Marumi CREATION Lens Protect Filters with Silicone Rubber Frame

by Olaf von VossMarch 6^th, 2019

At this year’s CP+ we met Sato-san from Marumi to discuss their latest lens protection filter CREATION Lens Protect. While having a protective filter to save your lens front element from harm is always nice, having one with a silicone rubber frame might be even better, for several reasons.

Adding a clear-glass filter in front of your lens in order to protect its precious front element is not exactly a new thing to do. However, since this is a common practice, there may still be some potential for development. This is where the Marumi CREATION filters enter the stage: A silicone rubber covers the entire frame of these clear glass protective filters – not only adding a second protective layer, but also completely sealing the filter itself and thus the front element of your lens from water.

Marumi CREATION Filters

These filters are designed to add protection to your lens but without compromising on image quality. Marumi has a reputation in producing quality glass filters so I have no doubt these new filters are any different.

The new thing here is the silicone rubber coating on the frame itself. According to Sato-san this humble silicone serves not one but two purposes: The filter protects the lens, the silcone rubber frame, however, protects other gear in your bag from being scratched by the frame while transporting your stuff. This might sound a bit odd but these metal edges found on common filter frames tend to be pretty scratchy, indeed..

Secondly, the silcone rubber seals the filter completely from water, as in heavy rain for example. This doesn’t make your lens, or camera, waterproof of course but it helps protecting your lens when shooting in harsh conditions.

Pricing and Availability

These Marumi filters are not available just yet, but the company aims for an August 2019 release. They will be available in common thread sizes but the price is yet to be set. As always with glass filters, it will be very dependent on the size of filter you need for your given lens.

Personally, I’m not very eager to use ‘plain’ protective filters. A filter adds another layer of glass which can result in unwanted reflections and other nasty things. But I must admit, a broken filter is always better than a broken front element of your precious lens.. So depending on the given job, such a filter might be a very good idea to bring along.

links: company website

Do you use protective filters while shooting? Let us know what you think in the comments below!