This line of filters have been designed to create sharp images produced by today’s high resolution cameras and lenses. Even at its lowest strength of 1/8, the components that go into making up a pearlescent get to work on producing a lush, velvety look to the images.

The rich, lush and glamorous look of a pearlescent takes effect cleaning out the fine detail in the skin, while an apparent sharpness remains in the eyes. It is also worth noting that the halation effect on the Caucasian skin tone is more apparent than on the African American skin tone. However the end result on both skin tones in the close ups is a pleasing, beautiful skin complexion.

Pro-Mist filters still continue to give today’s cinematographer, using modern cameras, a beautiful and effective look. Offering a timeless glow, along with its darker version, black pro mist, remains in the minds of many cinematographers as the de facto fusion reference. When one comes to considering adding diffusion to an image, the pro mist range of filters is as at home on film as well as digital cameras. It’s halation is more prominent than pearlescent, which is easily seen in the practical and specular light sources.

In the stronger densities it is clearly apparent how the Pro-Mist diffuse effect reduces the skin tone shimmer, clearly diluting both skin tone values.

Our Satin range of filters offers agreeable spill of halation across the filter sets densities, never overpowering the image. This effect, combined with a subtle resolution effect, makes this set of filters effective on two fronts. The look of Satin is simple and understated, producing a delicate look of a not too overly filtered image. This is evident in the control of fine detail information, where the Satin keeps eyes and hair sharp in the close ups, with a delicate reduction in contrast. By keeping a watchful eye on the halation in wide shots, you will see that it never increases keeping a constant background atmosphere. As you will notice, the fine detail resolution becomes ever so slightly softer, without ever breaking up the image. This combination delivers new levels of consistency and control to cinematographers wishing to influence the look of modern lenses.

The distinctive look of Black Net is that of a classical softening in that it has minimal halation. Care is required when using any front mounted net as the weave may become apparent, if shot under specific circumstances, these being wide focal lengths with a wide iris setting. Other side effects may include light sources that become caught or dragged when the camera is panned or moved. In this wide angle image the practical light is showing signs of irregular flair. This aside, the look is still special, even if you only get to use it when shooting still images.

It is easy to see why the Black Pro-Mists have been such a success for over the past 30 or so years. Its unique layering of contrast combined with a gauzy paint like halation, function as a twist on the stand of the pro halation spill effect. Even at its lowest density, it delivers an effective and increase in the halation which adds a pleasing depth of warmth, but is not transported to the skin tone values. These characteristics will become more apparent when you use densities of 1 quarter and above.

In the heavier densities the spill is quite aggressive from the practical light, with the warm tone becoming more apparent. Yet the subtle but effective look still continues to make the pro mist filter a staple filter for many cinematographers in the digital world.

Our Black Satin range of filters offer the cinematographer two main benefits when using modern camera sensor technology and lenses. An agreeable sense of halation across the densities, never overpowering the image, combined with a subtle resolution reduction element, makes this set of filters effective on two fronts. The look of Black Satin is simple and understated, producing a rounded delicate vailed atmosphere of a not too overly filtered image. This is evident in the control of fine detail formation, where the black satins keep eyes and hair sharp in the close ups. With a delicate reduction and contrast, by keeping a watchful eye on the halation you will see this never increases. However it does deliver warmth to the halation, thus maintaining constant warmth to the atmosphere. With each densities increase, the fine detail resolution is softer without ever breaking up the image. This combination delivers new levels of consistency and control to cinematographers wishing to influence the look of modern lenses.

Tiffen’s Black Pearlescent® filters aid cinematographers in taking the edge off the image from modern digital lenses and cameras, especially with 4K acquisition sensors — specifically in mind to enhance the natural beauty of the shot. Black Pearlescent filters offer all of the benefits of the original Pearlescent filters, while adding a slightly reduced halo effect on spectacular highlights, and gently softening the overall image with a smooth glow. Today’s increased in-camera sharpness and contrast can sometimes show intense detail, and it’s here where the Black Pearlescent filter’s look comes into its own.

Responding to the demands of cinematographers, Tiffen’s new Black Glimmerglass® filters aid cinematographers in taking the hard crisp edge off the images that modern digital lenses and cameras can produce, especially with 4K sensors, and are designed to enhance the natural beauty of the shot with minimal signs of filtration. Black Glimmerglass filters offer all of the benefits of the original Glimmerglass filters, PLUS, they subtly remove harsh sharpness from modern lenses, adding a pleasing overall blending to contrast levels. Additionally, these filters maintain a clear, overall in-focus image, offering a filmic aura to digital acquisition.

Gold Diffusion/FX offers an optical softness helping reduce the sharpness associated with today’s modern lens. As it introduces a golden warmth that wraps itself around the image, this filter produces a slight reduction in contrast, creating a very pleasing effect on darker skin tones. Practical light sources and skin shine seemly unduly moved by the filters reduction until the heavier densities are introduced.

As with all Diffusion/FX range facial features, like eyes, are given an apparent sharpness, giving a very pleasing look to beauty shots. The lowering of contrast changes the shadow area without producing a halation from specular or practical light sources. Until we get to the very heavy end of the range, even then its affect is refined and un-invasive. One can also see the filters added warmth in the gray scale in the wide shot.

Warm Black Pro-Mist, when initially viewed in this section of the film seems to introduce an alarming red warm hue to the image. However, as your eyes adjust to this look, one begins to feel that the original unfiltered image on the left hand side of the screen is unduly cool. This affect is the byproduct of our brains compensating for the warmth of the image we are most concentrating on. We also notice how both skin tones used in this test seemed to benefit from this added warmth, either by the added warmth introduced into the shadow area or by how the skin tone detail is smoothed out by the diffusions added warmth.

By infusing the halation’s dispersion of added warmth, a rich glow is produced which is kept in check by the filters black element, as it controls the level of contrast and spill. This result is considered by some to have a more pleasing effect on darker skin tones, where otherwise the standard black pro mist may be considered too flat.

Warm Pro-Mist, in comparison to Warm Black Pro-Mist, delivers a dreamer warmth to the image. The warmth is distributed evenly without the interference of the black element, clearly seen in how the halation responds to the practical light source. Compared to the warm black pro mist, this cleaner warmer lower contrast of spill is stronger on lighter skin tones, but is absorbed to give a pleasing effect on darker skin tones, without so much apparent halation. The added warmth in our diffusion lines is an important factor to consider if your control of lighting in a specific environment or equipment is limited when shooting darker skin tones, as the added warmth of warm diffusers is evident to see.

Soft/FX uses a different approach for dealing with how it reduces the sharpness and resolution of an image. This is by dispensing many different strengths of oval lenslets within the laminated glass. The resulting image is affected in a slightly different way to how the acid etching of a digital diffusion filter works. Due to the size in which the internal lens can be produced, the light that is bent on these internal lenses is bent on an overall effect of the image. Therefore the softness is more widely spread over the image, meaning the resolution is reduced to a greater degree at a lower density. The physical effect of this process also means that the spread of bent light form the lenslets in the heavier densities produces a slight halation around the practical and specular light sources as well.

Controlling contrast is difficult in bright sunlit exteriors. Exposing for either highlights or shadows will leave the other severely under-or over-exposed. Tiffen was recognized with a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for the innovative design of this popular Motion Picture and TV filter. It uses the surrounding ambient light, not just light in the image area, to evenly lighten shadows throughout. Use it where contrast control is needed without any other effect on sharpness or highlight flare being apparent.

Controlling contrast is difficult in bright sunlit exteriors. Exposing for either highlights or shadows will leave the other severely under-or over-exposed. Low Contrast filters create a small amount of “localized” flare near highlight areas within the image. This reduces contrast by lightening nearby shadow areas, leaving highlights almost unchanged.

The Tiffen Fog Filter simulates the effects of natural fog or mist by creating a soft glow around highlights and lowering the overall contrast of the scene. There can also be a softening effect due to how the light interacts with the subject matter. Provides a fog-like effect with glowing highlights and lowered overall contrast.

Tiffen Double Fog filters have milder flare and softening characteristics than standard Fog filters while exhibiting a much greater effect on contrast, especially in the stronger grades. A very thick natural fog will still allow close-up objects to appear sharp. So will a Double Fog filter. The key to the effect is the much lower contrast combined with a minimal amount of highlight flare.

New Black Fog filters provide an overall atmospheric softening that creates a smooth wide flare from the highlights yet keeps the blacks, black without overly muting colors or losing detail in shadows.

New Night Fog filters yield a natural fog effect with overall atmospheric softening and wide flare, coupled with unique contrast reduction technology that reduces highlights without darkening shadows.