Formatt Hitech have finally come out with a Nightscape filter. It is one that I had been hoping they would do as it is a really handy one to have if you like night photography.
The Nightscape Filter from Formatt Hitech
Lots of other companies have them and when I asked Formatt Hitech a couple of years ago there didn’t seem to be any plans to do one. Very happy to say that has now changed.
I have only got mine and the main reason for getting it now was to try it out later this week. I’m going down to the Great Ocean Road for a few days. The plan is to try and do some Astro down there. The filter will be perfect for it. Anyhow, you will hear more about that later this week.
However, I was in the city the other night. We weren’t planning on spending too much time in there as my friend is getting over the flu. Man, the flu has been bad this year, seems everyone has been coming down with it. Not me. I hardly ever get sick. I rarely get what is going around and when I do I just get a mild version of it. Something I’m very grateful for now, but as a kid, I hated it. Rarely did I get days off from school for being sick. Okay back to the point.
We just set up and took a couple of shots before leaving for home. I did some with and without shots to show you.
With or Without
We were near Southbank and had just finished our dinner at Yassas and then headed out to take a couple of shots of the city. We eat at this place nearly all the time. They have a great meal that I like being a vegetarian.
I didn’t take many shots, but have some here for you. I’m going to put them in galleries so you can flip between the one with and the one without.
The filter is blue, so it helps cut out the yellow glow from the tungsten lights in the city. Though another effect that I liked was how it cuts down the brightness of the lights as well. You lose that warmth that you might get, but you don’t get so many lights blown out. If you love that warm tone you can always add it later in post.
Another example.
It works really well. See how you retain a lot more of the orange building in the middle of this image, Flinders Street Station. It is interesting and I can’t wait to try it with some astro.
Buying and Discount
You can purchase this filter directly from Formatt Hitech. Here is the link for it, Nightscape Filter. When you are purchasing anything from the website don’t forget to add the code LCOLE10 to get your 10% discount. I get a small kickback as well.
After the weekend, if we get some clear skies, I will do another post on it.
Hi Leanne, I wonder if you got any advice regarding the white balance setting to use with this filter? I like the way it has cut the street lighting in this shot at https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51647488995_3888ca0164_o_d.jpg, but I had to use the white balance dropper in my RAW conversion program (DxO PhotoLab 5) to get the right temperature. I wonder if one is supposed to measure the light temperature before putting on the filter? Certainly none of the preset values on my a6600 gave a result I was happy with.
Hey Michael, I really wish I could help, but I don’t know. I don’t tend to play with white balance much. I also haven’t used DxO PhotoLab 5 so no idea what to do with it. Good luck with it.
I see the filter on their UK website but not there US site. Does that mean it is not available in the US?
I don’t know Doug, I haven’t really looked at the US site. Sorry.
Just a quick observation: wonder if you could achieve the same result by changing the camera white balance to fluorescent? seems like what is happening with the filter. Again just looking at it on the computer screen. May be a clear difference with original image file.
Thanks
I’ve wondered the same thing, but it is a little different. I have tried it out. Thanks Jack.