Quick answer
Use the Urth Magnetic Night Filter Plus to neutralize orange light pollution, then dial in a long exposure for clean, vibrant light trails in any city.
Why light pollution ruins the shot
Streetlights, neon signs, and building windows all throw warm yellow-orange light into the sky and onto your subject. That cast hides the true colors of the city and flattens the contrast in your light trails. A standard UV or clear filter does nothing to fix it.
The Magnetic Night Filter Plus uses neodymium glass to selectively cut that artificial wavelength. You get neutral blacks and natural-looking whites even when shooting under mixed lighting.
Exposure trade-off with a color-correcting filter
Because the filter reduces some light, your shutter speed will need to be longer to maintain the same exposure. For light trails, that is actually a benefit — longer exposures create longer, smoother streaks from passing cars and buses.
If you are shooting handheld or in very dim conditions, you may need to raise ISO or open the aperture. For tripod-based light-trail work, the extra exposure time is rarely a problem.
Diagnosis: Fixing muddy light trails
- Symptom: Your light trails look washed out or have a strong orange-yellow tint that masks the reds, blues, and greens of the city.
- Likely cause: Sodium-vapor and LED streetlights emit a narrow orange-yellow spectrum that standard filters cannot correct. Without a neodymium-based filter, your camera records that cast across the entire frame.
- Corrective action: Mount the Magnetic Night Filter Plus on your lens, set your camera to manual or shutter-priority mode, and choose a shutter speed of 2-10 seconds depending on traffic speed. Use a tripod and a remote release or 2-second self-timer to avoid shake. The filter will restore neutral color while the long exposure draws clean light trails. If you do not own a tripod, this technique will not work — you need a stable base for exposures longer than 1/15 second.
- When to stop or choose another option: If your goal is to capture fast-moving subjects like people or handheld night scenes, a color-correcting filter will slow your shutter too much. In that case, shoot without the filter and correct the color cast in post-processing instead. For static night landscapes with light trails, the filter is the faster, more accurate path. For handheld street photography, skip it.
Product facts
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Magnetic Night Filter Plus: The Urth Magnetic Night Filter Plus cuts through light pollution for crisp, colour-accurate nightscapes and vibrant city shots — with the speed and ease of our magnetic mount system. You can attach or swap the filter in seconds without unscrewing anything, so you never miss a passing car or changing light.
Magnetic Night Filter Plus
