There aren’t a lot of ways to really impress photographers about lens filters. Most of them would rather just work on the images in post-production. But others really like seeing what filters do for them. However, they’re at times a pretty expensive part of the photography hobby. And the Haida M10 II surely isn’t an exception to that rule. However, you’re getting arguably some of the best filters you can get your hands on. In fact, I think it’s fair to call Haida the Rolls Royce of filter companies.

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The Haida M10 II system filters are an incredible way of doing a whole lot of things at once with a lens and a camera. We think that they’re going to be best used by landscape photographers and cityscape photographers, but there are tons of applications for these filters. They allow for both special circular filters as well as square filters. And they’re adaptable to so many different lenses. However, to get the most from the system, you’ll need to buy in and probably replace a bunch of filters you may already have.

I’d advise going in in baby steps. But I think that you’ll enjoy it no matter what.

The Haida M10 II wins five out of five stars. Want one? Check them out at Adorama or Amazon to purchase.

We tested the Haida M10 II with the:

What the Haida M10 II does really well is lets photographers use both special circular filters and square filters at the same time. We’ve seen a few other systems like those from K&F concept do this. But what Haida does better is manage the build quality and the coatings on the filters. Overall too, the durability of every single filter is impressively better than most others that I’ve tried from older companies.

The Haida M10 II has a bunch of different pieces. Here in this photo you’re see the main holder with all its components. We’ll go through that in more depth a bit later. But you’re also seeing a square ND filter, a clear night filter, and a CPL filter. The CPL has a fun design that lets you rotate it from the top!

To attach the Haida M10 II to your lens, you’re going to need to use the sizing rings that Haida provides. Of course, you’ll want to keep these around to make the attachment secure.

Here’s a look at the holder system with the Clear Night filter inside. There are a few areas to really pay attention to here. There’s the top section, which has two red buttons that let the filter slip in and out. Then there is the tab on the right, which lets you remove the adapter ring. On the other side of that is the locking mechanism that keeps everything night and tight together.

Here’s another view of the filter holder. You can also see here that it’s not all that large in the photos. But in the hand, it seems pretty big to hold.

In this photo above you’ll see the holders for the square filters. These are held in using tension. So you’ll slip them in slowly and remove them exactly as such.

Here’s a closer look at the filter adapter locking mechanism.

The Haida M10 II has pretty good build quality overall. All of the moving parts feel very solid and are made from a combination of plastic and metal. But they also come with their own special cases to keep all the parts in good condition. Further, a few replacement parts also come in the package. 

Besides the durability of the square filters, something needs to be said for the circular filters. Each filter is surrounded by metal and has buttons to easily drop it in and lock it in. Then from there, you can adapt the kit to a lens easily. Typically if I’m not using the Haida Clear Night filter, I just use the CPL filter and dial it down to the weakest setting. 

Overall, again, the build quality of the Haida M10 II is a step above many of the others that I’ve used. 

The Haida M10 II isn’t all that difficult to use once you play around with it and understand what’s going on. There are a bunch of moving parts to it that can make it a bit complicated to use. But they’re also very intuitive after just a few uses. 

I used the Haida M10 II system in a few different ways. First off, I used it without any square filters and with just the Clear Night filter. This filter is one of the best that I’ve seen when it comes to cutting out light pollution. However, I’ve still got a lot of work to do with this specific filter. It’s one of the circular ones that slides into the back.

Then I’ve also used it with the CPL for product photography and food photography both. For this, it’s been really great at helping me get more details from a scene. CPL filters sometimes act like a dehaze and clarity filter, which can be very fun overall.

Lastly, I’ve used the Haida M10 II with the 10-stop ND filter to cut down on excess light in a scene. And that’s helped me capture photos of beautiful and dramatic clouds. With Canon EOS R, I’ve used it combined with the multiple exposure setting to avoid using post-production and Photoshop. The cool thing about Canon too is that the multiple exposure setting keeps the RAWs and renders the final image as a RAW. So if you’re a photographer that really loves post-production, then you’ll love what the Haida M10 II filter does.

In the last scenario, I’d use the Clear Night filter and the 10-stop ND together. My biggest gripe is finding a way to keep the square filters clean. The way that the Haida M10 II is design encourages you to literally grip an edge and pull it out. With that said though, it’s often very securely held in place.

The Haida M10 II is an easy purchase consideration for any photographer that is really serious about landscapes, cityscapes, astro, or any photography that requires a filter of some sort. What makes them unique over other purchase considerations is the quality of the glass. Not only are they just built better, but they’re also pretty innovative about the designs. The dual drop-in system is one of the best approaches that I’ve seen that also helps to ensure that your filters last longer. 

If you throw them into your camera bag too, they’ll also seem like they’re brand new because of how good the casings are. 

Personally, I hate shooting with filters during the summer. But when the fall and winter come around, I’m going to have so much more fun using these things.

The entire Haida M10 system is pretty complex. But here are some specs on the holder from Adorama’s listing:

The second generation of Haida’s innovative M10 100mm Filter Holder, the M10-II holder features a new non-slip design to allow for easier use in all weather conditions and has been redesigned with a new locking design for quicker attachment to the adapter ring, new filter guides that snap into place, eliminating the need to remove screws to add or remove a guide. Finally the M10-II filter holder features a new locking knob that will keep the holder in place after it has been rotated.

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He also likes pizza.