Buyers’ guide
Formatt Hitech
B+W
formatt-hitech.com
manfrotto.com/uk-en
B+W is one of the best-known, high-quality filter brands for photography and video use. While Schneider tends to concentrate on a massive range of rectangular filters for high-end cinematography, B+W has established itself as a world-leading manufacturer of premium screw- in filters for photographers. Though it does have square, drop-in filters, too.
Also new from Formatt Hitech is the Black Supermist Circle screw-in filter kit, which gives a more dreamy, cinematic look by diffusing the image. The Black Supermist screw-in filters set features four versions, from a full-strength one to a half-, quarter- and eighth-strength. Supermist filters knock back fine details and also give a pleasant, film-like bloom to point light sources. This lower contrast delivers a vintage feel, but preserves dynamic range. The Black Supermist is more subtle than a standard Clear Supermist that Formatt Hitech also offers. There is also less lightening of shadow areas, but the filters do reduce light by around a third of a stop, so you might want to open up, or increase ISO to compensate.
Formatt Hitech is not only a manufacturer of resin filters for the stills photography market, as well as screw-in filters, but of serious kit for filmmakers. Its Firecrest Ultra IRND filters, in the traditional 4x5.65in size, are a new type of ND filter, using a rare earth mineral coating, rather than dyed resin. The filters are made from 4mm-thick Schott super-white glass, and the multi-coating is bonded in the middle to increase scratch resistance. Firecrest filters are designed to be neutral across all the spectrum, including UV, visible and infrared. Not adding a colour cast to your footage is one of the biggest issues with ND filters – and the 3-stop 0.9 ND version we tested was very colour neutral.
Perhaps the firm’s best-known are its Käsemann-type
polarising ones. Recently, B+W has made progress in surface coating, claiming to be the first filter manufacturer to offer multiresistant coating (MRC). This MCR nano-
coating is very thin, to avoid any degradation of the image. The range of ND filters is probably
of most use to filmmakers, coming in varying individual strengths. There are also variable ND filters in the ND Vario MRC Nano range.
Marumi
kenro.co.uk
front of your lens and is available in sizes up to 82mm to suit the majority of DSLR and mirrorless cameras. The frame is made from thin aluminium to prevent vignetting at wider zoom lens settings. If you are going super- wide on a full-frame camera, check there is no vignetting. The glass is Japanese-made, multi-coated, and does a great job in cutting down the light from around half – so one stop – to a 400th of the original brightness. That’s a huge range that
Marumi makes virtually every type of filter, at a variety of budgets. From the Panavision standard to square, resin filters for serious photographers, as well as screw-in options and everything in between. Clear lens protection filters, polarisers, starburst filters, soft filters for diffusion and macro close-ups are all available. There’s even retro-styled filters to give a traditional filmic look to your footage. And, of course, you can buy a complete set of ND filters in various strengths. Perhaps the most useful is the Marumi DHG Variable ND2- ND400, which screws into the
should give you the perfect exposure on even the brightest days.
Lee Filters
leefilters.com
Lee Filters is one of the biggest names in high-end stills photography, especially for landscape shooters – who rave about Lee’s range of precision, handmade drop-in filters that are used in the company’s own top-quality holder. And, of course, this whole range is very useful for making movies. The filters are made of resin or glass, and come in widths of 85mm (shown here), 100mm or 150mm, suiting different sizes of cameras and lenses. Lee tends to focus its range on polarisers, plus ND and ND grads, which are available in a range of strengths, as well as hard and soft-edge versions for the ND grads. But Lee also has a range of professional ND filters, designed specifically for cinematography in the latest ProGlass Cine range. These are made to eliminate any infrared pollution and ensure colours remain absolutely accurate. They are manufactured from 4mm, optically flat, scratch-resistant glass and have a metal rim to aid handling and increase durability. They are available in 4x5.65in and 6.6x6.6in sizes in seven densities, ranging from 0.3ND – one stop – to 2.1ND, which is seven stops.
32 Photography News | Issue 89
photographynews.co.uk
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