post up on the Elia Locardi kit here.

 

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

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formatt Hitech Colby Brown signature edition filter kit review

4th January 2020

Elia Locardi

Kieran Hayes

5.0 Star

19 ratings

Kieran Hayes Photography

Formatt Hitech

£409.99

 

 

https://www.kieranhayesphotography.com/blog/2020/1/colby-brown-signature-edition-filter-kit