Filters are an essential part of any landscape photographer’s kit, but they are expensive and often fragile. A good lens filter case is vital to protect your filters from cracks and scratches. In this guide, we will look at all of the best photography lens filter cases on the market, and I’ll make some recommendations as to which cases will work best for you. Whether you want to store a few round screw-on filters or a complete filter holder kit with graduated filters and ND filters, there’s a solution for you in this guide.
Table of Contents
What to Look for When Choosing a Lens Filter Case
Filter Type
Are you using screw-on circular filters or 100mm square filters? Are you using 100mmx150mm (4×6″) graduated neutral density filters, or maybe even 150mm filters for an ultra-wide-angle lens? Ensuring the filter case holds suitable filters is the most important thing. Many brands make cases that are designed specifically for one filter type, while others also make filter cases capable of holding multiple types.
How Much Protection Is There?
Some lens filter cases offer minimal protection, under the assumption that you will be placing that filter cases into an already well-padded camera bag. Other filter cases provide much more protection, allowing you to mount them on the outside of your camera bag where they are more easily accessible.
Best Lens Filter Case for Multiple Filters – 100mm and Circular
Think Tank Filter Hive
- Holds 6 square or rectangular filters (100x100mm, 100x150mm)
- Holds 6 circular filters (up to 82mm diameter)
- Holds 100mm filter holder
The Think Tank Photo Filter Hive has a unique 2-piece design. An external padded case has a tripod strap, belt look and zippered accessory pocket. Inside the padded case, you’ll find the filter organizer with softly padded slots for 100mm rectangular or square filters, and six more slots for circular filters. Alongside the organiser, you also have room for step-up rings and your filter holder.
The 2-piece design is fantastic. If you place the filter bag in the top of your camera bag for rapid access, you probably want all the padding offered by the external case. But, if your bag already has a padded internal camera unit protecting your camera gear, you can extract the filter organiser and put this directly in amongst your cameras and lenses. No other camera filter case gives you that flexibility. Of course, this case also has the excellent build quality we have come to expect from all Think Tank Photo products.
To read more about this filter case, you can also read my Think Tank MindShift Filter Hive Review.
US Customers spending over $50 in Think Tank Photo’s online store can get a free gift at checkout after following one of the links to the store from this review–like this one. If you have any issues, please follow the instructions on this page.
Shimoda Filter Wrap
- Filter Wrap 100: Holds 4 x 100x100mm or circular filters + filter holder
- Filter Wrap 150: Holds 6 x 100x150mm, 100x100mm or circular filters + filter holder
The Shimoda Filter Wrap is available in two sizes: Filter Wrap 100 and Filter Wrap 150. The Filter Wrap 100 has four zippered pockets for 100mm square filters, or screw-on round filters, and a larger padded zippered pocket for your filter holder. The Filter Wrap 150 has six slots for 100x150mm rectangular filters (would also fit 100mm square filter) and a padded zippered pocket for the filter holder. Both models also have a zippered accessory pocket.
At around $35, these camera filter cases are well-priced compared to others on this list. They are built incredibly well, with rugged, lightweight, waterproof materials. If you don’t use graduated NDs, the Filter Wrap 100 is a great choice for a relatively lightweight filter kit with no more than four filters. If you do use graduated NDs, the 150 model gives you a little more space.
Shimoda Designs has offered Shutter Muse readers a 10% discount on anything purchased through their online stores. US, Canadian, UK, French, or German residents should use the discount code ShutterMuse10 after clicking here to access the store. Australian readers should use the same code on the local Shimoda distributor’s site, Maxxum, instead.
Haida M10 Filter Pouch
- Holds 8 filters (100x100mm, 100x150mm, Haida M10 filters or circular filters)
- Holds 100mm filter holder
The Haida M10 Filter Pouch is a simple filter case with eight filter slots and an additional larger slot for your 100mm filter holder. For budget-conscious photographers, it offers excellent value for money. For those who use the Haida M10 or M10-II filter holder with its bespoke drop-in filter system, this is a great option.
NiSi Caddy 100mm Filter Pouch
- Holds up to 9 filters (4 x 100x100mm and 5 x 100x150mm)
- Holds 100mm filter holder
The NiSi filter holders are very popular, so many look to the matching NiSi Caddy 100mm Filter Pouch to carry the holder and their filters. This is a relatively cheap filter case for one that holds so many filters, and the smaller slots for 100mm square filters can also be used for screw-on circular filters.
Think Tank Filter Nest
- Holds 8 circular filters (up to 82mm diameter)
- Holds 2-3 step-up rings
F-Stop Gear Welded Filter Case
- Holds 6 filters (100x100mm, 100x150mm or circular filters)
- Holds 100mm filter holder
F-Stop is known for producing resilient products for outdoor photographers. Built from high-denier waterproof nylon, their filter case is no exception. The dedicated section for the filter holder is generously sized and very well padded, offering plenty of protection for a filter holder with an integrated CPL filter. If you know that your regularly-used filters will fit into six slots, the F-Stop filter case is an option worth considering.
Lowepro GearUp Filter Pouch 100
- Holds 10 square or rectangular (100x100mm, 100x150mm filters)
- Holds 2 circular filters (up to 72mm diameter)
- Holds 100mm filter holder
The Lowepro GearUp Filter Pouch 100 is one of the cheaper multi-filter cases in this guide. Ten rectangular slots are a significant number, although it would have been nice if the circular filter slots could hold filters larger than 72mm in diameter, given how standard 77m filters are.
The downside of the Lowepro filter case is that the pocket for the filter holder is on the exterior of the bag. If you are using a filter holder with an integrated circular polarizing filter, such as the Haida M10-II or NiSi V7, you would have to remove the CPL filter and store it in one of the filter pockets inside the bag after every use.
Think Tank MindShift Filter Hive Mini
- Holds 4 square or rectangular filters (100x100mm, 100x150mm)
Think Tank MindShift Filter Nest Mini
- Holds 4 circular filters (up to 82mm diameter)
NiSi Circular Filter Caddy
- Holds 8 circular filters (up to 95mm diameter)
Best Filter Case for 150mm Filters
If you use larger 150mm filter holders for ultra-wide lenses, you’ll need a particular case to store those in. Although there are far fewer options on the market for the large 150mm filter systems than the much more popular 100mm systems, there are still a few great solutions to choose from.
Haida M15 Filter Bag
- Holds up to 8 x filters (8 x 150x150mm, 150x170mm or large circular filters)
- Holds 1 x 150mm filter holder
Haida market this as a bag for their 150mm system M15 filter holder, but you can use other 150mm filter holders without a problem. The bag includes slots for 8 x 150mm filters and a large padded space for the filter holder. On the inside of the lid, there is a zippered pocket for small accessories and filter cleaning gear.
On the positive side, the Haida M15 bag is slightly cheaper than the NiSi Caddy 150mm case. Compared to the NiSi case, it offers more internal volume for filter holder storage, as well as a removable filter sleeve that can be placed directly into your camera bag.
NiSi Caddy 150mm Filter Pouch
- Holds up to 7 x filters (7 x 150x150mm, 150x170mm or large circular filters)
- Holds 1 x 150mm filter holder
Not surprisingly, this 150mm filter case from NiSi is just a slightly larger version of their Caddy 100mm filter case. Although NiSi markets it explicitly as a case for filters along with their S5 or S6 150mm filter holder, there is no reason why you couldn’t use it to store other similarly sized 150mm filter holders.
Kase K150 Soft Filter Case
- Holds up to 10 x filters (8 x 150x150mm, 150x170mm or large circular filters)
- Does NOT hold a filter holder
Unlike the Haida and NiSi 150mm lens filter cases, the Kase K150 150mm case does not have a space to store the actual filter holder. I wouldn’t say I like that as much. Wherever possible, I want to keep my filter and filter holder in the same case. On the plus side, it has ten slots for your 150mm filters, which is more than the Haida and NiSi options. Ten filters is a lot, though! Especially ten heavy 150mm filters.
Single Photography Filter Cases
I have covered all of the best filter cases for storing multiple filters and filter accessories. Sometimes, though, all you need is a simple lightweight padded case for a single filter. Lens filter case manufacturers often package their circular filters or 100m square filters in hard plastic cases.
These plastic cases are bulky, and hard edges make them tricky to squeeze into tight spaces in your camera bag. If that sounds like a familiar story to you, and you just want to safely store one or two filters in your bag, or colour-code several filters, I have a fantastic solution.
Breakthrough Photography 100mm Soft Case
Breakthrough Photography’s 100mm Soft Case is the perfect solution for storing a single square or circular filter of 100mm diameter or less. The interior is lined with beautifully plush material, and the padded foam exterior gives you plenty of drop protection. If you buy a 100mm square filter from Breakthrough Photography it will already come in one of these cases. For everyone else, you can buy these for just $10.
The cases are available in four different colours which allows you to organize multiple filters using your own colour-coding scheme. They’re also perfect for storing all your filter step-up rings.
I like the Gobe/Urth threaded caps that you can screw onto either end of a stack of circular filters to protect them. Simple and effective.