The Best Diffusion Filters available today.

Black Supermist diffusion filters, pro mist filters and mist filters basically all have a very similar effect on your footage. They are not all the same though, some filters look like you smeared a light coat of Vaseline on your lens… ouch even the thought of that makes me shudder…

But you get the point there is a big difference between blurred footage and diffused footage. They are in two different leagues, just watch a movie or music video and I am sure you will notice how that harsh raw digital look has been subtly taken off the footage and they finished effect is far more polished and dare I say it Cinematic.

A standard Diffusion filter or mist filter by the top brands is basically a filter that lowers contrast in your scene, softens skin and adds halation or provides bloom to your lights or highlights in the scene.

Now this is an incredibly cool effect on its own and as I said already it takes that hard raw digital look off your footage and creates far more of a cinematic effect and the beauty of it is that’s all done in camera for you. Yes sharp is beautiful and we all crave those ultra sharp lenses, those mind blowing sensors and codecs that keep every raw sinue of detail but it all feels just a bit too real, a bit too detailed. That polished Hollywood style effect has never been about minute details popping off the screen. So what diffusion filter strength is best I hear you say, well, that depends on a few things so let Delve a bit deeper.

What strength Diffusion filter do I need?

Diffusion filters don’t just come in one singular strength, most of the best diffusion filters are sold in 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 strengths with 1/8th being the weakest and 1 being the strongest.
There is a massive difference in the strength of Diffusion filters as you can see from my video above which has chapters in it sop you can skip to each different filter to see the effect.

Another way to vary the effect of these filters is too shoot at different focal lengths, the filter itself has a set strength but if you use a longer focal length you will enhance the effect then, which is a little known fact about diffusion filters. So if your shot is setup at 35mm and you are changing to a closeup at 85mm with the same filter you will get different effects from the very same filter. This is why filter kits are always recommended, you can easily swap out a filter for the same effect then.

What is the best brand of Cinematic Diffusion filters?

Now the best diffusion filters on the market have to be the range of filters available from Formatt Hitech as they have been making the best diffusion filters for well over 30 years now, their filters are used on the biggest block buster movies where only the best will do like Batman (2021), Dune (2022), Star Wars, Peaky Blinders, Dr Who etc…
They also have the widest range of diffusion filters on the market with athe Black Supermist diffusion filters available in…

• 2mm thick  4 x 5.65 Diffusion filters.
• 4mm Standard  4 x 5.65 matte Box filters.
• Screw in filters are also available

If you are a hybrid shooter then this means you can use the super slim 2mm black supermist diffusion filters in a conventional 100mm filter holder used for photography filters. Or you can also use them with the Firecrest Ultra 2mm superslim ND Cinema filters in a single 4mm filter slot in your matte box!!! Now that’s a game changer and it without doubt it makes the Formatt Hitech Diffusion filters the best diffusion filters on the market right now…
The great news for you here is that Formatt Hitech have given me a 10% discount code HAYES10 which will give you 10% off their products via their websites worldwide. Simply enter the code in the discount code box at checkout to get 10% off.