Lost in Woodlands Photography - Irix Edge IFH-100-PRO

Some weeks ago my gear suffered an accident during a sunset photography outing. I didn’t set my tripod properly by mistake and the camera ended up on the ground.
As a result, my Irix Edge IFH-100 filterholder and an Irix Edge GND filter were torn into pieces.
The Irix Lens team helped me on replacing the lost material, so the mishap didn’t hurt that bad. I took advantage of the situation to make an improvement and I decided to get the new Irix Edge IFH-100-PRO filterholder.

Let’s talk about the brand new Irix Edge IFH-100-PRO.

The first thing that catched my attention once I had it on my hands was its structure. The Irix Edge IFH-100-PRO is tougher, lighter, it has high quality materials and the finish is slightly more cared than the predecessor, the Irix Edge IFH-100.

According to the manufacturer specifications, the surface black cover guarantees sharper images, without flashes or flares that could ruin our shots. Furthermore, the material used has resistance to compression, shock and temperature variations, which guarantees durability.

The most striking thing about this filterholder, and maybe one of the reasons that made me moved forward and “renew myself”, is that it includes a round polarizer filter inside its own structure. It’s made of tempered optical glass that gives you a lot of sharpness and a total absence of flares and refections or color cast, because until today (and after using it for almost 2 months) I didn’t notice any problem on these aspects.

Despite catching my attention, this also worried me. Having this polarizer could make the handling and the usability harder to manage. But the true is that it wasn’t that way, the polarizer setting is really simple and the filterholder can be used without it in case is needed.
Just by turning a blue nut, one of the two side guides (where the square/rectangular filters are placed) is released, which allows us to place the polarizer in the appropriate position and then return the guide to its initial position.
Once placed, we can rotate it without removing it, removing other filters or the filterholder itself from the lens. To do it, we simply use another small blue nut, which is located on one of the sides, and which will rotate it to the desired position.

This system is really convenient when you have several rectangular/square filters placed and you don’t need to move or remove them to change the polarization when, for example, the camera goes from a horizontal to a vertical position (or viceversa). I find this system really ingeniuos and quite usable.
I also appreciate the fact of being able to rotate it without moving the camera nor the composition, while looking through the viewfinder or Live View and without having to juggle a thousand times.

Another important point is the improvement that I have noticed in the guides where the square/rectangular filters are placed. In this model the filters fit much tighter, partly also caused by the foam areas in the upper and lower part of the structure, which provides extra security.
In addition, the nut that facilitates the installation and removal of the polarizer allows us to control the hardness of the side guides. We can now reduce the tension to place the square/rectangular filters and to adjust them correctly once they are in the desired position.

As a disvantage, I have to say that I have detected vignetting using some objectives. When I was working with my Canon 16-35mm (82mm diameter), and adapter rings, black corners were appreciated in the most opened focal, mainly at 16mm.
It’s nothing serious and you can solved it by closing the composition just a little bit or in post-processing.
Of course, I have not detected any vignetting with my Irix Blackstone 15mm.

In conclusion, this new Irix Edge IFH-100-PRO represents a notable advance over its predecessor, providing a robust and precise system that allows you to work with your filters with quite comfort.
Extremely satisfied with my purchase, I am sure that I will take many nice photos with this new material!

Here are some shots I have took with this new material, I hope you like them!
Check my gallery also!