When you shoot full spectrum, you change filters a lot. Screw-on filters for every lens get expensive and slow. Drop-in filters fixed that for me.
What a drop-in filter is
Canon makes a lens adapter that lets you use EF lenses (the older DSLR lenses) on RF cameras like the R6 Mark II. One version of this adapter has a slot in it. You slide a small filter into the slot, and it sits behind the lens, between the lens and the camera. Kolari Vision makes its own version of this adapter, plus a big lineup of filters that fit it. Kolari also says its filters work in Canon’s own drop-in adapter.
Why I like them
• One filter fits every lens. Wide angle, zoom or telephoto, it doesn’t matter. The filter sits behind the lens, so lens size doesn’t matter.
• Fast swaps. I can go from 590nm to 850nm in seconds without taking the lens off.
• Cheaper in the long run. One set of filters instead of one set for each lens size.
• Infrared and more. Kolari makes infrared filters made for full-spectrum cameras, plus hot mirror, ND and polarizing filters.
Things to know
• The adapter works with EF and EF-S lenses only. RF lenses can’t be mounted through it.
• Regular screw-on filters don’t fit the slot. You need drop-in style filters.
• Kolari says a filter must always be in the adapter while you shoot. It blocks light leaks and helps with focus. When I want no effect, I use a clear filter or a hot mirror.
• Keep the filters clean. Dust on a filter this close to the sensor can show up in photos.
Tomorrow: a filter-by-filter guide, from 550nm all the way to 850nm.
Photo idea: the adapter with a filter half pulled out, and the filter set laid out on a table.
