By technical editor Matt Allard:
On our Newsshooter/Teradek live show at IBC I had the chance to sit down with Carey Duffy of Tiffen to discuss the benefits of filtering modern lenses. He explained that many cinematographers choose to use diffusion filters to take ‘the edge’ off the look of their super sharp lenses. This can be extremely useful when shooting actors or doing interviews where the extreme detail of modern optics can be unflattering – showing up any imperfections in the skin.
New for this year’s IBC were a range of round screw in diffusion filters that fit mainly to stills lenses. The lower values of these are great for making the image look less ‘digital’, without being too ‘dreamy’.
Carey talks about a diffusion test done earlier this year with a Sony F55 and various filters. You can watch it below:
As more and more visual effects and filters are added during post production, I asked Carey why filters are still needed. His answer was simple – “The fastest place to render is in camera”. I have to agree and using filters certainly puts a degree of creative control back in the hands of the shooter.
