Last year, I wrote a review about the Kinesis filter bag.
Before I continue, I would like to make it very clear that I love this bag very much and it has become my favourite filter bag of all time. I can't recommend this bag highly enough.
Just shortly after publishing my review, I was alerted that there is a problem with the bag ‘outgassing’. The concern seemed to be about the material within the bag releasing a gas that seems to leave a residue on the filters.
At the time, I did some testing of my bag and found that this did seem to be the case. I was very disappointed because I love the design of the bag and it is extremely functional. But I decided to change to the Lowe Pro filter bag.
To try to cut what is already a long story short, I found the Lowe Pro bag had the same problems. In fact, I would say that probably any newly manufactured filter bag would probably releases gas or chemicals, simply because it is new.
With both filter bags, I found that after a few months, the issue was no longer there. I can only surmise that this is something to do with newly manufactured materials, and in no way does it affect the life of your filters.
I've been using the Kinesis now for the past 9 months or so and have really grown to love it. It is my favourite filter bag of all time, mainly because of how functional it is: It has a lovely little strap that allows me to hang it around my tripod collar where I have instant access to all my filters like a little indexing system. I can heep my head at camera level and if I need to change filters, there's no moving over to the bag to find them and there's no wondering where to put the filter bag either. It works 'with me'.
Also, because the filters are stored sideways and are all accessible like a filing system, I can easily drop a filter back in its slot, and pull another out.
I keep all my filters in this bag now, and I have them ordered in the following way, so I know where everything is, without any fidgeting whilst on location:
1 stop ND 2 stop ND 3 stop ND 3 stop ND (yes, I have two, as sometimes I use 6 stops ND) 1 stop soft grad 2 stop soft grad 3 stop soft grad 1 stop hard grad 2 stop hard grad 3 stop hard grad
As many of you may know, I really believe in 'process'. I keep everything in the same place all the time, because it cuts down on any delay in working in the field. When everything is in the same place, your hand just reaches for the right object based on muscle memory.
This ‘order’ works for me very well, and the bag also has enough space to leave some lens cleaning cloths inside it, or even store the entire lee filter holder (With filters already mounted) when I need to take the holder off the camera.
In short, the bag has become a spare pair of hands for me now, and I will often put in the dark slide for my Hasselblad camera, or anything that needs to be taken off the camera for a few moments. I've never known where to put things when I need to take them off the camera for a few moments, and often lie filters on rocks or on the top of my camera bag. That little strap around the filter bag keeps the filters where they need to be - within easy reach.
I should warn you that this bag is a bit bigger than most filter bags, but it's ergonomics makes me want to take it with me at all times.
If you would like to read the original review about the Kinesis filter bag, then it is here.