GEAR FILTERS
compare filters; there’s too much variety and no specifications. You cannot say it keeps rich blacks of 80% or has a halation of three or four.” Baier craves agreement: “We need one test that everyone uses, something to make filters more comparable and understandable for the industry. We need a tool that clearly explains the differences and is useful for people.” Any such system, she admits, would need to accommodate the fact that there is more than one way to build filters. “The mist filters – we call them frost – means there’s particles within the filter. A soft filter for me is a filter with lenslets. This would be a way to figure that out and characterise it.” Ultimately, the conversation returns to the imperative of real-world optical effects. “If you go digital, you calculate based on what is on the sensor, trying to account for light sources from various angles. If you use a glass filter, then all the light which lands on the filter acts with the filter – and you can’t bring it out again. It’s like handwriting, your signature, nobody can change it. So, you can ensure post-production can’t make something out of your image which you don’t like.” Across the Atlantic, Gorky Bolanos is optics product manager at Tiffen. He reports a similar enthusiasm for new things. “We came out last year with two diffusion effects called Black Fog and Night Fog, which are a combination of
classic effects we saw as a valuable addition to the family of filters,” states Bolanos. “It grabs those highly desired elements other filters do, but together. This year, we have more new diffusion filters called Soft Glow, Black Soft Glow, Golden Glow, as well as Dark Contrast.” Bringing all these filters into existence is a task which falls to lab manager Mike Fecik, who echoes Baier in his description of different filtration techniques. “There’s different types of diffusion,” he points out. “There are effects which give you glowing highlights, change contrast or soften fine detail – they’re the components of any kind of diffusion filter.” Using those components – and many others – to satisfy an artistic desire is an interpretive process, Fecik
ALL AGLOW The effect of Tiffen’s Soft Glow (above) and its Magnetic Control System (right)
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