I bought a set of these slot-in Kase filters about a week ago for my Sony. My main motivation was to install the UV filter to act as a barrier against sensor dust. The other use I saw for them was to use ND filters as and when I get an ultra-wide lens that lacks a front filter thread. (I've been tempted by the Sony 12-24 but up until now I have been put off by the expense and faffing involved in a set of 150mm filters plus adapter). Putting them in/out was a bit of a fiddly task - but I didn't get the suction cup tool with mine! :( - and I found I almost always introduced dust when I put them in. I'm not sure I see myself using these much in the field (I love the Kase magnetic filters), to be honest, but if your further tests show that there is no appreciable loss in IQ I'll probably leave the UV filter in. Thanks for doing this!

I was waiting for somebody to review these filters. I have the Kase magnetic filters which are amazing. Thanks Adam.

Wishing you have a Happy and Safe Christmas Adam. And a better 2021. Thanks for sharing again Adam.

Thanks Adam for this review! Best wishes to you and your loved ones!

thanks for taking the time to fiddle with these. I’ll be picking up the 3 pack soon.

I have the Kase magnetic filters - they are fantastic. I keep the adapters on the lenses, so I can just keep one small case w/ filters w/ me at all times for my 3 lenses. Placing one filter or more is super easy, i.e.magnetic, and they are beautifully thin. I can’t imagine these behind the lens filters being anything but a path to problems. But super glad you demonstrated them, giving me the chance to truly cross them off my list. Kase is a great filter company, and like you, I’m glad that they are playing outside the box, I’m sure some people might find this type of application useful.

I love my Kase filters. I'm used to filters like this for my astrophotography. Good idea for those long hikes to lighten the load. Thanks!

Hit the nail on the head here. Like the smaller, lighter, cheaper aspect but my first thought in the first 10-15 seconds was in climate weather. Merry Christmas Adam and family! Wish you the best for 2021!

Merry Xmas Adam, have a fantastic 2021, cheers.

Merry Christmas.... thanks for the filter review... interesting concept... I'll check out the link

I'm definitely intrigued! I've been wanting to play around with a 10 stop ND filter for a while now...

Merry Chrismas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful videos, have had some wondeful time looking at them, and even picked up some few tips and tricks. Wish You and Yours all the best for the time to come.

Merry Christmas and thanks for all that you do.

You can use the ND filters for the Air2s drone. They exactly clip inside Fujifilm for some reason

Merry Christmas Mr. Gibbs , no no to opening my camera the lens is on to stay ...

I’ve used the Kase wolverine magnetic filters on the front of my lenses with great success. Small, light, easy, and with no color cast (to my old eyes anyway). Dropped one on the rocky shore of Lake Superior with no scratches. Cheers!

Some people here seem remarkably risk averse - fair weather photographers I venture. There's a lot of bollocks talked about risk to the sensor. The actual sensor is protected by a layer of glass(?) anway. You are not going to do any more damage to the sensor by using these filters than changing a lens. I applaud the innovation and definitely think they have a place - in fact Iwould venture to suggest that they will become common-place! Thanks for the review Adam - appreciate someone doing this.

I'm using the 6stop ND version of this clip-in filter on my Nikon Z7 combined with FTZ adapter and Samyang 10mm f/3.5 ultra wide angle manual focus lens. Since there's no usable ND filter system for the large bulbous front glass element, I've opted for the Nikon Z-mount Kase clip-in to see how will it perform. To keep this short, on the 10mm lens even the edge sharpness is untouched, no visible colour cast, very little loss of contrast (if any at all), in other words the overall image quality is very, very good! As pointed by others in the comment section, it is not exactly very practical to apply. It took me at least half an hour to insert it in place with no visible dust particles on the sensor - remember there's always one or two stubborn ones - when stopped down to f/16 (wouldn't go beyond anyway with my style of shooting). To apply the filter alone is not a difficult task, it's all about trying to avoid dust landing on the sensor. I wouldn't be worried about damaging/scratching the sensor, manipulation (put it in and out) always happens in front of the sensor. Clearly, one wants to apply the filter ideally in a calm/windless environment, ideally indoors. That still doesn't guarantee no dust will end up on the sensor:(. In my particular case, the lens is glued to the FTZ adapter on Nikon Z7 body majority of the times, I might switch lenses occasionally, but the Kase filter will stay in place probably for good (well, unless some fancy dust decides to attract itself to it, right...). In the meantime Z6 serves me well as another body in hand with 14-30mm attached to it:). So yeah, Kase clip-in filter is far from a perfect solution, but it's a viable option if combined with - to be fair now, quite exotic - lenses that don't take ANY commercially available front filter adapters (like the Samyang 10mm f/3.5 for Nikon F-mount). It's better than nothing, as simple as that. Otherwise I'd recommend Kase magnetic filters for front use, they really are nice to use (although they have their limitations with ultra wide lenses below 16mm, but that's another story). Thank you for the video, Mr. Gibbs!

Merry Christmas!🎄🎁🧸

Thanks for the lovely wet-coast views out towards Lasqueti Island. :)

Merry Christmas Adam. X

On many levels I don't see how these are practical in 90% of situations. I was always told only to expose the sensor in the field for the purpose of changing lenses. They look like the product of a marketing department rather than one developed with photographers and practicality in mind.

Quite a lot of comments on this type of filter and not many seeing as a long term good option for most cases. I weighed the options heavily recently and chose to go with the KASE magnetic filters. I have to say, I am loving those filters. As others have stated, I really questioned the idea of putting in and changing these clip in filters with the wind blowing, raining, snowing, cold fingers, etc. and through all of that not getting foreign objects on the sensor and/or filter on a regular basis. They don't appear ideal for quick changes either and that's a nice option of the magnetic. Thanks for your thoughts on this, Adam and have a Merry Christmas.

Nice review Adam, I have thought about using these for wide angle lenses with a bulbous front element that otherwise would need a 150mm square filter system

Good to see a trusted review of these, don't think I want to be fiddling about near my sensor and removing lenses, especially with the beautiful weather we have here in UK. GOOD TO KNOW, no colour cast as I want to take a look at their magnetic filters (wolverine). Merry Christmas to you and all and see you on the other side of new year.

Great video Adam. I use the STC clip on sensor filters in my GFX and X-T4. It should be noted some lenses will not work with the clip on filters because the back element of the lens might have a part that protrudes rearward (with some x mount lenses) hitting the filter, that’s one downsize to these.

Thanks for thus. In the process of deciding whether to buy these or not. Great help

Hi Adam, excellent informative video. Hiking to find and enjoy interesting scenes is a priority, I have the large S5 Nisi system for the Fuji 8-16mm f/2.8 the quality is excellent the convenience is not, especially after dropping a graduated filter on the rocks. It's not an experience I wish to repeat. Anyone who uses a wide-angle lens especially those with bulbous front elements can appreciate the sheer convenience of these filters. You have helped me make a buying decision especially seeing these filters are of high quality with no noticeable colour cast.

the famous "hello , hello" ;) thanks for these informations !!

Pretty neat! Thanks Adam!...

The best situations for these types of filters are those where you decide which filter you will need for your entire shoot, that means you plan it beforehand, place the filter in front of your sensor in a save environment (indoors, inside your camper etc) and leave it there untill you get back into your save environment after your shooting is done. Some possible scenarios: 1) you are doing astrophotography (preferably with a converted camera) with a light pollution or narrowband filter. 2) you are doing infrared photography with a full spectrum camera (hot mirror filter removed from the sensor) and choose your desired IR style (590nm, 635nm. 720nm, 850nm etc) beforehand and keep it that way for the entire shoot 3) you are doing outdoor portraits during bright conditions with shallow depth of field but don't want to be limited by the disadvantages of HSS flash-techniqes, so you kill the ambient light with an ND64 filter and use a regular flash. This allows fast change of portrait lenses without the necessity of screwing on filters or owning a separate filter for each lens. 4) your ultra-wide-angle lens has an extremely convex front element which cannot accomodate screw filters and you do not want to carry the weight and the cost of 150mm plate filters. In every other scenario a traditional filter in front of the lens is usually the safer and more convenient choice, especially the magnetic type of front filters.

Interesting idea, I’m very interested in the magnetic breakthrough system! I like your choice of grip, I have the same one on my xt2

I see that they also make filters for the back of lenses as well. I especially liked the ones that can go on the back of my Nikon 14-24mm lens since it has a very fisheye curve to it and won't accept traditional in-front lens filters. Thank you for sharing this innovative idea!!

Basically a must have for all fisheye or extremely wide lenses with protruding glass

Just got my set of ND filters today for my XT-4. I got them to get slow the shutter speeds when using my Rokinon 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens. I discovered I could stack 2 filters to slow down my shutter up to several minutes. Sweet.

Great video Adam. I'm sticking to magnetic filters. No way I'm faffing about in rain, sand and rivers with these. Thought about buying one until I found how easy it is to get muck on my z7 sensor. Even my d500 was always getting spots on it. The magnetic filters are a revelation but easy to lose and roll down a hill so I can see the sense in these filters. Thanks for again another great review👍

Adam, I think these are mostly brilliant! I shoot interior and architecture with Sony cameras. However, Sony doesn't have any tilt shift lenses so I use adapted Canon TS lenses, 24mm and 17mm. Putting filters on the 17mm is damn near impossible so these would solve that problem perfectly. There is still that dust issue is guess. Unlike so many people I have no problem working around the sensor as long as I'm not using an ice pick or sandpaper.

Hi Adam! It also would be nice to hear your thoughts about the xt series and this 16-80mm for landscape. Obviously it's far away from GFX series but from an amateur point of view I would find it quite interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I certainly like the idea of cheaper, lighter, and a smaller footprint in my bag; but they look like something I'd drop and lose, damn near lost my full size magnetic CPL once. Like many others, I'd be so worried of not getting the filter in properly, or worse, dropping it in the hole and scratching the sensor. Probably would never happen, but anything near the sensor makes me nervous. Of course, I just dropped a big amount of money on the Kase Wolverine magnetic filters (4) and step down rings, but knowing my propensity for gear, I'd def be willing to try. I don't shoot much near the sea or sand so dirtying the sensor isn't something I worry about. Plus I clean my own pretty regularly. Great intro, I'd love to see more in better conditions of course. See how much you still like them as far as ease of use, compared to your other filters. Thanks! Hope you had a great Christmas. 🎄 (Hey, you hit 50K subs!! Congrats!)

I think I will keep my sensor out of harms way, Happy Holidays

As always, great video and review, Adam. The one main advantage I can see for me would be using this with my 14mm which i can't attach a filter to the bulbous front. But with that said, I really wouldn't want to remove the lens out in the field and expose the sensor to the elements. Maybe it might work using the 14mm indoors for architectural shots? Otherwise, I probably wouldn't invest in this system.

Interesting filter. For the lens, you can also put a UV for protection. Thanks.

Many concerns: first, I don't like keeping my sensor exposed so long. Second, with very dark filters, I'd prefer to focus before mounting my filter. Third, if my lighting changes, I'd rather flip a magnetic filter on/off on the front of the camera than fussing with opening my camera and exposing the sensor. I do love the magnetic filters Case has provided and see NO REASON to change.

Apart from the issue of having to putz around with an exposed sensor for far too long and far too often, I can see that this might be an option for people who backpack for their shots. I have been lugging a Wine Country filter carrier and a bunch of heavy sleeves and glass. Something like this would be much lighter. Though I'd have to invest in CPLs for my lenses. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

To be honest not a fan of poking around fingers near a sensitive sensor, but I can see how it would be handy for some people. Step-up rings are dirt cheap on aliexpress and even mucking about with those is probably quicker (and definitely safer) than this system. It is definitely a good solution if you often shoot with fish-eye, super tele or other ultrawide lenses that do not take filters or have a filter insert system.

The concept seems great but i wonder how it would interact with sensor stabilization platforms...also i could see a lot of repair shops making a pretty penny from all the potential mishandlings/dust/sensor scratches it could induce. Just my 2 cents. Merry Christmas! Cheers from Victoria Ps. Still waiting for you to crack open some film ehehe ;) would love to see an Adam Gibbs 4x5 in the field video!

Great!! it looks beautiful! but is the autofocus of the camera works well with the ND?

It interesting but as polarizer is out (i use most) having to mix two filter systems is not for me - however a UV in front of the sensor to keep dust out might be enough for me! - just leave it in always to protectthe sensor and for 55$ that's a good solution to picking up dust when changing filters. What I would like to see is a plain glass filter that spins at high speed on the front to 'spin' rain/water off (like boats have)

Nice idea if you are keeping the same filter on all day, but in the field I always try to keep lens removals down to a minimum for obvious reasons. Also a good idea to keep objects as far away from the sensor as possible to avoid any possible damage. Nice idea but definitely not for me.

Kase filters for canon are wicked. An improvement on Lee and the magnetic wolverine set are easier to manage, lightweight, compact, the build quality is superior, the rest can be done in LR / PS if required. The Wolverine set would also remove the issue of fiddling about with your lens in challenging conditions. *** Recommended ***

Thanks for the review. I like the size of them but mirrorless cameras are like dust vacs. I reckon they'd be a good choice for indoor videographers.

Merry Christmas

Good review, Adam. I will pass on the filters. The risk outweighs the benefits for outdoor use, except if you have a fish-eye lens.

as said below, these could solve the problem with lenses like Nikon's 14-24 with no filter threads Merry Christmas :-)

Dont think id like to fiddle between the sensor and lens so much and Ive also seen people forget they had them in lol. They do look pretty good though optically, but Ill stick with Breakthrough for now.

Adam, I must say I was writhing in agony watching you install that filter with your camera facing up for an excruciating long time. After that I could care less about color cast or image sharpness. All I could think about was dust spotting in post and sensor cleaning. That and cleaning my finger prints off the filter. That being said, I recently purchased a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED and added to the order the Kase adapter for the Nikon 14-24 and ND8 to try out. The adapter is now permanently installed on the back of the lens. Inserting and removing the filter is a little fiddly, but my camera is not involved in the process. Mounting filters on the front of the 14-24 is impractical. I notice B&H now carries the full set of Kase filters for the Nikon 14-24. I will experiment with the ND8 a bit before fully committing. I will stick with front mounted filters on my other lenses. Judging from comments, you have performed a valuable public service. We look forward to your next tutorial video, on sensor cleaning ;-).

I also see a great danger in constantly packing the filters in front of the sensor. I also think that the sensor gets dirty much faster. A screw filter or a filter of a filter system can be exchanged quickly, with this system you always have to remove the lens and the focal length may be adjusted if you are clumsy. And if you change the system, nothing works anymore. Maybe even if you upgrade your camera.

I just wonder how long will it take before someone scratches the sensor whilst fitting the filter!

Thanks and Merry Christmas..... This attempts to solve a non existing problem with the majority of lenses while introducing several others. At 4:56 there is a rain drop on your sensor, and that as you said could easily be sand or dust. These are only ND filters and the application doesn't lend itself to any filter application that requires movement (CPL or GND) or combination. All the best for 2021! Added this note.... There is a technology that the camera makers could employ called electrochromatic glass. This would allow control of the effect to choose the level of ND or even GND over the sensor without removing the lens.

The real usage of those is when you have an ultra wide angle lens with a bulbous front element which doesn't accept screw on filters. I would definitely choose these ones over the expensive square case with the 15x15cm drop in filters for sure.

There's a clear risk to get at least some dust, grease, and moisture on the sensor when install/deinstall. They are good for indoor maybe, but filters are rarely used indoor

A couple of other companies have been doing this type of filter for a while, can't remember the names (STC was one I think?) but I found them too delicate and small to work with on a regular basis, and I was worried about sensor dust issues (I usually switch lenses as quickly as possible). I'd be interested to see what flare is like when shooting into a sunrise or sunset or when the sun is just outside the frame. I ended up returning mine due to flare issues (which I didn't get with regular filters) and because of the other issues mentioned (hard to work with, sensor dust).

I checked out another brand a few months ago that required disassembling part of the lens, remove the lens frame that joins up to the camera sensor and replaced with an adapter to be installed on the sensor side of the lens. You had to literally cut out the filter and then place it in the adapter. I almost soiled my pants just reading about it. I don't even want to think about having to clean the sensor. What do you feel about securing clear screw-ons to the front of the lens to protect the lens glass? Or is this a waste? Appreciate the video. Thank you! Sorry the day was so dreary.

fwiw, you can get IR clip ins of various wavelengths too

I use Breakthrough’s Magnetic filters. But I’m picturing me looking like the guy in Van Gogh’s Scream😱 painting while fiddling with these at New England’s moody coast or wet weather. Maybe if you know you won’t change lenses in the field and put in at home. Hopefully BTP comes out with a drop-in adapter for the Nikon Z mounter like they have for the Canon mount.

Do you know if these fit the X-Pro2? They list a bunch of cameras, but the not the one I own. These are very reasonably priced for what they are, and would be nice to use

I have the ones that go in the lens - Sigma 14-24mm E mount

Interesting concept although the price has not massively changed from buying normal screw on filters. You would think that these tiny filters would cost less considering they are one size only but it is not the case.

Probably good for super-wides and vidiographers, and I would probably pick some up specifically for my 14mm but I can't see using these on a regular basis, they're just too risky in my opinion

Probably a little easier with a medium format than with apsc to get them in and out. Looks like playing Operation as a kid finally will pay off.

Hmm if they have an affordable uv/ir blocking filter for the GFX it would be great - it looks like the sensors of the 50s/50r/100 aren't particularly well filtered and prone to colour shifts

We are now decades into digital cameras and cameras still do not have a front element in the mount to protect the sensor. Nonetheless, drop-in filter as seen on some adapters (or lenses) are far more convenient that this system.

I will join the consensus saying no to these filters, except for those lenses with bulbous or very large front elements for which filters are unavailable or impractical. Otherwise, they sound like a lot of bother to use. I don't want to be dropping or clipping filters in front of my sensor, or the shutter (I shoot Canon, which closes the shutter with the lens off). I'll pass.

Looking at the comments and reactions in general, it’s obvious that people stress a lot with the idea of exposing the sensor. So, I guess next trend will be to use UV filters to protect the sensor :P

I guess you can still use circular polariser on front of lens? not for me though as hate my fingers anywhere near the sensor

I would think that if you can't focus through a 10-stop filter I would not want to focus, remove lens, add filter replace lens, too big a chance to bump focus or get dust or grit inside the system. Some lenses are now coming with gates to slide filter into the lens, this seems to me to be a better design. For now I'll stick with my Kase K9 kit and various rings for my lenses.

It's so funny how it's designed to have the logo faced towards the inside and not the other way around.

It's an elegant solution I think. But I'm not entirely convinced by the practicalities of it. It's always going to be easier to use filters that are mounted on the lens.

I've scanned through the comments, and didn't see anyone mention this... when I watched this video on my TV, I saw definite vertical banding of luminance of the Strait of Georgia shots.... took a look at this video on 2 computers, and saw the same thing..... the filters, or KZfaq/compression? (The banding does not move... they look like soft bands of dark/light/dark.)

The thought of having to take off the lens, dropping a filter in front of the sensor (the most vulnerable and critical part of a mirrorless camera) is not an option I would ever consider. it's too risky. I think I'll stick to my old fashioned LEE system thanks.

I wouldn’t use those. Having to open the camera outdoors and taking things off and on your sensor seems like a recipe for issues with sand and dust. Especially if it gets to the shutter mech, the most fragile part of a camera

Will the filter effect the ibs performance?

I agree with you..not for me... But, I will say...these kind of clip on filters are very popular with astrophotographers..if you see the work of AstroBackyard on KZfaq he only uses such clip on filters..though most of them are for very special use...good of Kase to make them available as an alternative..maybe also for photographers who don’t like using filters much..these won’t take too much space in the bag

I’ve used clip in filters for a number of years now, by a company called Astronomik. www.astronomik.com/en/clip-filter-system.html This has mainly (if not entirely) been for Astro use, usually involving a telescope on a motorised mount, with a DSLR hanging off the rear. Not so sure about their convenience for ‘normal’ (non Astro) photographic use though - but I mainly use graduated ND’s or polarisers where you need more control....non-graduated ND’s might be okay though. Will be interested to hear your views now (I’m writing this before fully watching)

Kase makes really good traditional screw-on and Lee filters... the idea of a clip-in filter is awful, though... you don’t want to be putting your fingers into the housing of your camera, too much risk in touching the shutter etc. and what about clipping filters onto IBIS stabilized sensors? I don’t see that working at all, it will change the weight of the sensor being shifted, and probably break the mechanism altogether

Innovative?, yes. Worth for me?, no. The less I change my lens the better. I hate dust in the sensor and I don't see it useful to be removing the lens again and again every time I want to change the ND grade. Honestly, I prefer my Haida M10 by far. Happy 2021 !!!

I'm not sure if these are "more cost effective". I thought it might be nice to have a UV to protect the sensor..... $60 USD???? You can by a 77mm B&W at that price

What keeps the filter in place? Isn't jumping around after you put the lens?

I think it is too difficult to switch filters. I prefer my front filters. Also because I use gradient filters as wel.

As you say, the environment might not be the best friend when you have to insert them. Also I can see a problem when it’s cold. I’m not convinced at all.

I can't imagine a circumstance that would make me want to fit one of these the very thought makes me cringe. How much time do we spend keeping our sensors out of harms way. Not for me.

I can't see myself composing and focussing with a 10-stop filter already in place. That would entirely change my workflow and not for the better.

Did you really say the sharpness was a "mute" point?

I would love a clear transparent high quality glass filter like these to put permanently on my Dust sucker a7iii. It would solve my dust spots problem i have with mirrorless cameras. I am actually thinking of going back into Dslrs because of this problem. Especially for us landscapers that often shoot in f8-f22 most of the time and dust spots are clearly visible

Assuming that the filter added to the sensor is also adding mass to the entire sensor assembly, how does this affect the IBIS system? Undoubtedly the servo algorithms for any stabilization system would be tuned for the precise inertia of the moving mass. No matter how "small and light" that filter is, there's no way to communicate the added mass to the IBIS controller; add that issue to the risk in damaging and/or contaminating the sensor and housing and these filters seem like a horrible idea.

Sensor, fiddling, not a good combination 🤔

Innovation is great but I would never even consider these types of filters....IMHO just looking for camera troubles.

fyi: It's a "moot point", not "mute point".

Merry Christmas to you and your family. But, I'll pass on the filters.

These seem cool. I am curious however. How do you lock in focus using the 10-stop without taking the lens off while the camera is on?