SLR Magic have announced the 1.2 IEND (Image Enhancer Neutral Density) 86mm filter. The SLR Magic 1.2 IEND is a four-stop filter that features a special coating that the company claims will not vignette green, magenta or cyan even when wideangle lenses are used.
Far-red, far out
Modern digital sensors have a broad color spectrum and are sensitive to “far-red” for better colour response. However, when ND filters are used, only light in the visible spectrums are suppressed without accounting for “far-red” to infrared suppression. As ND density is increased, infrared contamination occurs. The SLR Magic IEND filter suppresses “far-red” to infrared along with visible light to avoid issues of colour shift and infrared pollution when higher density ND is used.
This filter combines an ND filter with IR control technology to eliminate the spill of infrared light reaching the sensor while still maintaining the extra exposure benefits of a neutral density filter.
SLR Magic recommends that the 1.2 IEND filter be used in combination with the company’s 0.4-1.8 variable ND filters. By using the SLR Magic 1.2 IEND, you can stack it on the current filter to make it a five-10 stop variable ND. Variable NDs are extremely susceptible to infrared pollution when you stack two polarizers and rotate them to achieve exposure. The Image Enhancer lens coating helps to combat this problem.
Stack and stack again
You can also stack the 1.2 IEND filter with a fixed ND or variable ND filter by use of a step up ring, or use it in combination with your camera’s built-in ND filters. This can improve the density up to 10 stops. For cinema cameras that have more stops, this improves the colour shift issues due to IR control with the Image Enhancer lens coating. For cameras that exhibit focus shift at higher ND densities, using this filter will also resolve the problem.
SLR Magic 1.2 IEND filter price and availability
The SLR Magic 1.2 IEND filter will be available from authorized SLR Magic dealers in October, 2017 for $149 US.
