There are moments when you capture a scene, and it just lacks that certain something – the mood, the drama, the feeling you experienced firsthand. I remember facing this exact frustration. Images felt flat, skies were washed out, and the desired creative flair was missing. For a long time, I searched for a simple way to infuse my photography with more impact, to push beyond reality and create something evocative. Not addressing this meant my vision was always compromised, leaving potentially stunning shots feeling underwhelming and uninspired. Discovering tools like the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter would have significantly helped me in those early days of seeking that creative edge.
- Dark-blue filter
- Accentuates haze and fog
- Used for dye transfer and contrast effect
Important Points Before Purchasing a Filter
Camera filters serve as powerful tools in a photographer’s arsenal, addressing a variety of challenges from managing light and reflections to dramatically altering colours and mood. Someone seeking a filter is typically looking to gain more control over the final image during capture, reducing the need for extensive post-processing, or achieving effects simply impossible otherwise. The ideal customer for a specific creative filter like a blue filter is likely someone with a clear artistic vision, perhaps interested in dramatic landscapes, experimenting with colour contrasts, or exploring niche areas like infrared or full-spectrum photography where filters unlock unique palettes. If you’re just looking for basic protection or light control, standard UV or ND filters might be more suitable. Those who prefer a purely realistic rendering of a scene or rely solely on digital editing might find such a filter restrictive. Before buying any filter, especially one with a strong colour effect, you absolutely must consider your lens’s filter thread size – compatibility is non-negotiable. You should also think about the specific effect you want to achieve, the material and coating quality of the filter, and the brand’s reputation for consistency and durability. Understanding how the filter impacts exposure is also crucial, as colour filters often require exposure compensation.
- Includes #6, #13, & #25 Contrast Filters
- 【58mm Color Filter Kit】 This kit includes 9 pieces 58mm color filters (red, orange, blue, yellow, green, brown, purple, pink, and gray filter), 2 filter pouches, and a cleaning cloth
Introducing the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter
The Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter is a specialized glass filter designed to dramatically alter the colour balance of your photographs, specifically by absorbing red and green light and allowing blue light to pass through more readily. Its primary promise is to create bold, impactful images by accentuating atmospheric effects like haze and fog, producing stark contrast, and enabling unique creative looks, particularly in monochrome conversions or specific colour applications. When you purchase this filter, you get the filter itself, typically housed in a protective case. While not a market leader in terms of broad usage like a UV or CPL filter, the Blue 47 is a classic in the realm of creative and technical filters, known for its specific, strong effect. This specific Tiffen filter is for the photographer who understands the technical implications of using such a dense colour filter and wants its pronounced look. It’s less suited for casual photographers seeking subtle enhancements or those primarily focused on accurate colour reproduction in standard photography.
Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
* Creates dramatic, moody effects
* Excellent for accentuating haze and fog
* Useful for specific contrast effects and monochrome conversion
* Can produce vibrant blue skies and unique colour shifts in certain applications (like full spectrum)
* Made by a reputable filter brand
Cons:
* Strong colour cast requires significant exposure compensation
* Not suitable for general photography or accurate colour work
* Can make skin tones look unnatural in portraits
* Quality control on packaging/cleanliness seems inconsistent based on user feedback
* Can degrade image quality if not perfectly clean or if heavily stacked
Deep Dive into What It Offers
When you delve into using the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter, you quickly realize it’s not a filter for the faint of heart or for everyday snapshots. This is a deliberate creative tool, one that demands understanding and experimentation to unlock its full potential. Its defining characteristic is the dark blue glass, which fundamentally shifts the spectral response of your sensor or film.
The Dramatic Blue 47 Effect: Colour Transformation and Contrast
The core of this filter is its dramatic blue colour. It acts as a strong colour correcting filter, specifically a deep blue that corresponds to the Wratten 47 filter. What this means in practice is that it heavily absorbs red and green light wavelengths, allowing primarily blue light to pass through. The immediate, obvious effect is a very strong blue cast across your entire image when shooting in colour. However, the real power of this filter, particularly for photographers with a specific vision, lies in how different colours and atmospheric conditions interact with this absorption.
One of the advertised benefits is its ability to accentuate haze and fog. This happens because haze and fog are often composed of tiny water droplets that scatter blue light more effectively than other wavelengths (this is why the sky appears blue). By using a blue filter, you are essentially enhancing the light that is already being scattered by the haze, making it appear denser and more prominent in the final image. This can transform an otherwise flat, hazy scene into something moody, ethereal, and atmospheric. It doesn’t just *tint* the haze; it makes its presence more pronounced by increasing the contrast between the hazy areas and the rest of the scene based on their spectral properties. This selective emphasis provides a powerful creative lever for landscape and environmental photographers.
Beyond atmospheric effects, the filter is noted for its use in dye transfer and contrast effects. In traditional black and white photography, colour filters are essential for controlling contrast. A blue filter, by blocking red and green light, will lighten blue objects and darken red and green objects in a black and white conversion. This creates high contrast between these colour pairs. Imagine a landscape with red brick buildings against a blue sky with green trees. A Blue 47 filter would make the sky appear much lighter (or even white in extreme cases) and the red/green elements much darker, leading to a stark, dramatic monochromatic image. In the digital realm, while you can simulate colour filter effects during black and white conversion, using the filter at the point of capture provides a different workflow and can sometimes yield nuances difficult to replicate perfectly in software, especially when combined with specific lighting conditions.
For those exploring photography beyond the standard visible spectrum, particularly full-spectrum or near-infrared photography, the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter takes on an entirely different role. User experiences highlight its unique interaction with infrared light. While it blocks most visible light except blue, some infrared light can also pass through or interact in interesting ways depending on the specific sensor conversion. The effect reported – rendering foliage a gold yellow colour while making the sky a vibrant blue – is a classic characteristic achieved by filtering specific wavelengths in full-spectrum photography. This combination often requires removing the camera’s internal hot mirror and using filters like the Blue 47 to isolate specific portions of the spectrum. The vibrant blue sky is achieved because the filter passes blue visible light. The golden foliage often occurs because infrared radiation, which foliage strongly reflects, interacts with the blue light passed by the filter and the sensor’s sensitivity across the spectrum, resulting in this specific colour translation. This capability makes the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter incredibly valuable for artists pushing the boundaries of colour in modified cameras, creating otherworldly landscapes that blend surreal colours with tangible form.
However, this filter’s strength in manipulating colour is also its limitation for conventional photography. As noted in user experiences, it’s a poor fit for portraits. The heavy absorption of red and green light results in extremely unnatural skin tones, often shifting them towards yellow or sickly green depending on lighting and white balance. Clothing, especially fabrics that reflect infrared, can also appear oddly coloured, such as the reported yellowing. For photographers focused on natural-looking people or vibrant, true-to-life colour in standard scenes, this filter is entirely inappropriate. Its application is specific and requires a conscious artistic choice to deviate significantly from reality.
Understanding the Physicality: Size, Material, and Coating
The Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter comes in a 49mm diameter, meaning it’s designed to screw onto lenses with a 49mm filter thread. This is a critical specification; if your lens has a different thread size, you will need an adapter or a filter in the correct size. The physical dimensions (49L x 49W millimeters) are standard for a filter of this size. Tiffen specifies the material as glass, which is the standard and preferred material for quality photographic filters due to its optical clarity and durability compared to resin or plastic. Glass filters, when properly manufactured, minimize optical distortion, ensuring that the filter doesn’t degrade the sharpness of your lens.
The filter features a multi coating description. Multi-coating is a process where multiple layers of anti-reflective coatings are applied to the surface of the filter glass. This is crucial for reducing unwanted reflections and flare, which can occur when light hits the filter surface. Without effective coatings, a filter, especially a coloured one, can introduce ghosting and reduce overall contrast, negatively impacting image quality. Multi-coating helps ensure that more light passes through the filter and into the lens, contributing to better image clarity and contrast despite the filter’s dense colour. While the specific number of coating layers isn’t detailed, the presence of multi-coating is a standard feature on reputable filters aimed at reducing these optical nuisances.
Despite the standard material and coating, some user feedback points to potential issues with quality control, specifically relating to the filter arriving with dust or smudges on the glass. While this isn’t a functional flaw of the filter’s design or effect, it does speak to the manufacturing or packaging process. Filters must be impeccably clean to avoid introducing soft focus, spots, or internal reflections into the image. Receiving a filter that requires immediate cleaning before use is certainly an inconvenience and something to be aware of, highlighting that while the filter itself performs its intended optical task, the presentation and initial condition might not always meet expectations for a ‘brand new’ item. This is a notable disadvantage that can detract from the overall user experience right out of the box.
Another physical aspect to consider, particularly with strongly coloured filters, is their density and potential for vignetting. While a 49mm filter on a lens designed for that size typically doesn’t cause significant vignetting on its own, stacking multiple filters (like adding this blue filter on top of a UV or CPL filter) can introduce or worsen dark corners in the image, especially on wider-angle lenses. The Blue 47 filter is dense, requiring significant exposure compensation (often several stops), which also impacts how you need to meter and shoot. Understanding this density and its implications for shutter speed or aperture is essential for successful use. The note about not recommending stacking a CPL filter is particularly relevant, as stacking filters can lead to image degradation (like reduced saturation, as mentioned) and increased vignetting due to the cumulative thickness and optical properties.
In summary, the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter is a specialized tool whose value lies entirely in its ability to dramatically alter colour and contrast for specific creative outcomes. Its construction uses standard glass with multi-coating, providing the necessary optical base for its function. However, potential quality control issues regarding cleanliness and the inherent difficulty in using such a strong filter for general purposes mean it’s a niche product best suited for photographers with a clear artistic goal and technical understanding.
What Other Users Are Saying About the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter
After looking around online, I found that general sentiment towards the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter is quite positive among those who know what they’re buying. People appreciate that the item performs as described, effectively cutting off specific colours to achieve the intended creative effects. Many users specifically praise its ability to create vibrant blue skies and unique colour palettes, particularly when used with modified cameras for full-spectrum work, noting how it makes foliage appear golden. However, some reviewers have expressed disappointment with the initial presentation of the filter, mentioning issues like damaged packaging or the filter arriving with dust and smudges on the glass, suggesting potential inconsistencies in how the product is handled or shipped. Despite these minor presentation concerns, the core optical performance for its intended niche use seems to be well-regarded.
Final Thoughts and Recommendation
The frustration of capturing a scene that lacks punch, of skies that are dull and moods that are missed, is a common hurdle for photographers. Not overcoming this means your visual stories remain incomplete, and the potential for truly captivating images goes unrealized. The Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter offers a distinct solution for those looking to dramatically influence the atmosphere and contrast of their photographs, pushing beyond simple realism. This filter is a great fit because it provides a powerful, specific effect for accentuating haze, creating strong contrast, and enabling unique colour renditions, especially in specialized fields like full-spectrum photography. It allows you to capture a mood directly in-camera, reducing reliance on complex digital manipulation for certain looks. If you have a clear artistic vision that aligns with its capabilities and understand its technical demands, the Tiffen 49mm Blue 47 Filter can be an invaluable tool. To explore its potential for your own creative projects, Click here to check the product out.
Last update on 2025-07-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API