Inexpensive red filter

[Robert Gillcash]

I am NOT impressed with the fact that I will have to pay some ridiculous price for a bit of colored plastic that fits over my lens. So, being the creative (read that as cheap) person that I am, I decided to go a different route.
A trip to the local dollar store resulted in a pack of three sheets of colored acetate: red, green and opaque. (Originally I was searching for a flash diffuser.)
At home, I measured the diameter of the lens, found a cup the right size and drew a circle. I then measured the depth the front of the lens was away from the housing and added an inch, and found a plate that size. After wrapping the plate in saran wrap, I used a black marker to draw a circle. A bit of cutting resulted in this:

I then measured a line to fold again, and did a bit of folding, with this result:

The black ring is a band I got for free at one of those health fairs, supposed to go around your wrist and give you energy. Just happens to fit nicely around the lens housing!
And the final result?

Yup, there you go, a one dollar red filter. Now you don't have to cry when you scratch it or lose it!

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Looks nice. Does the air bubble bleed out of it pretty quick?

 

[EskilJ]

Great idea! How do the pictures look? The correct mix of red/transparent is dependant of depth, so it's interesting at what depth your filter is right.

 

[emoreira]

One of the facts that the use of a red filter is that it has to be removed when you are in the surface or near the surface to avoid a reddish picture or put it once you go deeper.
Nice if you are not going to take picture at the surface or near the surface.