Spent $60 on a light pollution filter and it saved my Milky Way shots

I bought a cheap clip in filter for my lens from Amazon and suddenly my suburban backyard photos looked like they were taken from a dark sky site, has anyone else tried one of these things?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley23d ago

Yo, did you get one of those clip-in ones that goes between the camera and the lens? I've been seeing those cheap ones on Amazon for like 30 bucks and wondering if they actually work for shooting through city lights.

ryan_shah3823d ago

Yo man, I feel you on this one. I actually bought one of those cheap clip-in VND filters from some random brand called K&F Concept for like 35 bucks last month. It worked okay for like a week but then I started getting this weird flare in my shots when I tried to shoot through neon signs and street lights at night. It was really frustrating because I was out downtown trying to get some cool city shots and all these orange halos showed up in the corners. I think for the price it's a gamble, but honestly you get what you pay for with these things. If you're gonna use it more than a few times, maybe save up for something a little nicer because the cheap ones really do mess with the light in a bad way.

charles_mitchell22d ago

Yeah, I got one of those clip-in ones... the K&F brand actually. Worked fine for about a week then I started seeing these weird purple blotches in my shots when the sun hit the lens just right. Ruined a whole day of shooting memorial day weekend at a park near my house. I was trying to get these cool long exposure shots of a fountain and every single one had this purple haze in the corner like someone smeared grape jelly on the glass... drove me crazy trying to fix it in Lightroom later. My buddy swears by his Hoya but that thing cost him like triple what I paid so who knows.