Wratten Filter Codes and Uses
This is a listing of Wratten Filters by number, their color and applications. It was compiled from the CRC Handbook where more filters and additional charactristics are also listed.
| Wratten filter number | color | use |
| UV(0) | none | absorbs UV |
| 0 | clear | thickness compensation |
| 1 | absorbs UV < 360nm | |
| 1A | pale pnk | skylight filter |
| 1B | lt. pink | (skylight) cuts blue cast in shade and distance, absorbs UV |
| 2A | pale yellow | UV 405 nm |
| 2B | pale yellow | absorbs UV 390 nm |
| 2E | pale yellow | absorbs UV |
| 3 | light yellow | |
| 4 | light yellow | CCC - corrects outdoor scenes for panchromatic film |
| 6 | light yellow | (aka K1) partial correction for outdoors |
| 8 | yellow | (aka K2) full correction outdoors for Type B panchromatic film |
| 8N5 | yellow | as 8 above with +0.5 neutral density |
| 9 | deep yellow | |
| 11 | yl-grn | (aka X1) corrects tungsten light for Type B film |
| 12 | deep yellow | minus blue - haze cutting for aerial photography |
| 13 | yellow-green | (aka X2) corrects tungsten light for Type C panchromatic film |
| 15 | deep yellow | (aka G) contrast control in aerial IR photography |
| 16 | yellow-orange | blue absorbtion |
| 18A | transmits UV and IR only | |
| 21 | orange | blue and blue-green absorbtion |
| 22 | deep orange | yellow-orange (mercury yellow) increase contrast in blue |
| 23A | light red | contrast effects |
| 24 | red | for two-color photography |
| 25 | red | (aka A) for tri-color separation, high contrast effect, |
| 26 | red | stereo red |
| 29 | deep red | high contrast, tungsten projection of tri-color, red sep. in |
| 30 | green absorbtion | |
| 31 | green absorbtion | |
| 32 | magenta | minus green |
| 33 | strong green absorbtion | |
| 34A | violet | blue separation in fluorescence process |
| 35 | contrast in microscopy | |
| 36 | dark violet | |
| 38 | red absorbtion | |
| 38A | Blue | red absorbtion, increasing contrast in visual microscopy |
| 39 | contrast control in printing motion pictures | |
| 40 | green | two-color photography |
| 44 | light blue-green | minus red, two-color general viewing |
| 44A | light blue-green | minus red |
| 45 | contrast in microscopy | |
| 46 | blue | projection |
| 47 | blue | direct color separation, tungsten tri-color projection |
| 47A | light blue | |
| 47B | deep blue | tri-color separation form transparencies |
| 48 | green and red absorbtion | |
| 48A | green and red absorbtion | |
| 49 | dark blue | |
| 50 | very dark blue - mercury violet | |
| 52 | lt grn | |
| 53 | middle green | |
| 54 | very dark green | |
| 55 | stereo green | |
| 56 | very light green | |
| 57 | green | for two-color photography |
| 57A | light green | |
| 58 | green | tri-color green for separations, contrast in photog & microscopy |
| 59 | green | for tri-color projection |
| 59A | very light green | |
| 60 | green | for tungsten two-color photography |
| 61 | deep green | green tri-color separation, tungsten projection |
| 64 | red absorbtion | |
| 65 | red absorbtion | |
| 66 | contrast effects in microscopy & medical photography | |
| 67A | red absorbtion; two-color projection | |
| 70 | dark red | Infrared photography 676 nm |
| 72B | dark orange-yellow | 605 nm |
| 73 | dark yellow-green | 575 nm |
| 74 | dark green | mercury green 539 nm |
| 75 | dark blue-green | 488 nm |
| 76 | dark violet | (compound filter) 449 nm |
| 77 | transmits 546 nm mercury line. glass plus gelatin 580 nm | |
| 77A | transmits 546 nm mercury line. glass plus gelatin 582 nm | |
| 78 | bluish | photometric filter (visual) |
| 78AA | bluish | photometric filter (visual) |
| 78A | bluish | photometric filter (visual) |
| 78B | bluish | photometric filter (visual) |
| 78C | bluish | photometric filter (visual) |
| 86 | amber | photometric filter (visual) |
| 86A | amber | photometric filter (visual) |
| 86B | amber | photometric filter (visual) |
| 86C | amber | photometric filter (visual) |
| 80A | blue | color correction for daylight film (5500) under 3200K (studio) lamps |
| 80B | blue | color correction for daylight film (5500) under 3400K (photo) lamps |
| 80C | blue | color cor. for daylight film (5500) under 3800K (clear flash) lamps |
| 81 | amber | warming -100K |
| 81A | amber | color correction for Type B tungsten film under 3400K (photo) lamps; warming -200K |
| 81B | amber | to remove blue cast in shaded daylight; warming -300K |
| 81C | amber | to remove blue cast in cloudy/rainy weather; Kodachrome Type A with flash; warming -400K |
| 81D | amber | Kodachrome Type A with flash; warming -500K |
| 81EF | amber | Ektachrome Type B with flash; warming -650K |
| 82 | blue | cooling +100K |
| 82A | blue | color correction for Type A tungsten film under 3200K (studio) lamps; cooling +200K |
| 82B | blue | color correction for Type B tungsten film under 2900K (100w incand.); cooling +300K |
| 82C | blue | to remove reddish cast in early morning or late afternoon; cooling +400K |
| 83 | amber | 16mm commercial Kodachrome in daylight |
| 85 | orange | color correction for Type A tungsten film in daylight (5500K->3400K) |
| 85B | orange | color correction for Type B tungsten film in daylight (5500K->3200K) |
| 85C | amber | converts 5500K (daylight) to 3800K lighting |
| 79 | photographic sensitometry | |
| 87 | for infrared photography; IR 770nm -> | |
| 87C | absorbs visual, transmits IR 830nm -> | |
| 88A | for infrared photography; IR 740nm -> | |
| 89B | for infrared photography; IR 700nm -> | |
| 90 | monochrome viewing (narrow-band for viewing scene brightness); about 570->590 nm; 10% luminous transmittance | |
| 96 | neutral | filter for controlling luminance; 9% luminous transmittance |
| 97 | dichroic absorption | |
| 102 | correction filter for Barrier-layer cell | |
| 106 | correction filter for S-4 type photocell | |
| FL-day | purple | converts daylight fluorescent light for daylight film |
| FL-W | purple | converts white fluorescent light for daylight film |
| K2 | yellow | improves contrast in B&W; absorbs UV and part of violet |
| G | orange | greatly improves contrast in B&W; absorbs UV and part of blue-green |
| 25A | red | strongest B&W contrast; absorbs UV and part of yellow; "night filter" also used as a color separation filter with #47 blue and #58 green |
| X0 | yellow-green | natural rendition of skin and lips of female models; B&W |
| X1 | green | Absorbs more red than X0, good for green trees; B&W |
Data on a very few narrower band filters:
| Color separation filters: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filter no. | low l | high l | domin. l | lum. transm. | |
| 47 | blue | 400 | 475 | 464 | 2.8 |
| 58 | green | 490 | 600 | 540 | 23.7 |
| 25A | red | 590 | 700 | 615 | 14 |
| Narrow band filters: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filter no. | low l | high l | domin. l | lum. transm. |
| 76 | 400 | 470 | 449 | .046 |
| 75 | 460 | 530 | 488 | 1.3 |
| 74 | 510 | 570 | 539 | 4.0 |
| 73 | 560 | 600 | 575 | 1.3 |
| 72B | 590 | 640 | 605 | .74 |
| 70 | 660 | 700 | 676 | 0.31 |
This file was found in the photo-3D FTP-able archives at csg.lbl.gov.
Further Reading