Customer Reviews

HonlPhoto Color Correction Filter Kit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all - can you make this kit yourself fairly easily with some glue, velcro and Roscolux sheets? Yes, of course you can. Can you really do it for this price? I'm not so sure you can, particularly when you factor in how well-made these really are and how easy they can make you life on location when you only have a few minutes, maybe, to get the light right for your shot.

One reviewer said you can melt the gel - that's crazy. These are Roscolux gels and I've had Roscolux gels taped over the reflector dish of a 2000 watt light and never had problems. The idea that a small strobe, even at 1/1, could take a gel out is little nuts.

I'm a full-time shooter and I use small-strobe, off-camera flash quite a bit. In fact, one of my speedlights has a honl speed strap and 1/2 CTO gel on it ALL the time for lighting portraits.

I you want to tape and un-tape your gels all the time, go ahead and maybe you'll save five bucks - but I love having this set in a plastic bag in my bag ready to go at a moments notice.

This has CTO (Color Temperature Orange) in full and partial shades, to make the flash the same color as incandescent bulbs (then set DSLR camera AWB to tungsten). Or, use the light green over the flash to match most florescent lights. Or, light blue for window lighting on cloudy days. The Velcro goes on and off easily. 2 of each gel color included (They don't last forever, Or to allow matching colors on 2 flashes).

Glad I bought these. You also need to put Velcro on your flash, to hold these gels on.

The one thing lacking in this product, is you can not attach multi filters at the same time. So if you need more of a color or want to mix colors for an effect you can not do it with this kit. All the filters are cut to the same size and there is no clearance to add a second filter. It is well made and has it uses in lighting. They are very quick and easy to use. I wish it had color correcting filters in the kit. You get two filters of the kits each colors, Red, yellow, green, and blue.

I continue to be discouraged that Amazon allows items to be shown differently that the way they are sold. From my communication with them in the past, they have said the picture is supposed to match. In this case, read the written descriptions carefully, as the "speed strap" Velcro device wrapped around the flash is not included. In this case, I think it is fairly clear, and more my fault, but in the last month, I have receives items that were simply mis-represented in a way that made them unsuitable. Four stars for this item, because it is close, and as I say, I should have read closer. 1 star for the others, because they were flat wrong. Bigger issue is that Amazon, who is otherwise the best (the best) to work with, needs to tighten up on their vendors a bit. So just read carefully.

And if you have read this far, the filters are good, and of the various competitors around, this would be my first choice, especially after I bought (and had to wait again) the Velcro strap.

Good product. Let me add that the "orange" is especially effective for fill flash in sunlight where your subject is in shade, or back to the sun. What a wonderful solution to a really big problem (flash being too blue used as fill in sunlight ).

Good product.

I have never worked w/ gels before -- this opens up a whole new world of classy photography. Gone away are the horrible pictures w/ funky ambient lighting -- only high quality wedding reception/large gatherings from here on out!! Very excited about the quality of improvement. You will however need to purchase the velcro strap in order to use these. I personally like these gels and the way they attach to the velcro (while still allowing me to use my 8" snoot). I purchased a different type of gel and holder as well -- they did not work as well w/ the snoot nor did they attach as well to my speedlight. I know that i will be utilizing these for awhile!

If you are doing strobist shooting for fun or profit this is a great color correction kit. Keep in mind it will work best if you also get the HONL speed strap (which I also purchased). Nothing fancy and honestly you can get the big sheets of gel and use a rubber band. But.. this is a nice, compact little item that you can tuck into the bag and keep in reserve. Shoots are hectic and this removes one more detail that you have to manage. Just slip the speed strap on the strobe and use the handy velcro strips to attach your color correction. No fuss and takes all of 15 seconds. Nice, practical product.

Has all the gels that i need. Easy to cut to fit more adequately to the flash head you use, and also easy to put on and take off.

I am new to gels and balancing existing light with flash. So far I am satisfied with my purchase. I knew I wanted to experiment with gels and so I went with Honl. The corresponding velcro strap works pretty well with my Canon 580ex2 and 550ex -- just maybe a tad too long and hangs over the corner a little bit (see Amazon product picture). The gels hang over the edges of the flash heads too. While I would want them cut to size, I can understand why they might be a little over sized (to color any light that spills). The packages comes with two of each type of gel. I didn't realize this when I ordered, so was pleasantly surprised I had one for each of my flashes.

It would have been nice if the gels came with a carrying case of some sort. Right now I store mine in the original bag, but I'll probably create my own mini folder using some velcro I have to keep them organized, and to read the labels more easily. Another reviewer sounded disappointed that the velcro was glued onto the gels. So far mine have held up but I can see why that reviewer might be concerned. In the end you could buy gels, cut them, and tape them, but I thought a system like this would appear more professional to a client -- maybe when I'm a veteran, I'll be able to pull off the cut gels and gaffer tape look :)

I wish I new about this brand a long time ago. I love the full CTO for wedding ceremonies and receptions, which are almost always tungsten. I used to individually white balance each photo in post, because each picture had a different blend of flash and ambient light. Now I just set the camera to tungsten WB and every shot it perfect. I can't imagine how many hours this could have saved me if I would have been using this the last five years. I like that it comes with 2 of each. I trimmed the filter down to exactly fit my 580ex flashes, which was easy. I also found an easy solution for attaching it to my flash. I had just bought these Velcro Reusable Self-Gripping Ties, 0.5 Inches x 8 Inches, Black/Gray, 50 Ties per Pack (90924) on Amazon for 3.38 with free shipping. This works perfectly to wrap around the end of the flash - and then if I want to put a fong dong on, I just slide it farther up the flash. They are so thin it doesn't bother me to leave the velcro on all the time. Although I pretty much always leave the filters on now because outside I use different lighting equipment. Probably the best $20 I have every spent on photography gear.

Honl filters are an elegant alternative to taping or rubber banding gels over a portable flash head. This system is a lot more expensive than the more do it yourself versions. But the gels will never fall off the flash head, full coverage is guaranteed, and the color and type of filter is printed in big bold easy to read letters.

Color correction filters over a flash are most useful for fill flash. The team picture in a gym where the majority of the light is sodium vapor or flourescent, placing the correct gel over the flash and dialing the flash down a stop or two, will fill in the dark racoon eye effect, but not create all those ugly dark shadows from flash alone.

A speed strap is required to attach these filters to a flash (HonlPhoto Speed Strap for Shoe Mount Flashes). The roll up case is a pretty good accessory to carry around these gels (Roll Up Filter Case).

These filter kits come with a pair of filters in a given color and intensity. The color correction kit works wonders to balance ambient interior light with flash. This kit will balance tungsten, fluorescent, halogen, and sodium vapor lights. The CTO series filters in 1/4, 1/2, and full, in addition to tungsten balance, work great for creating an artificial sunset or warming the tone of the flash. The other two series are green and blue for different kinds of fluorescent and sodium vapor lamps.

There is no need to attach the full length of Velcro to the Honl speed strap. The filters are very light and really only need to be tacked on at two or three places. The more Velcro that is pushed together, the harder it will be to remove the filter.

Of course these gels will get bent, dented, and banged up. This won't affect performance at all. The Velcro appears to be attached to the gels very tightly.

Other gel sets:
HonlPhoto Color Effects Filter Kit
HonlPhoto Autumn Filter Kit