Chroma Technology equipment

About Chroma Technology

Chroma Technology Corp. is an American manufacturer of precision optical filters and optical coatings for life science instrumentation and biophotonics. The company was founded in Brattleboro, Vermont, in May 1991 by six individuals and is organised as a 100 percent employee-owned business. It is headquartered in Bellows Falls, Vermont, and as of 2026 it has no parent company and remains independent. Its output centres on optical interference filters, including bandpass, longpass, shortpass, notch rejection, and neutral density types, together with dichroic beamsplitters and reflective mirrors. These components are assembled into complete fluorescence filter sets, and the company also produces Raman and UV-VIS-NIR filters. Much of this optics work supports fluorescence microscopy, the technique at the core of modern cell imaging, where a filter set selects the excitation band, reflects it onto the sample, and passes only the emitted signal back to the detector. That same class of optics underpins work across molecular biology and genomics, from fluorescence in situ hybridisation in cytogenetics to the multi-colour imaging used in cell culture and live-cell studies.

Chroma filter series and product lines

The catalogue is organised into named series, each tied to a construction method or an application. The ET Series, numbered in the 49000 range, consists of sputtered single-band filter sets built for demanding fluorescence work, where steep spectral edges and high transmission separate weak signals from background. The AT Series, the 39000 range, covers general-purpose filter sets for routine configurations. FISH filter sets sit in the 49300 Series and are configured for fluorescence in situ hybridisation, a core technique in molecular diagnostics and cytogenetic analysis. Dedicated TIRF sets serve total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, used in single-molecule studies and membrane imaging. FRET sets support Förster resonance energy transfer measurements, which report on protein interactions and conformational change in molecular biology. Raman filter sets serve Raman spectroscopy, and the brightfield sets in the 33000 Series address non-fluorescent transmitted-light imaging and histology. Beyond the standard catalogue, the company produces custom and OEM filters, which are designed to a customer's spectral specification and often integrated directly into an instrument. For a buyer, the series number on a listing is the first piece of information: it signals the coating generation, the performance class, and the technique the set was built around, before any individual wavelength is checked.

Chroma optics on Questpair

On Questpair, 56 Chroma items are listed by 4 verified suppliers and distributors across 3 countries. The condition profile leans heavily toward the secondary market: 96 percent of the listings are used. Prices run from EUR 18 to EUR 10.652. The average listing price is EUR 943. That range reflects the variety of what appears under this brand, from a single filter or beamsplitter at the low end to a complete mounted multi-band set at the high end. Because Chroma optics are identified by series and part number, matching a listing to an existing instrument is a matter of confirming the specific set, and a wider distribution of suppliers improves the odds that a particular ET, AT, or FISH configuration is present. Where documentation for a specific part is needed, that can be requested through Questpair, and specialists respond within one hour. Parts can be sourced via Questpair as well. For a used optic, condition is a listing-level question rather than a brand-level one, and a warranty is often possible, arranged in consultation for the specific listing. Used and refurbished items are listed at lower prices than new ones, which is the practical reason the secondary market dominates this particular catalogue.

Questpair review of Chroma Technology

Our take based on listings data and supplier feedback

Chroma occupies a narrow, well-defined position in the instrumentation supply chain: it makes the spectral components that sit inside a fluorescence microscope rather than the microscope itself. That focus shapes what a buyer finds when evaluating the listed optics, and the three benefits above each reflect a different aspect of that focus.

The first is the mapping between a filter set and a named technique. Chroma does not sell its optics purely as bandpass or longpass components defined by edge wavelengths; it configures them as sets matched to a method. The FISH filter sets in the 49300 Series are built for fluorescence in situ hybridisation, where several fluorophores are imaged in sequence and crosstalk between channels has to be suppressed. The TIRF sets serve total internal reflection work, the FRET sets serve resonance energy transfer measurements, and the Raman sets serve Raman spectroscopy. For a buyer, this means a listing identified as a FISH or FRET set already carries information about the excitation and emission bands it was designed around, which narrows the matching problem to the instrument and the dyes in use. Molecular diagnostics and genomics labs running cytogenetic assays, and cell imaging groups doing live-cell microscopy, both lean on exactly this kind of method-specific optics.

The second benefit concerns construction. The ET Series, the 49000 Series, uses sputtered single-band coatings, which Chroma describes as hard-coated and specifies for steep transition slopes and high in-band transmission. In practice that construction is what separates a filter intended for weak-signal fluorescence from a general-purpose one. The AT Series, the 39000 Series, and the brightfield sets in the 33000 Series address less demanding or non-fluorescent applications. When a listing names its series, that series number tells a buyer which coating generation and which performance class they are looking at, rather than leaving spectroscopy performance to be inferred.

The third benefit is about the catalogue itself. These are secondary-market optics, and the condition split is pronounced: 96 percent of the listings are used. Prices run from EUR 18 to EUR 10.652. That spread reflects the difference between an individual filter or a single beamsplitter at the low end and a complete, mounted multi-band set at the high end. The supply is distributed across 4 verified suppliers and distributors in 3 countries, which matters for a buyer trying to match a specific part number: a wider supplier base raises the chance that a particular ET or FISH set appears at all. The average sits at EUR 943.

What this review does not resolve, because the data does not carry it, is the exact condition of any single optic. Interference filters age, and coatings can degrade with handling and exposure, so condition for a used filter is a listing-level question rather than a brand-level one. Where a buyer needs to confirm that, the individual listing is the reference point, and warranty on a specific unit is arranged in consultation. The brand-level picture is clear: a filter maker with a tight catalogue organised by technique and series, available here largely on the used market.

**Filters built for named fluorescence techniques**

Chroma manufactures dedicated filter sets for FISH, TIRF, FRET, and Raman, so the listed optics map directly to a specific imaging method rather than to a generic wavelength range.

**Sputtered coatings across the ET Series**

The 49000 Series uses hard-coated sputtered single-band construction, which Chroma specifies for steep spectral edges and high transmission in demanding fluorescence work.

**A used-dominated catalogue across suppliers**

On Questpair, 96 percent of the listings are used, drawn from 4 verified suppliers and distributors in 3 countries.