I’ve been a photographer for years and for a few of them a pro, but in all that time I’ve never encountered a nicer filter presentation or a better polarizer. The filters arrive sandwiched between two end caps both of which are precisely machined from aluminum. There’s no plastic here or faults or shortcuts in the machining process. I got these 49mm filters for use on a Leica. If ever there was a set of accessories that match the feel and sense of that camera brand, this is it. I was, to put it plainly, blown away.

While the UV filter strikes me as every bit what I want in such a filter, which is mostly a lens protector with no image degradation, but I have no way here to test such filters. I can test the polarizer because doing so is an easy home test. It’s simple: take a snap of your monitor with the polarizer set both to minimum and maximum. Please see the images that should be part of this review to see the results.

Note the test image is of the Zones from 0 to 10. I set the camera to have it just clip on 10 and let the 0 – 6 go as they will as an absolute test of this filter. The method is to see, at maximum polarization, how much of the 8s, 9s and 10s are let through the filter. Average filters will if the test is performed correctly, even show some leak through under 8. This filter not only completely filtered out the 8s and 9s but the 10s as well. I’ve never seen this level of performance before.

The images show the test pattern with the polarizer set to minimum (zero really) partly set to on and fully on. You can see a bit of the monitor’s bezel at full on because it’s at a slightly different angle than the screen so would be filtered out at a slightly different rotation angle.

It’s one thing to create a superb presentation but it’s another to have the filters perform at a level that matches this presentation. These filters do. From here on, when I’m in need of filters or photographic accessories, I’m shopping this brand first.