Maven launches wave 2 of its award-winning color-coded lens filter system on Kickstarter, which has already raised US$250,000!
After its first successful Kickstarter Maven has cemented its place in the lens filter market, vying to be in the conversation with the other best filters for photography. The unique color-coded design has revolutionized filter aesthetics, but it's not just the looks that stand out, the updated filter performance is highly impressive.
The Kickstarter campaign includes various forms of traditional filters and introduces us to a newly developed Dark-CPL. This is a combination of a neutral density filter and a circular polarizer, eliminating the need to carry more filters for those who often shoot with both. This would be particularly useful for those shooting scenes with water, such as waterfalls or seascapes. The color-coded system signifies which stop ND filter is included. Most importantly, Maven states that the Dark-CPL design "reduces vignetting, especially on very wide-angle lens focal lengths, such as 16mm."
Maven has also redesigned a new variable polarizing filter system to focus on the best mirrorless cameras, in response to the market movement. Through vigorous testing, it established that mirrorless cameras respond better to LPL (Linear Polarizer) filters, and when used in conjunction with a CPL (Circular Polarizer) it provided little to no color shift, establishing a new variable system.
Smaller graduated ND filters have also been developed, along with updated 'solid' ND filters offering 2, 4, 15, 18, and 20-stop options! These ND filters have "AGC Japanese optical glass, 16 layers of MRC coatings, hydrophobic nano resistance & Tier 1 Color Performance." These qualities make shooting time-lapses and long exposures more achievable, even in the midday sun.
Other new filters included in the Kickstarter include the Maven IR 720 infrared filter, the Starry Focus filter which aids astrophotographers in manually focusing perfectly on stars with indicators on the filter, and lens flare filters which provide an anamorphic cinema look when capturing lights in a scene.
Maven has given further development to the lens/ filter cap with a complete redesign, changing the magnetic strength and adding an ease-of-use feature that enables you to remove it with a large lens hood attached.
Lens filters may have been considered to have reached their technological limit, many years ago, but Maven continues to push the capabilities and offer a fresh new take on these already established systems. Ease-of-use features such as magnetic mounts, quick-release cases, and color/ shape filter design provide a lower entry point for beginners and take a lot of the extra (more complicated) steps out of shooting with filter systems.
The Maven Kickstarter is now live and has already reached its goal. Don't let that stop you, however, as there are usually some great backer rewards and early bird deals.
Note: As with all crowdfunding projects, there is no guarantee that the final product will match the early depictions in the campaign – or that the final product will be completed or delivered at all. DCW does not endorse this or any other crowdfunding campaign.
You may also be interested in our guides to the best ND filter, the best variable ND filters, and the best ND grad filters.
