p.3 #3 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
100% agreed. It will not give you the organic looking highlight bloom either, which is my primary interest in diffusion filters. You can technically kinda sorta simulate the bloom in Photoshop, which I have done before, but it still doesn’t look similar at all in character. You’d need to make a luminosity mask selection of the highlights, copy and paste it onto another layer and then apply a blur to it.
p.3 #5 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
Interesting. My takeaway is if it's backlit, I prefer #1 but if not, you can get away with the #5 at 50mm and this kind of subject content. IOW, you still need a bunch of different strengths to cover a range of lenses and desired effects.
If only someone would invent a variable diffusion filter along the lines of variable NDs...
p.3 #6 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
rscheffler wrote:
Interesting. My takeaway is if it's backlit, I prefer #1 but if not, you can get away with the #5 at 50mm and this kind of subject content. IOW, you still need a bunch of different strengths to cover a range of lenses and desired effects.
If only someone would invent a variable diffusion filter along the lines of variable NDs...
If you have two, you can stack them as well. I got a BPM 1/2 and 1/4 today and of course tried stacking both on top of the dream filter. It was pretty extreme and not for every shot, but I will definitely use the combo on occasion!
p.3 #7 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
Hello,
The OOF areas/bokeh of the 35mm GM in some circumstances can be not as smooth as that seen with the Sigma 1.2, for example, not surprisingly as the Sigma is faster, though also, IMHO, the Sony has been engineered for sharpness and quite a bit of contrast.
Has anyone experimented with Black pro mist filters for this purpose?
These filters, and similar ones by competitors, are often used by videographers to soften the "digital" look from digital video cameras.
Here's the schpiel from the producer:
"-Contrast is lowered, but with less lightening of shadows for a more delicate effect
-Creates a soft light "pastel" effect
-Delicate effect with contained highlight flare
"... 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. "
I have nothing to do with this company. Some people prefer other similar filters. They're not cheap. Saw Lindsay Adler using one in a video.
The Black pro mist 1/8 has a weak effect, the 1/4 more (often used for portraits) and the 1/2 even more. If you use higher strengths then the chances of light "blooming" increases, so you have to watch out for that. Some people use higher strengths for higher FL I believe (or vice versa, I can't remember!).
They say that it reduces contrast and doesn't effect sharpness or skin tones (good for portraits! Don't think such an effect can exactly be accomplished in post processing as the random tiny specks of matter in the filter disperse light slightly, producing different effects according to the subject/light etc)
Anyway, I decided to do a few test shots with an A7RII and the Sony 35mm GM.
These photos were taken with EFCS off and manual focused to around a few feet, I think it was, to isolate not such smooth OOF areas.
At first glance you may not notice much of an effect (especially with the 1/4 strength), though to my eye I can see reduced contrast and softer rendering.
If anyone is interested I can do more experiments (the effect should be more pronounced with back light as there would be more blooming), and your own experiments would be useful if you have such a filter.
I use them when doing portraits, and when I can't be bothered to work on background OOF areas to smooth them more (which I've never done anyway though haven't used such a crazy sharp contrasty lens like the 35mm GM before), so it might save you some post processing of the background if you feel the effect is OK for you.
p.3 #8 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
This is an interesting topic, I think I read someone's thoughts on these kind of filters not that long ago here...
Would you mind posting some comparisons with a busy background (like trees, branches, foliage, etc.) focused a bit further (like 3-4m) ? I think it's then, when the blur amount diminishes and all the rendering imperfections come out...
p.3 #9 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
j4nu wrote:
This is an interesting topic, I think I read someone's thoughts on these kind of filters not that long ago here...
Would you mind posting some comparisons with a busy background (like trees, branches, foliage, etc.) focused a bit further (like 3-4m) ? I think it's then, when the blur amount diminishes and all the rendering imperfections come out...
Sure, I had limited time this evening when I remembered about these filters and took the above shots in the diminishing light.
How far do you want the branches to be with the focus at 3-4m? Branches at 5 or 10m or more like 20+?
Where would you prefer the sun to be (if I can manage that!)?
p.3 #12 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
Hmmm, I think it was none of the videos on her channel; think I viewed it over six months ago. She was photographing a model in her studio, may have been one of her short videos where she breaks down the lighting etc. Sorry, can't remember more.
I believe that I found that there were other brands of these filters when I was researching which one to get (settled on black pro must for no reason in particular, though then you have to choose a strength; in the end I bought the 1/4 and 1/2).
I believe that in the many reviews that I read a person mentioned a different brand. I read reviews on adorama, b & h, Amazon, other places after doing searches.
If you find out more let us know!
DaveFP wrote:
I think it works.
Do you have a link to the video?
Any threads or articles out there that compare the various brands?
p.3 #14 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
rainio wrote:
Hello,
The OOF areas/bokeh of the 35mm GM in some circumstances can be not as smooth as that seen with the Sigma 1.2, for example, not surprisingly as the Sigma is faster, though also, IMHO, the Sony has been engineered for sharpness and quite a bit of contrast.
Has anyone experimented with Black pro mist filters for this purpose?
These filters, and similar ones by competitors, are often used by videographers to soften the "digital" look from digital video cameras.
Here's the schpiel from the producer:
"-Contrast is lowered, but with less lightening of shadows for a more delicate effect
-Creates a soft light "pastel" effect
-Delicate effect with contained highlight flare
"... 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. "
I have nothing to do with this company. Some people prefer other similar filters. They're not cheap. Saw Lindsay Adler using one in a video.
The Black pro mist 1/8 has a weak effect, the 1/4 more (often used for portraits) and the 1/2 even more. If you use higher strengths then the chances of light "blooming" increases, so you have to watch out for that. Some people use higher strengths for higher FL I believe (or vice versa, I can't remember!).
They say that it reduces contrast and doesn't effect sharpness or skin tones (good for portraits! Don't think such an effect can exactly be accomplished in post processing as the random tiny specks of matter in the filter disperse light slightly, producing different effects according to the subject/light etc)
Anyway, I decided to do a few test shots with an A7RII and the Sony 35mm GM.
These photos were taken with EFCS off and manual focused to around a few feet, I think it was, to isolate not such smooth OOF areas.
At first glance you may not notice much of an effect (especially with the 1/4 strength), though to my eye I can see reduced contrast and softer rendering.
If anyone is interested I can do more experiments (the effect should be more pronounced with back light as there would be more blooming), and your own experiments would be useful if you have such a filter.
I use them when doing portraits, and when I can't be bothered to work on background OOF areas to smooth them more (which I've never done anyway though haven't used such a crazy sharp contrasty lens like the 35mm GM before), so it might save you some post processing of the background if you feel the effect is OK for you.
It would be great if you posted your examples and thoughts in that so we don't have multiple threads covering the same thing--it's a much more valuable/helpful source for the FM community when info/testing/discussion is centralized.
p.3 #15 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
fuzzykeys wrote:
If you have two, you can stack them as well. I got a BPM 1/2 and 1/4 today and of course tried stacking both on top of the dream filter. It was pretty extreme and not for every shot, but I will definitely use the combo on occasion!
p.3 #18 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
Oh, wow! This looks like it's turning into the internet's definitive diffusion filter discussion!
I'll move over to yours!
It seems that these filters do smooth bokeh and OOF areas, so if anyone's is interested in more discussion you can pop over to the other discussion.
Someone mentioned do the filters work at higher studies, which is a good point. I'll look into this and post there.
Thanks!
nehemiahphoto wrote:
There is already a thread started for this exact thing here recently! This thread covers BPM mist among others at different FL's and such:
It would be great if you posted your examples and thoughts in that so we don't have multiple threads covering the same thing--it's a much more valuable/helpful source for the FM community when info/testing/discussion is centralized.
p.3 #19 · Diffusion Filters! (or Effect Filters in general)
I am becoming a big fan of diffusion filters and now I have three of em. I just got two Black Pro Mists (1/4 and 1/2) to add to my Prism Lens FX Dream Filter, which works a bit differently than a BPM. They can all definitely add some jus.
I am not using them to soften per se, but if you are in a backlit situation, you will definitely see some blooming in your out of focus bg, which will soften it some. I posted some 50mm Dream Filter tests in the diffusion and effects thread as well as one SOOC JPEG portrait with the 1/2 yesterday. I will try to add some more soon. One interesting thing is that you can stack filters so if you have a 1/4 and a 1/2, you can add them together for a pseudo 3/4.
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