The MindShift Filter Hive By ThinkTankPhoto

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I am a big fan of ThinkTank and MindShift products. I own several of their bags, filter carriers, and other products. Hands down the Filter Hive is the best $60 I have spent to improve my landscape photography field workflow. It is a core component of my “ground free” kit. The Filter hive puts all of my filters at my fingertips, as well as other accessories like lens cloths, wipes, memory cards, and remote triggers. So for you cut-to-the-chase types in the crowd, yes, I wholeheartedly recommend the Filter Hive. If you use filters, get this filter case!

Get The Filter Hive

MindShift Filter Hive draped on a Really Right Stuff tripod and ballhead.

Who Is The Filter Hive For?

If you’re a landscape photographer, you use filters. If you use filters, the Filter Hive is for you. I have used the Filter Hive to carry and protect my filters for years. It remains one of the best investments I’ve made for my landscape photography. My field workflow is so much more streamlined. Every time I show the Filter Hive to a photographer that hasn’t seen one, they want to know more about it.

The Filter Hive is the perfect balance between compact and capable. It is large enough to hold a broad assortment of filters yet compact enough to drape around your tripod or attach to a bent. Put all of your filters at your fingertips and stop fumbling around with wallets or the dark corners of your camera bag. My Filter Hive has near permanent resident status on at the base of my ballhead. When I need to swap filters or add more glass, my filters are just right there.

I can truthfully say it is one of the best purchases I have made to improve my landscape photography. And at a price of only $60, one of the most economical. The Filter Hive definitely brings bang for the buck.

Build Quality

The build quality is excellent. We expect a high level of quality from MindShift products and the Filter Hive meets the high standards of ThinkTankPhoto. The Filter Hive is made with durable, weather-resistant material so it is easy to clean. Salt spray, mud splatter, dust, or rain is easily wiped off.

The stitching is very strong as are the zippers. The strap to lash the Filter Hive to a tripod or other device is also very well constructed. I prefer using the Filter Hive draped around my tripod. I rely on the stitching and plastic clasp to hold fast, be strong, and not slip. All are true. This filter carrier has never suddenly come loose or fallen. The craftsmanship is solid.

The Filter Hive outer case holds the inner filter case. It also has a zipper pouch for accessories.

The Filter Hive inner pouch holds the filters and has a protective velcro-seal flap.

The Filter Hive inner pouch is an accordion-style case with slots for both rectangular glass filter and round filters.

The Filter Hive has two parts, an outer black case and an inner gray pouch. Each has a zipper pouch to hold small accessories, like lens wipes or memory cards. The black case and gray pouch also has a protective flap each to keep your filters covered. The slots in the gray pouch that actually hold the filters are soft and sturdy. Your filters are well padded and protected. In my 5 years of use, I have not had any issues with my filters being scratched or damaged in any way in the Filter Hive.

Filter Hive Capacity

The Filter Hive is designed to carry up to 6 glass filters up to 4x6” (100x150mm) and up to 6 round filters up to 82mm diameter (including thick 1.5cm variable NDs). The zipper pouches have sufficient room for a few small accessories, including memory cards, lens cloths, lens wipes, business cards, or a small remote trigger.

So How Much Can The Filter Hive Really Hold?

In practice, the Filter Hive is versatile. I have a variety of filter types, including circular screw-in filters, rectangular glass filters, and drop-in filters for my Haida M10 filter system. What is in my Filter Hive Right now is:

Haida M10 filter holder w/ 3-stop ND+polarizer drop-in
Haida 3-stop ND drop-in
Haida Polarizer drop-in
Haida 17-stop ND drop-in
Haida filler plate drop-in

Haida 2-5 stop Variable-ND circular filter
Haida 5-9 stop Variable-ND circular filter
Formatt-Hitech 6-stop ND 100mm square filter
Formatt-Hitech 10-stop ND 100mm square filter
Lens caps

As well as accessories. I have a spare memory card, lens cloths, several lens wipes, a few business cards, and my wireless remote trigger all in the zipper pouch of the outer black case.

Like I said earlier in this post … everything is at my fingertips with the Filter Hive.