Tiffen Red 25 Filter Review: The Classic Black & White Photography Tool

The Tiffen Red 25 is a deep-red Wratten-25 contrast filter for black-and-white photography — the same optical formula that landscape photographers have used for the better part of a century to render blue skies as near-black, separate clouds, cut through atmospheric haze, and lighten warm tones like brick, foliage rendered red, and sunlit skin. At under $20 in 46 mm, it's an inexpensive way to add a tool to a film or monochrome digital workflow that genuinely cannot be replicated in post.

This is a niche pro-photo accessory, and Tier-1 photo outlets don't typically write standalone reviews of individual contrast filters. Instead, we've leaned on PetaPixel's published guide to colored filters in B&W work, B&H Photo's product documentation, Ilford's official guide on colored filters, Tiffen's own ColorCore documentation, and the Wratten-25 standard reference to keep this review honest about what the filter does, what compensation it requires, and where it sits against alternatives.

How We Approached This Review

Studio Supplies is an editorial affiliate publication. We don't operate a hands-on testing lab, and we haven't run controlled exposures with this specific filter on a calibrated bench. For a passive optical filter, that's less of a limitation than it sounds: a Wratten-25 filter's behavior is defined by its dye/coating's spectral transmission curve, which is standardized and well documented. What this review aggregates:

• Tiffen's published product specification for the Red 25 (filter factor, intended use, ColorCore construction).
• B&H Photo Video's product documentation for the 46 mm SKU (46R25), which mirrors Tiffen's spec language.
• PetaPixel's editorial guide on how color filters affect B&W photographs.
• Ilford Photo's manufacturer guide on using colored filters with B&W film.
• Standard reference material on the Wratten-25 designation (filter factor, exposure compensation, historical "Wratten A" naming).

Specs (per Tiffen and B&H)

Source: Tiffen Red #25 product page; B&H 46R25 listing.

What Independent Testing Shows

There's no Tier-1 lab review (DPReview, DXOMARK, RTINGS) of this specific SKU, and that's normal — outlets like DPReview and PetaPixel cover lens-mount accessories episodically and rarely publish standalone reviews of individual Wratten-numbered contrast filters. What is well-established in the published photographic literature:

• Spectral behavior — deep contrast on blue skies. A Wratten-25 transmits red and blocks blue and green wavelengths. PetaPixel's color-filter guide describes the result clearly: "on a bright day, the blue sky will show in your photo as near-black while clouds stand out in punchy shades of dark gray," and surface textures like brick and skin "look much grittier and more detailed through a red filter" (PetaPixel, "How Color Filters Affect B&W Photos"). Ilford's manufacturer guide echoes the same characterization: "Blue skies are now recorded as black on the print, resulting in an impending thunderstorm effect" (Ilford Photo, "Using colour filters for black and white photography").
• Filter factor 8 → 3 stops of compensation. This is the manufacturer's published value (Tiffen) and matches the standard reference for Wratten-25 filters (Filter factor — Wikipedia). B&H's own product documentation also states "you will need to compensate for 3-stops of light loss" with a #25 (B&H 46R25 listing). Modern TTL meters generally compensate automatically; meterless cameras (most large-format work, many mechanical 35 mm bodies) require manual adjustment.
• Sky-darkening and haze cut. B&H's listing notes that the #25 "creates dramatic skies or simulates a moonlit scene during the day by slightly underexposing the image and also eliminates fog and haze" (B&H 46R25 listing). This matches PetaPixel's editorial framing of red as the most dramatic of the standard contrast filters (PetaPixel).
• Foliage rendering. Ilford's guide notes that with specialized near-IR-sensitive films like SFX 200, a deep red filter renders "blue skies almost black and green vegetation almost white to create a stunning infra-red look" (Ilford). On standard panchromatic emulsions the effect is less extreme — green foliage darkens because the filter blocks green wavelengths — but the principle is the same: green tones are suppressed, red and warm tones lifted.
• Construction. Tiffen's ColorCore method laminates the dye layer between two optical-glass elements that are ground flat "to tolerances of a ten-thousandth of an inch" (Tiffen Filters Overview), then mounted in precision metal rings — an approach Tiffen says yields tighter color and density consistency than batch-dyed glass. We have not seen independent transmission-curve plots for this specific SKU.

What we'd flag: a deep-red filter is an optical effect, not a digital one, and on color digital sensors the demosaic pipeline may interact with the filter in ways that differ from black-and-white film behavior. The filter still produces real wavelength filtering at the sensor, but the in-camera B&W preview and the raw rendering may not look identical until you process to monochrome. Shooting raw, then desaturating in post, gives the most predictable result.

What Owners Say

Long-running discussion of red B&W contrast filters lives on community forums rather than mainstream review sites. Threads on Photrio (formerly APUG) and the Photography Forum consistently report the same things: 3 stops of compensation matches what most owners actually meter (some metering-through-the-filter workflows arrive at 2 stops instead, but 3 stops is the manufacturer figure); deep-red filters can produce skin tones that read as unusually pale; and the effect on landscapes — especially clouds against sky — is the principal reason most film photographers buy one.

Ilford's own filter guide cautions that red filters "absorb a lot of blue light which can darken blood vessels close to the skin surface and make them noticeable" on portrait work (Ilford) — one reason yellow and orange are usually preferred for faces. Tiffen as a brand has a long-standing reputation in cinema and stills work; we're not aware of recurring quality-control complaints specific to the Red 25, though as with any glass filter, owners do periodically report damage from drops or scratched coatings — treat it like a piece of optical glass.

Strengths

• Strong, predictable B&W contrast effect. Wratten-25 is the standard "dramatic sky" filter for monochrome work; the rendering is well-understood and reliably reproducible across panchromatic film stocks (PetaPixel).
• Real optical effect, not a software approximation. The filter blocks blue/green wavelengths at the lens, which means the photons that reach the film or sensor have already been spectrally filtered — useful for infrared work, deep-sky landscapes, and any workflow where you want the filtration baked into capture.
• Inexpensive entry point. Roughly $15–20 in 46 mm puts a serious B&W contrast tool inside almost any photography budget.
• Tiffen ColorCore construction. Per the manufacturer, the dye is laminated between optical-glass elements ground to ten-thousandth-of-an-inch tolerance, with a precision metal mount — an approach Tiffen states gives tighter color/density consistency than batch-dyed glass (Tiffen).
• Standard 46 mm thread fits a range of older fixed-focal-length and rangefinder lenses; step-up rings cover larger lens fronts.

Limitations

• 3 stops of light loss per Tiffen's filter factor of 8 (Tiffen; B&H). Handheld shooting in dim light with this filter on the lens is awkward without bumping ISO, opening up, or using a tripod.
• Strong, sometimes unsubtle effect. A Red 25 can darken skies to near-black, which is striking but not always what a scene calls for. A yellow or orange filter (Wratten 8 or 21) is often the better choice when you want the rendering to read more naturally (Ilford).
• Skin tones. Red filters lighten warm tones — faces with strong reddish undertones can appear unusually pale, and Ilford specifically notes that surface blood vessels can become more visible (Ilford). This is a creative effect, not a defect; portraitists usually choose a yellow filter (Wratten 8 or 11) instead.
• Limited utility outside B&W work. On color digital, the dominant red cast is rarely useful. Some photographers use deep-red filters for IR-modified cameras or specialized scientific imaging, but those are niche cases.
• Single thread size. A 46 mm filter only fits 46 mm threads natively; multi-lens kits typically need step-up rings or one filter per thread size.
• Difficult to compose through. B&H notes that the deep red can be hard to see through under some lighting and recommends composing and focusing before attaching the filter (B&H).

Who Should Buy It

• Film photographers shooting black-and-white emulsions (HP5+, Tri-X, FP4+, T-Max, Delta) who want classic dramatic-sky landscape rendering.
• Digital photographers committed to a monochrome workflow who want the filtration to happen at capture rather than only in post-processing.
• Infrared photographers using IR-converted cameras or near-infrared film like Ilford SFX 200, where Wratten-25 is one of the standard cut-on filters (Ilford).
• Photography students learning how colored filters affect tonal rendering — a Red 25 is a teaching tool that makes the concept immediately visible.

Who Should Skip It

• Color-only photographers — the filter has very little use outside B&W and IR work.
• Photographers who want a subtle B&W contrast lift — a yellow (Wratten 8) or orange (Wratten 15/21) filter delivers a gentler effect with less exposure penalty (Ilford).
• Photographers shooting handheld in low light who don't want to give up 3 stops.
• Anyone who genuinely doesn't mind a software B&W conversion — for most casual work, a digital channel-mixer adjustment in Lightroom or Capture One produces a similar look without the optical complexity. (The filter still wins on infrared work and on film.)

Alternatives Worth Considering

• Tiffen Yellow #8 (or Wratten 11): The classic "natural-looking" B&W contrast filter — lifts skies modestly, kinder to skin tones, only ~1 stop of compensation. A better first filter for many photographers.
• Tiffen Orange #16 or #21: Halfway between yellow and red — meaningful sky darkening without going all the way to black, ~2 stops of compensation.
• Hoya or B+W equivalents: Other established optical-filter makers offer Wratten-25 equivalents in similar price ranges; the spectral behavior is comparable, with differences mostly in ring construction and coatings.
• Polarizing filter: Different effect entirely — cuts reflections and selectively darkens blue sky at certain angles to the sun. Often used with a colored contrast filter for landscape B&W work, not instead of one.

View the Tiffen 46 mm Red 25 filter on Studio Supplies →

Sources & Citations

1. PetaPixel, "How Color Filters Affect B&W Photos," petapixel.com (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited for the spectral behavior of red filters in B&W rendering (sky darkening, surface texture, contrast effect).
2. B&H Photo Video, "Tiffen 46mm Red 1 #25 Glass Filter for Black & White (46R25)," bhphotovideo.com (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited for the 3-stop exposure compensation, dramatic-sky / haze-cut effect, and composition guidance.
3. Ilford Photo, "Using colour filters for black and white photography," ilfordphoto.com (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited for the foliage and infrared-look effect with deep red filters, the "near-black sky" characterization, and the skin-tone caution about surface blood vessels.
4. Tiffen, "Red #25 Screw-In Filter," tiffen.com (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited for filter factor (8×), intended uses, and SKU sizing.
5. Tiffen, "Tiffen Filters Overview," tiffen.com (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited for ColorCore construction details (lamination between two optical-glass elements ground to ten-thousandth-of-an-inch tolerance, precision metal mount).
6. Wikipedia, "Filter factor," en.wikipedia.org (accessed 2026-04-20) — cited as the standard reference cross-checking the 8× / 3-stop figure for Wratten-25.
7. Photrio community discussion, "Red filter compensation," photrio.com — cited for owner-reported compensation behavior across metering methods.
8. The Photography Forum community discussion, "Red filter? for B&W landscapes," thephotoforum.com — cited for owner sentiment on landscape use.