This UV Filter blocks the invisible Ultra Violet component of light
from the sky, which can cause blur and to which many color films react
with a blue cast.
These filters should be called UV-Blocking Filters,
because there are filters for technical applications that pass UV
radiation and block all the other wavelengths. Nevertheless, the short
term “UV Filter” has become established among photographers.
UV Filters
are ideal for photography in high altitudes (in the mountains), by the
sea and in regions with very clean air. The pictures gain brilliance and
disturbing blue casts are avoided. Because the glass is colorless,
color rendition is not altered, aside from the elimination of the
unwanted blue cast, and no increase in exposure is required.
That makes a
UV Filter very suitable as protection of the front element of the
taking lens against dust, flying sand, sea water spray and the like, and
it can be kept on the lens at all times. It is recommended for analog
color and black-and-white as well as digital photography. B+W's Superior MRC Coating with Nano Technology
Illustration of lotus effect on water
droplet caused by nano coating.
The
nano coating is an outer layer of protection that comes standard with
all XS-Pro Digital MRC filters. The nanotechnology based characteristic
(lotus effect) produces a better beading effect with water, making the
cleaning of this filter even simpler and faster than ever before. MRC
nano has an improved outer (8th) layer over regular MRC.
The
lens elements of high-quality lenses and the plano surfaces of filters
require a perfect shape and smoothness to
achieve the best optical quality. Dirt, greasy fingerprints, water marks
and scratches reduce the image contrast and the sharpness, which can
result in blooming at light sources and have an effect similar to a
soft-focus lens. A clean front lens element and clean filter surfaces
are therefore an absolute pre-requisite for demanding photographers.
The nano coating results in lotus effect on water droplet.
The
MRC coating is first and foremost a broadband anti-reflection coating.
This means that its reflection-reducing
effect, which is thus also a transmission-increasing effect, i.e. one
which suppresses scattered light and ghost images and transmits more
light, has a broadband action over the full spectrum. In contrast, the
(almost always blue) single-layer coating only has a high effect in the
medium wavelength range around yellow and yellow-green where the eye is
most sensitive to light, while its effect
is greatly reduced toward the blue-violet and purple-red end regions of
the visible spectrum. With the MRC coating, this blue, violet and red to
deep-red light cannot produce any contrast reducing scattered light,
spotty reflections or ghost images. A broadband effect can only be
achieved with a multilayer coating which
requires a much higher effort and precision because unevenness and
irregularities of the individual layers build up on one another and
amplify one another. Schneider therefore uses
a plasma-assisted evaporation coating process in which inert gas ions
accelerated in an electrical field compact
the material deposited on the lens surface in the vacuum chamber.
For photographers, the main advantage of
MRC coating, is it's ability to combat flare and ghosting. An added
benefit is that their filters remain free of dirt longer, so that they
do not have to be cleaned so often. When cleaning the filter does become
necessary, it is a lot easier to wipe off the dirt with a blower brush,
because of MRC's ability to repel dirt and moisture. This also reduces
the risk of micro-scratches which can occur during cleaning.
XS-Pro Digital Filter Mount
This
filter uses our XS-Pro Digital mount which is especially suited for
DSLRs with wide angle and zoom lenses. It has a front thread for
additional accessories such as lens caps or hoods. All XS-Pro Digital
mounts are made of brass and are matte black to prevent reflections.
