Nat Tiffen

Nat Tiffen, the award-winning founder of The Tiffen Company, known forproducing the high-quality lens filters widely used bycinematographers, passed away November 21 at the age of 81. For his accomplishments, Tiffen was honored twice by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and also received an Emmy. He receiveda Technical Achievement Award in 1984 from AMPAS, for the company’sproprietary filter lamination process. In 1999 he was honored by the Academy with a Technical Achievement Award. In 1998, the Television Academy bestowed him with a Prime Time Emmy for Engineering Excellence. Tiffen founded the family company in 1938 with brothers Leo and Saul. Under his aegis, the firm became known for its constant research anddevelopment of new and innovative filter optics for professionalcinematographers and photographers. “He always considered it aprivilege to work in an industry he loved, doing what he loved to do,”said his son Steven, who is currently the company’s president. The Tiffen Company was especially known for producing durable filtersthat cinematographers could count on to survive an entire production. The company, headquartered in Hauppauge, Long Island, also owns Steadicam. Tiffen is survived by Steven and three other children—Ira, Barbara and Sandra; and by 11 grandchildren.