Tag Archives: filter

Optical Filtration – Formatt Hitech Soft Gold.

In this modern age where almost any look can be created in post I find that there is still something extremely satisfying about creating as much of the final look of your content in camera as possible. And one thing that can make a huge difference is optical filtration.
As camera resolution continues to increase one type of filter that I find particularly useful is the diffusion filter. Diffusion filters can help take the digital edge off an electronic camera. They do this by causing some of the light passing through the filter to scatter which has a softening and contrast reducing effect, especially around highlights. 
By using different materials to scatter the light the effect can be coloured or modified for different looks.  A little bit of diffusion can really help to tame difficult highlights.

For a recent workshop where we had a scene that was designed to give the feel of an old Edwardian study,  I decided I wanted to create a very  romantic look. So I after playing with a couple of different diffusion filters I settled on a Formatt Hitech 1/4 Soft Gold filter. This filter is really nice for this type of shot as it adds a warm golden glow to high contrast areas. It also makes skin tones look a  little richer.

If you compare the first image which was shot without the filter and the other images that were shot with the filter, while I am happy with the shot without the filter, I really do feel that the filter transforms the shot into something that looks more romantic and has an “older” feel to it. Perhaps the 1/8th version of the filter might have been a better choice for a less strong effect, but this really is a filter I like a lot.

2-Shot-no-filter_1.6.1-scaled Optical Filtration - Formatt Hitech Soft Gold.
The scene without any additional filtration (click on the image to enlarge it).
Medium-shot1_1.3.2-scaled Optical Filtration - Formatt Hitech Soft Gold.
A shot from the scene with the Formatt Hitech 1/4 soft gold filter (click on the image to enlarge it).
Male-Face1_1.4.2-scaled Optical Filtration - Formatt Hitech Soft Gold.
Another shot from the scene with the Formatt Hitech 1/4 soft gold filter (click on the image to enlarge it).

The extra glow around the candles really enhances the sense of the candles being a part of the lighting while the softening of the highlights on the actors faces helps to make the images look more organic and less digital.

Candles-only1_1.10.1-scaled Optical Filtration - Formatt Hitech Soft Gold.
In this shot the only light was from the candles and the 1/4 Soft Gold filter makes the scene feel very warm and cosy.

Handy Tips For Using The Sony Variable ND Filter Values.

Sony rate the ND filters in most of there cameras using a fractional value such as 1/4, 1/16, 1/64 etc.

These values represent the amount of light that can pass through the filter, so a 1/4 ND lets 1/4 of the light through. 1/4 is the equivalent to 2 stops ( 1 stop = half,  2 stops = 1/4,  3 stops = 1/8,  4 stops = 1/16,  5 stops = 1/32, 6 stops = 1/64,  7 stops = 1/128).


These fractional values are actually quite easy to work with in conjunction  with the cameras ISO rating.

If you want to quickly figure out what ISO value to put into a light meter to discover the aperture/shutter needed when using the camera with the built in ND filters, simply take the cameras ISO rating and multiply it by the ND value. So 800 ISO with 1/4 ND becomes 800 x 1/4 = 200 (or you can do the maths as 800 ÷ 4). Put 200 in the light meter and it will tell what aperture to use for your chosen shutter speed.

If you want to figure out how much ND to use to get an equivalent overall ISO rating (camera ISO and  ND combined) you take the ISO of the camera and divide by the ISO you want and this gives you  a value “x” which is the fraction in 1/x. So if you want 3200 ISO then take the base of 12800 and divide by 3200 which gives 4, so you want 1/4 ND at 12800.