Formatt Hitech Onyx vs Firecrest Ultra vs Firecrest Pro ND filters.

So, we now have a rough idea of what makes a Firecrest filter, so let’s have a quick look at the Onyx range now.

Onyx are made from a single piece of hardened glass that has been designed to be drop proof up to 1.2m, please note this rating as with all other drop proof filters is that they land horizontally. The reason for this is if the filter lands vertically it can still possibly break pieces off the corners. The odds are greatly reduced but it’s still possible.

So now we have a very robust piece of glass all we need to do is to add the ND coating. The ND coating is applied to both sides of the filter with a scratch resistant anti reflective coating, I mentioned earlier this coating may well be scratch resistant but again I wouldn’t like to test that. The filter also has a waterproof coating on it, now that may seem like a weird statement but what it really means is that it has a special coating on the filter which helps water droplets run off the filter, that’s a great feature to have while shooting in light rain, drizzle, mist or seaspray conditions.

So far we can see two distinct differences between Firecrest filters and the Onxy filters. Onyx are drop proof making them more resilient. Firecrest filters have a more resilient coating as it’s protected by glass. So it’s slightly easier to break a Firecrest filter and it’s easier to scratch an Onyx filter.

Now just to be clear this makes both these filters better than most other brands out there already in their own ways.

Crazily on the resilient side of things they both have advantages and disadvantages. I had intended to make this as straight forward as possible but so far you need to ask yourself if you mare going to scratch your filters or drop them which all seems a bit mad… then again if you have a history of dropping filters then Onyx could be a sure thing for you. Everything I have mentioned so far is about durability and and how tough they are but there is a lot more to a filter than that.

So how else can we test a filter? Well the two main criteria in filters are colour neutrality and sharpness.

Before we go into Colour neutrality and sharpness I think it’s only fair to say that the Firecrest Ultra filters have one of the best reputations of any photography filters currently available. This might seem like a bold statement but when you consider these filters are used on blockbuster movies and television shows worldwide including Hollywood productions and are the choice of some of the most demanding cinematographers out there it gives you some slight idea of how well respected they are in the industry.

To think we can go out and buy the very same filter albeit in a smaller version and use it for our photography is mind blowing. These studios have million dollar budgets and the fact they trust the Ultra range of filters says a lot in my mind.

Colour neutrality

The Ultra filters have an edge here over the onyx filters in my experience. Their colour neutrality is simply amazing and it’s clear to see why they are the most trusted filters for use in Hollywood blockbusters. If the film industry trust them on multi-million dollar productions then I think it’s safe to say they must be the best out there. I have a review of the Ultra filters here where I compare shots with and without filters to give you an idea of how neutral they really are.