The Best Night Filters for Astrophotography

This is why you use a night filter for night and astrophotography

Night filters are unfamiliar to many people, but for any astro or night photographer they are true must-haves. When you’re shooting at night, you want full control over the light. Light pollution is therefore undoubtedly the biggest frustration for astro and night photographers. Large cities, highways and streetlights all emit a lot of light, which clouds your image. That’s why many astro and night photographers head to remote places, such as fields or the beach, to shoot in the dark. Not in the mood for that? Then a night filter offers the perfect solution.

A night filter has a purple tint and can reduce a significant amount of disturbing light pollution. It does this by blocking light with specific wavelengths — including the wavelengths typically responsible for light pollution. This helps prevent the typical orange and yellow glow that often appears in astro and night photography. Another advantage of using a night filter is that it results in a sharper image with more contrast and detail. A win-win! Do keep in mind that using a night filter causes about 0.5 stops of light loss.

Night and landscape photographer Harmen Piekema tested the NiSi Natural Night filter for us. He shot the left image without the night filter and the right one with the NiSi night filter.

Harmen Piekema on the NiSi Natural Night filter

“I especially love the shots I took of the northern lights in Norway using the NiSi Natural Night Filter! The NiSi system works incredibly well. The results are also extremely sharp. It’s just bizarre how yellow and ugly the left image looks without the Natural Night filter.”

Night filters are available in different sizes, both round and square. If you choose the square version, you place the night filter in a filter system. This means you’ll need a filter holder to use a square filter. We offer various night filter brands, including NiSi and Benro. You can find the specifications below.

The NiSi Natural Night filter

Like all NiSi filters, this filter is made from top-quality glass. It also features a double-sided, multi-layer anti-reflective coating with a water-resistant and oil-resistant Nano coating. The NiSi Natural Night filters are available in the following sizes

• 100mm x 100mm: for the NiSi V5 Pro II 100mm filter holder
• 150mm x 150mm: for various NiSi ultra-wide-angle 150mm filter holders and the new NiSi S5 150mm filter holder for ultra-wide-angle zooms from Tamron, Nikon, Sony and Sigma
• 180mm x 180mm: for the NiSi 180mm filter holder for the Canon 11–24mm F/4.0

The Benro TrueNight filter

The Benro TrueNight filter is also made from excellent material: high-quality Schott optical glass with Nano coating, which makes it easy to remove dirt, oil and moisture. This filter can also only be used with a filter system. The Benro Master Glass TrueNight filter measures 100x100mm and comes with a storage pouch.