Tiffen Haze 2A and similar....

Especially on overcast days, my Olympus E-PL5 and E-P5 are both prone to purple fringing when used with Lumix lenses such as the 14mm f/2.5 and 12/32 zoom - so I'd hoped to buy the appropriate Tiffen filter and fix the problem... however I've not managed to find anyone selling them here in Great Britain.

Has Tiffen shut down, stopped making them, exporting them, or what?

If so, alternative suggestions welcome!

Peter

Background.... "Purple Fringing with Panasonic MFT Lenses on Olympus MFT Bodies"

https://alanwatsonforster.org/writing/mft-purple.html

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No longer own the E-M10II, but just as a quick example - with 12/32...

I've bought 2 or 3 of the Formatt ones, I forget, I know I got a 46mm one and a larger 67mm one... Can't remember if I had a third size. I remember I bought one from B&H even tho it was "special order" and it didn't take too long, the other one I bought directly from Formatt... Just as people on the boards had described, a nice Asian lady with a thick accent took my order and within a couple weeks I had it, I think that was the 46mm. Isn't Formatt based in the UK?

The filter seemed to help with the PL25 (I'd been borrowing an original before later buying the Mk II in my gear list), not sure any of my other Pana lenses were particularly prone to it. The PL8-18 and my tele zooms didn't seem to need it at all but I never tested the 12-32 a lot on my Oly body tbh. Are you seeing the same amount of CA on both of those bodies tho? IIRC the E-PL5 might predate the point in time when Oly started applying CA corrections for Pana lenses (around the time of the E-M1's release), so you might be seeing even more CA due to that.

Impulses wrote:

I've bought 2 or 3 of the Formatt ones, I forget, I know I got a 46mm one and a larger 67mm one... Can't remember if I had a third size. I remember I bought one from B&H even tho it was "special order" and it didn't take too long, the other one I bought directly from Formatt... Just as people on the boards had described, a nice Asian lady with a thick accent took my order and within a couple weeks I had it, I think that was the 46mm. Isn't Formatt based in the UK?

The filter seemed to help with the PL25 (I'd been borrowing an original before later buying the Mk II in my gear list), not sure any of my other Pana lenses were particularly prone to it. The PL8-18 and my tele zooms didn't seem to need it at all but I never tested the 12-32 a lot on my Oly body tbh. Are you seeing the same amount of CA on both of those bodies tho? IIRC the E-PL5 might predate the point in time when Oly started applying CA corrections for Pana lenses (around the time of the E-M1's release), so you might be seeing even more CA due to that.

Thanks - useful info!

But although indeed based in the UK, Formatt now don't list the recommended Haze filters but only... "Firecrest UV filters come in four variations"

UV Multicoated offers basic UV and lens protection.

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UV 370nm is a premium filter with a defined UV cut at 370nm

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UV 400nm offers the maximum UV reduction for shooting high altitudes and snow. Schott Superwite glass makes this the ultimate UV filter.

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UV IR Cut is a specialty filter that reduces ultraviolet and infrared.

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https://www.formatt-hitech.com/clearance/firecrest-ultraslim-circular-filters
*****

All of those seem to be in the wrong list - from the article...

Suitable gels and filters include: Wratten 2A or 2E; Tiffen UV Haze 2A or 2E; Formatt Ultraviolet Haze 2A or 2E; B+W 420

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Most other common UV and “skylight” filters do not help significantly, as they are too “weak” and have cut offs too far into the ultraviolet.

Unsuitable gels and filters include Wratten 1A and 2B UV filters, Hoya 1B filters, Formatt UV MC, UV 370, UV 400, and UV IR Cut filters, and B+W 415 and MRC UV 010M filters.

If a filter is not explicitly listed above as being suitable, it is more than likely to be unsuitable.
*****

I'd read that TruePic VII was supposed to solve this problem - partly why I posted that photo from the E-M10II.... with purple fringing all over the place.

Happily though, the version in the E-PL8 (launched a year or so after that camera) does seem to work much better!
........

I'm now thinking how much simpler it would be to sell the affected cameras, and that wretched 14mm - which can behave equally badly with Lumix bodies...

Peter

Isola Verde wrote:

Especially on overcast days, my Olympus E-PL5 and E-P5 are both prone to purple fringing when used with Lumix lenses such as the 14mm f/2.5 and 12/32 zoom - so I'd hoped to buy the appropriate Tiffen filter and fix the problem... ...If so, alternative suggestions welcome!

I use Zeiss T* UV filters for Pany lenses on Oly bodies.

They strongly filter (95% of) UV below 415 nm.  Panasonic bodies have a 430 nm UV filter built in, while Olympus uses a 390 nm filter, so this bridges some of the difference.  I find a dramatic reduction in CA with the Pany 100-300 zoom on my Oly bodies.

Not cheap.  The 46mm size is 47 pounds on Amazon .  There is no 37mm size.

cc99 wrote:

Isola Verde wrote:

Especially on overcast days, my Olympus E-PL5 and E-P5 are both prone to purple fringing when used with Lumix lenses such as the 14mm f/2.5 and 12/32 zoom - so I'd hoped to buy the appropriate Tiffen filter and fix the problem... ...If so, alternative suggestions welcome!

I use Zeiss T* UV filters for Pany lenses on Oly bodies.

They strongly filter (95% of) UV below 415 nm. Panasonic bodies have a 430 nm UV filter built in, while Olympus uses a 390 nm filter, so this bridges some of the difference. I find a dramatic reduction in CA with the Pany 100-300 zoom on my Oly bodies.

I tried Kenko Zeta L41 UV - not enough.
Quite good are GTX MC-S L41UV and chinese-made Yophy MRC L410 UV.

Tried also inexpensive Zeiss T* UV *chinese copy* .. well those are not enough of anything

Emil Pozar, http://www.alpfabet.com

They're still listed at B&H FWIW, still special order but they have it up on more sizes than they used to IIRC:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/search?N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Ntt=Formatt%202a

Not sure what size you are looking for, but I'm going to list 2 of them for sale. Both 58mm, one is Tiffen, other is Formatt. Not looking to get much. Not sure how much shipping would be, but envelope size. I'm in the US.

I think I used them on the Pan 12-35, and it did help. But I sold that lens a couple of years ago and haven't noticed a problem with other lenses.

Thank Ron - and to everyone else who replied - but I think the answer's clear.... I'm going to keep the Oly cameras for now - but get rid of the 14mm (having bought the 15mm f1.7) and will do more correction work on any future PF images.

After a couple of minutes in LR - darkening the highlights, lightening the shadows and applying copious amounts of Purple Defringe - the RAW that initially appeared like this...

... has turned into this - not perfect, but a lot more like the result I'd originally expected!!!

Thanks again,

Peter

Henry Richardson wrote:

Isola Verde wrote:

After a couple of minutes in LR - darkening the highlights, lightening the shadows and applying copious amounts of Purple Defringe - the RAW that initially appeared like this...

When you say you used Purple Defringe in Lightroom are you talking about the Defringe tool in the Adjustment Brush? Or the Defringe tool in Lens Corrections? Or something else?

I've found that the "Remove Chromatic Aberration" feature in "Lens Corrections" does a fine job of quickly removing the purple/red and green/yellow fringes for some "proper" M43 lenses (the Oly 9/18 particularly!) and also for lenses that LR doesn't recognise fully - here for example are before and after views of a shot taken with my Lumix GX9 and the Samyang 12mm f/2....

However that process seems to do nothing at all for the broader purple-only fringing exhibited occasionally by various lens/camera combinations.

But here's an example of that being removed, using the purple "Defringe" at a setting of 10, in the "Manual" menu of "Lens Corrections" - after a hefty "Highlights" reduction had restored to view so much more of the tree's branches and twigs! [Applied to whole image, Adjustment brush not used]

Perhaps worth remarking again that this shot came from the supposedly-corrected E-M10 Mark II, using the little Lumix 12/32 zoom....

Sorted very nicely - but it is rather a pain to have to do so?

Peter