NiSi Filters have released a new filter dubbed the “Natural Night” filter. Unlike the rest of their filter range, this filter is designed for night photography. Essentially this filter is designed to block light pollution such as mercury and sodium vapour lamps, and other streetlights and undesirable wavelengths. This has ideal applications for cityscape photography and astrophotography where light pollution can be a real problem.
I was lucky enough to be given the first prototype in the world to put the filter to the test. By the time I received the filter I was just about to travel to Adelaide to judge the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Fortunately on the night I arrived in Adelaide it was a warm balmy night and presented great conditions for night photography. I headed down to the River Torrens and set up at one of my favourite compositions.
I began photographing using the same settings with and without the filter applied to the front of the lens with the NiSi V5 Pro filter holder. The before and after example images show directly the difference the night filter makes. I have also provided the settings I used for both image sets.
These are just initial test images that I have made with the available shooting time I have had. Unfortunately Sydney has seen some very dreary and rainy weather, and I look forward to the skies clearing so I can capture some stars with the filter.
Camera Settings
Camera: Sony A7R Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L @ 28mm, ISO 100
White Balance: 3400K
Image was exposure blended for highlight control
Camera Settings
Camera: Sony A7R Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L @ 16mm, f/13 for 30 seconds, ISO 100
White Balance: 3400K
Single frames, no exposure blending
My Initial Thoughts
Initial impressions are that this filter provides night cityscape images with pleasing colours, much more-so than those captured without the filter. This should reduce my post processing time on cityscape images – in fact the images in this article have been barely processed at all. I really liked how the removal of the yellow cast of the light pollution in the scene has provided a much better colour separation, which is really noticable in the building on the right hand side in the image above (Adelaide Convention Centre). I’m very keen to see how the filter performs on light pollution around Sydney’s beaches at night, hopefully those skies clear soon!
Filter Availability
The NiSi Natural Night filter can be preordered on my webstore. The filter is only initially available in 100mm however my understanding is that NiSi will be releasing a 150mm version not too far in the future.
Luke Tscharke is a NiSi Filters Ambassador and Official NiSi Reseller. NiSi Filters can be purchased on Luke’s website at photosupply.com.au
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