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SRB Elite Filter System

by Mike McNamee

SRB have been operating for 50 years this year. Your editor has been using them for a good chunk of that time having started well back into the mid-70s with microscope adaptors. The company has a well-deserved reputation for its engineering and so we were keen to handle this latest filter system.

The design is unique (we think!) in that it has the usual square filter slots (two) but now contains an additional recessed slot for a circular filter to be fitted. Now for the clever bit – the circular filter may be rotated independently of the square filters! (The small knurled rotation wheels are arrowed in the picture below which also shows the carry case.) At a stroke this makes it possible to combine a rotatable polariser with a graduated ND filter or one of the high-density stopper filters.

Additionally the 10- and 6-stop ND filters are also available in circular format and the closeness of the recessing removes the need for a felt light sealer strip (which is always a liability in the field with dust and rain). Thus if you wish to use a polariser and an ND filter then the ND must be the regular P-format (nominally 84x95mm). The cost of the filters is very competitive (see the table and www.srb-photogrpahic. co.uk).

This itself is important because many landscape photographers pack half-a-dozen or so filters and this represent a relatively small outlay.

The engineering of the system is excellent, solid anodised aluminium for the frame with a nicely sprung, brass sprocket to allow the unit to be dismounted from the adaptor ring attached to the lens.

Optical Testing

The filter is a circular polariser (if you look through it at a mirror it is black!). We set it up on a 24–105mm f4 Nikkor zoom lens. Vignetting occurred at 24mm and the effect was made worse stopping down, which sharpened the edge of the intrusion into the field of view.

Depending upon the subject this may be more, or less important, Photoshop could repair many types of 'damage'. The effect was detectable for 7% into the horizontal and 20% down from the top. This is a significant loss of area. The effect was tightened up to 5% and 14% at f16. No vignetting was detectable at the 105mm end of the zoom.

The control of reflections, one of the prime purposes of this type of filter is shown in the composite image. The other important purpose of polarisers is to enhance the colour contrast although today this may also be carried out by adjustments in Camera Raw, however, in landscape photography the ability of polarisers to cut through haze is something that the ACR Haze Filter can only partially accomplish. Such was the weather we had no opportunity to test the classic polarising effect on blue skies (not a single day of sunshine during the testing period!).

There is a small amount of exposure 'confusion' caused by using the camera on auto exposure with the polariser in place but nothing that you ordinarily experience under real conditions – you still need to keep an eye on your histogram for critical work even if ACR can pull back most errors!

The images above are 'as shot' using matrix metering on a dull overcast day. The exposure difference caused by the polariser is thus visible.

OVERALL

This is a very competitively priced accessory, made to top-class engineering standards.

There is a slight residual concern about the vignetting with the lens used to test the system although this is a common problem with wide angle lenses. The more expensive Lee Filter System accommodates the wideangle lenses with a special adaptor. It might pay to discuss your choice with SRB ahead of purchase.

The range is extensive with many other types of filters in both round and rectangular format. Visit: srb-photographic.co.uk/



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026