The PureNight Filter Cuts Out Light Pollution for Better Night Sky Photos
Light pollution is a drag for night sky photographers, usually requiring some post-processing magic in Lightroom or Photoshop to fix. But what if you could slap on a special glass filter that drastically cut down on the light pollution your camera sensor captures? Well… you can.
That’s exactly what the PureNight filter, the latest creation by night sky photographer Ian Norman of Lonely Speck, promises to do. This premium glass filter is made from special didymium glass that specifically reduces the transmission of light from sodium vapor lamps, one of the main causes of light pollution.
Here are a few before and after images that show the filter in action. According to Ian, “These are all converted from RAW with no edits other than exposure bump of 0.7EV on the PureNight shots to compensate for the reduced light pollution.” The filter seems to work like a charm:
Lonely Speck promises the highest quality from the PureNight filter.
“PureNight is precision ground and polished and features an anti-reflective multi-coating,” writes Ian. “[This] greatly reduces the effect of internal reflections and ghosting that plague most filters when used at night with bright light sources in the image.”
And since the filter is being made available in standard 85mm and 100mm versions, you can mount it to just about any camera using common square filter holders.
To learn more about this filter or help Lonely Speck reach their production minimums for the 85mm and 100mm filters, click here.
Pre-ordering the filter will cost you $220 for the 85mm and $240 for the 100mm, but these early bird prices won’t last, so act fast if you’re interested—we don’t think these filters will have a hard time getting funded by the December 31st deadline. Estimated shipping for the first run is March of 2017.
UPDATE: The PureNight light pollution filter is available now and is sold exclusively on lonelyspeck.com by Ian Norman and Diana Southern, creators and owners of the Lonely Speck blog and the PureNight filter. Any other website or store selling a light pollution filter under the PureNight or any other name is not an authorized seller of Lonely Speck’s light pollution filter, and the product being sold is not manufactured or sold by Lonely Speck or covered by the Lonely Speck 100% satisfaction guarantee. For any questions about the PureNight filter, please email [email protected].
The PureNight filter can be purchased at this link: lonelyspeck.com/purenight
Image credits: All photos by Ian Norman and used with permission.
