The Tokina Rain Dispersion Filter Has No Problem Keeping Water off Your Lens
For those people who are fed up with constantly wiping water drops off of their lens when shooting in rainy weather, Tokina has a pretty ingenious solution for you: a hydrophilic “rain dispersion filter.”
The filter was created by Tokina in cooperation with Japanese broadcasting corporation NHK, and as you can see from the demo, any water that is sprayed onto the filter spreads evenly across the entire surface before flowing off, leaving no droplets that might obscure the view.
Even more impressive is the view from the other side of the viewfinder. Although from the front it looks like the lens would still be obscured some, the water that is being sprayed onto the filter hardly shows up at all, and then only for a split second.
According to Tokina employee Chris, the filter should be available starting early next year in a variety of circular sizes as well as square. If these types of filters become popular, it’ll be interesting to see if lens makers begin applying similar coatings to the lenses themselves.
