Kenko RealPro ND1000 10stop Filter Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict

The Kenko RealPro ND1000 is a circular 10 stop ND filter, and features an anti-reflection multi-coating, black almite frame, and comes in a UV protected case. The 10 stop filter is ideal for long exposure photographs, for example of flowing water or seascapes, and will simply screw on to the end of your lens making it easy to put on and take off.

Kenko RealPro ND1000 Filter Handling and Features

The Kenko RealPro ND1000 is available sizes: 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77, 82mm, and available as an ND1000, 10 stop filter (equal to an ND optical density of 3.0), or an ND500, 9 stop filter. With a circular screw on design, it's easy to put on to your camera lens, as well as screw on additional filters if needed, for example you could easily screw on a circular polarising filter. 

Designed to be neutral with no colour shift, the filters are also designed to not suffer from IR (Infrared) light pollution. The filter has a smooth finish, with a knurled grippy edge to aid removal of the filter. As the filter is so dark, it's almost impossible to see through the filter, and your camera may struggle to focus through the filter in some situations, so you may need to use manual focus, depending on your camera. Composing your image can also be difficult with the filter in place, and depending on your camera, you may need to compose your shot without the filter attached, although live view on Digital SLRs and Mirrorless cameras can help here. 

Kenko RealPro ND1000 Filter Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Kenko REALPRO ND1000 Filter Sample Photos

Sample Photos - Normally to try and get a slower shutter speed you would set the ISO speed to the lowest setting available such as ISO100 or ISO200, as well as set the aperture to the smallest available, for example f/22. However, taking a photo at such a small aperture, f/22, results in an image that is very soft due to diffraction. Therefore, using an ND filter lets you use a slow shutter speed with a quicker aperture, such as f/10, and using these settings with the RealPro ND1000 has resulted in a sharp image.

With such a strong filter you could experience problems with auto focus, so manual focus may be needed before shooting, although we found that the Olympus PEN-F's focusing system was fine the majority of the time. 

Vignette - when shooting with a wide-angle 24mm equivalent lens, there is some additional vignetting from the ND1000 filter, but this could easily be fixed in image editing software. For the images above we have edited them in Lightroom to give roughly the same exposure. When using an ND filter on a camera, it may not always give as reliable an exposure as without, and some trial and error may be involved. 

When comparing the results taken without the filter, and with the filter, there is very little colour shift, although the images are slightly cooler, with a little less warmth recorded. 

The Kenko RealPro filters are also water repellant, and resistant to stains with an anti-stain coating, which we tested in our RealPro UV filter review. Kenko has provided a video demonstration of this, which you can see below:

Value For Money

The Kenko RealPro ND1000 filter is available for around £75 (in 58mm), compared to around £40 for the Hoya PRO ND1000 (58mm). Another option would be a square ND filter, such as the Cokin Nuances ND1024, for around £90.

Kenko RealPro ND1000 Filter Verdict

The Kenko RealPro ND1000 10 stop ND filter gives good colour performance, with little change to the colour of the image, with a slight change to a cooler colour temperature which can be easily corrected. There is some vignetting when shooting wide-angle photos, but again, this can easily be corrected, and won't be an issue if you are shooting with a standard (less wide-angle) lens. The biggest problem is that there is competition available, for noticeably less money, although this may change over time. 

Kenko RealPro ND1000 Filter Pros

Good image quality 
Good build quality 
Neutral colour

Kenko RealPro ND1000 Filter Cons

Slight vignette with wide-angle lens
High price (at the moment)
Ghosting visible in close-up images

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

The Kenko RealPro ND1000 10 stop filter gives neutral results with images usable straight from the camera.