PSA: That new 'light pollution filter' I bought for my camera gave me a weird green tint on everything

I got a specific filter, the Hoya Red Intensifier, because the online reviews said it was great for cutting through the skyglow from my town. I was trying to get a cleaner shot of the Orion Nebula from my backyard last week. The first test shot looked okay, but after stacking about 30 images, the whole frame had this strange, sickly green cast that I couldn't fully edit out. It wasn't the usual color noise, it was like a uniform tint over the stars and the nebula itself. I spent hours trying to fix it in software before I gave up. I learned that some of these filters can really mess with your camera's sensor in unexpected ways, especially with newer models. Has anyone else run into color balance issues with specific light pollution filters?

3 comments

3 Comments

white.sandra21d ago

My buddy's filter turned his whole milky way shot purple.

paul_owens2521d ago

Purple's an upgrade, @white.sandra.

brian459d ago

Check the white balance setting on the camera itself, not just in editing. A lot of those automatic filters lock it into a weird preset. Tell him to shoot in RAW next time, it gives you way more room to fix the colors after the fact without losing the whole shot.