formatt-hitech.com Reviews 16

I bought the nightscape filter, the picture on the website for this filter shows the filter WITH a lovely padded pouch and a lens cloth. If the pouch is anything like the three I have already had from Formatt-Hitec then they are really good quality, well made, magnetic closure, space for label. Neither of them were included in the package. Instead a thin bag for the filter. I have emailed the company twice to no avail. The website is thus completely misleading

Appalling "customer service" - charged, emails responded to ignoring query, goods never delivered.

Worst online ordering experience I've ever encountered, charged money, no items delivered, additional fees demanded with no way to make payment, sit in house in order to pay fees to delivery person who does not arrive.

After ordering online and paying for kit and additional shipping charges:

1) Receive email that there was a missing postcode which was needed for delivery, the entire address had already been provided when ordering, I provided details again along with an eircode (which is not required for Ireland and is not a postcode).

2) Receive another email that a phone number is required (was not a required field when ordering online), I provided them contact number.

3) Receive email stating I need to pay additional "fees and taxes" of €71.78. Nowhere on any of the pages from items ordered -> cart -> order form on the FORMATT HITECH website does it state that there would be any additional fees and taxes.

As FORMATT HITECH state goods are made in the UK import duty should not be charged when deliverying to Ireland and the charge is much higher than VAT alone.

4) Click the link to pay and check what these additional fees and taxes are: "Pay Now" -> broken URL "Sorry! We Can’t Find That Page"

5) I email to query what the charges are for as there are no details at all and how payment can be made as the "Pay Now" link is not working, receive reply that there is a notification on "every page of the Formatt Hitech Shop" (am sent 2 URLs to website pages where there is a notification-none of which were pages related to my order; they were for other products). Then there is a most bizarre back and forth with what appears to be a bot used to auto reply nonsense to emails where the actual query in the email is never answered.

6) Sit in the house for an entire day on day of delivery, currently 9 hours, in order to pay fees to the delivery person who does not arrive.

7) Check delivery tracking which now shows "Delivery Refused"; I was 6 feet from the front door for the entire day and nobody arrived with delivery.

A professional and helpful local business. Would highly recommend. Have had great service and experience in the repair of my laptop and managed to restore all my data.

I found myself getting involved with Formatt Hitech at the start of the year after I applied to take part in their Fukubukuro give away. I was fortunate enough to chosen and I receive a great selection of filters as a result.

I've been a user of Lee filters for a very long time and my current set were all showing signs of being well used. I needed to replace them which is how I found myself looking at Formatt Hitech. Being a South Walian myself it was great knowing that Formatt are based right here in South Wales and I managed to arrange a trip to the factory to collect the Fukubukuro bag.

The filters themselves are very high quality and far superior to the Lee resin ones I'd been using. You see, Lee filters (especially the big stopper) produce a blue colour cast which just adds to the work needed in post production. From what I can tell by using the filters from Formatt there does not appear to be any noticable colour cast. The Firecrest holder does take a bit of getting used to, especially if you are using the light proof curtains. I did have a mishap with a 10 stop filter whilst using it but a quick message to the guys at Formatt had this sorted.

Overall, an excellent product and customer service

When I first got into long exposure photography, I dipped my toes in the water by purchasing cheap resin filters. The ND filters gave me the silky smooth look I was after but the colour cast was so bad that I would struggle to fix in post editing.
I knew I was now hooked and looked to invest in a quality set of ND filters, trust me I did a lot of research and looked at various reviews. After exhaustive research I chose the Formatt-Hitech system, and I am so glad I did.
The company has continued to innovate, with each new product upgrade bringing visibly noticeable improvements to already class leading filters.
I have now been a loyal beneficiary of their development for nearly 10 years and would highly recommend their filters to anyone wanting to take their photography to the next level!

I moved to Formatt Hitech filters a couple of years ago and I couldn’t believe the difference and improvement in clarity and colour accuracy. I’m addicted to the Firecrest Pro & Ultra ranges can’t get enough of them and the new Nightscape filter is fantastic. I’ve tried a couple of other leading filter brands over the years and had a bad experience with quality, colour and customer service and when I compare my pics there is just no comparison Formatt Hitech stands out above the rest and using them has cut my post processing time dramatically. The customer service and communications from the team is fabulous and they are the only filters I will ever have in my bag it’s Formatt Hitech all the way

I was first introduced to Formatt-Hitech Filters while on a photography workshop and got to try them first hand. The first thing I noticed was the supreme build quality and attention to detail of the filters and filter system. Each is carefully crafted to produce outstanding results which outperform anything else I've seen on the market.

I now only use Formatt-Hitech products (primarily the Ultra series) and often take long exposures of over 15 mins knowing that I won't have any issues with colour cast or vignetting.

Well recommended!

My experience with Formatt Hitech and their products has been nothing short of exceptional. The team have been incredibly helpful and supportive over my years of using their products, and the products themselves are the best I’ve used in my fifteen years of photography.

The filters themselves are very neutral and incredibly sharp. The Firecrest Ultra filters particularly, are leaps and bounds ahead of anything else that I’ve used, whilst the holders are well designed and durable.

I've been using Formatt Hitech for a number of years and find the clarity and neutrality of the Firecrest glass to be excellent. The holder is innovative and (when compared to other makes) feature-rich and amazing value.

On the very rare occasion I've needed to seek help from the company, the service I've received has been outstanding and, to my mind, that's the mark of a great company.

Amazing filters, fantastic colour neutrality and very durable. I've had mine for over a year now and there's none with scratches on despite heavy use week in week out. The filter holder is great with the built-in polariser and the graduated ND filters are a joy to work with.

Having used numerous brands of photographic filters over the years none of them in my experience meet the optical quality that you get with Formatt Hitech. Many photographers spend thousands of pounds on camera bodies and lenses to get the best quality image possible and then then skimp on products like filters.

The Formatt Hitech filters perform fantastically, they are ultra sharp and no discernible colour cast, even when stacking multiple filters together for extreme long exposure. Not only are the products excellent, it is backed up with exceptional customer service.

I cannot rate them highly enough.

I've been using the Firecrest Ultra two and three stop soft grads, mostly with longer telephoto lenses to photograph wildlife in the 'wider vista'. These grads maintain incredible sharpness and clarity throughout with no appreciable loss by using them with lenses at 400mm.

The holder is very well made with a reassuring grip on the filters. The geared polariser wheel is easily accessible and the polariser itself is also of superlative quality with sharpness and quality.

Filters come in good quality packaging with wallets that are perfectly suitable for use 'in the field'.

I used to use simple 'screw-in' polarisers, especially in Kenya and South Africa but the Formatt-Hitech holder system allows them to be added and removed from the lens much more quickly. Storing the polariser in the holder is much safer too, especially in safari vehicles.

Fantastic filters and filter holders, they are the only ones I carry in my bag. Also their after sales service is second to none.

The best filters on the market with a great price point.
Amazing quality and amazing market Dept., ready to hear you and give advice.
The best.

There's only one brand I trust to make a product that gives me the quality of results I need. The fact they also have great customer service is a bonus.

I have been using the Formatt-Hitech filters for the past few years for all my work. These filters are 2nd to none and the customer service is exactly the same as well.
The staff are very knowledgeable about the products and delivery is very quick as well