Green Glass vs. Clear Glass Filters

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Tiffen screw-in filter are made of green glass (the glass looks green when viewed from the edge). Their large professional-grade filters use clear glass (also known as water glass). Does anyone know if clear glass is really better than green glass? Is there a reason to spend twice as much for clear glass? I know Heliopan and B+W use clear glass, but they do not make all the colors that I want (58, 47, 47b).

-- William Marderness (wmarderness@hotmail.com), August 21, 2001

Answers

The green tinge that is typical of soda-lime glass might be detrimental if used in lightly tinted color correction filters. It is for that reason as well as the lack of optical coating that professional motion picture cameramen and discerning still photographers might prefer the filters made of Schott glass. I believe the filters you reference are so dark to start with, I doubt you could tell the difference in the results anyway.

-- Robert A. Zeichner (info@razeichner.com), August 21, 2001.

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