Welcome to my Formatt Hitech Soft Gold Diffusion Filter Review
Formatt Hitech have a long standing pedigree in the Cinema filter industry and their diffusion filter range truly are second to none. It’s no wonder they are considered the worlds leading diffusion filter manufacturer and why their filters are trusted on some of the biggest productions out there from Batman (2021), Dune (2022), Star Wars, Peak Blinders, Doctor Who, Fast and the Furious etc….
Their vast range of diffusion filters are second to none and the soft gold diffusion filters are truly stunning at what they do. They are incredible value for money also as these filters are only £250.- + Vat each for the 4mm 4 x 5.65 inch standard filters.
They are available in several different strengths from 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 just like the Black Supermist filters and the Soft Silver filters, with the weakest effect being on the 1/8 filter and strongest on the 1 filter.
It should also be noted that your focal length will directly affect the diffusion results you will get, with longer focal lengths having a more pronounced diffusion effect. So even if you have a single filter you can still play around with the effect by varying the focal length you are shooting at.
Soft Gold diffusion filters, soft silver and Black Supermist diffusion filters explained and footage of each type of filter also included in my video below.
Formatt Hitech have given me a discount code HAYES10 to give you 10% off these filters worldwide
Simply enter the code at checkout on the Formatt Hitech international website or the USA website, also checkout my Formatt Hitech Discount code page here in case there are any special offers on right now.
I should also add I get a slight commission from any sale with my discount code, I use this money to help pay for a tree to be plated with every approved sale. You get 10% off also so it’s a win win for both of us.
Formatt Hitech did provide me with a soft gold diffusion filter for this review but they have not paid me to write this review nor did they have any input on the review. Let’s get back to the review…
The Soft Gold Diffusion filter effect.
Diffusion filters normally take the edge off your footage in camera and lower contrast while smoothening skin and adding halation or bloom to your lighting. This can all beautifully be done in camera saving you hours or days of post processing time but these Soft Gold diffusion filters don’t stop there they add two more unique effects.
The first being a slightly warmer colour tone and also varying the intesity of diffusion according to your light level in your scene. To put that simply the Soft Gold filters have more of an effect on the highlight or lights in your scene and a bit less of an effect in your midtones and less again to your shadow detail. With it’s slightly warm colour tone, diffusion and halation it adds the effects you would expect to see in a vintage lens with out the price and remember you can use this on all your lenses.
These filters work beautifully with skin tones and as I mentioned above the amount of time they save in post is simply staggering. You also need to remember that this will give you a completely natural and organic effect where as applying these effects in post won’t unless you spend countless days at it.
The other beauty is you can see the results immediately on set.
These are truly remarkable filters and should be in every gear bag out there.
The soft gold diffusion filters are very similiar to the soft silver diffusion filters (review here) only with a more vintage feel to them and a slightly warmer colour tone.
The soft gold diffusion filters are available as 4mm thick 4 x 5.65 inch filters which will will work in all standard matte boxes, I use my SmallRig Lightweight Matte box (review here) and they work incredibly well together.
Don’t forget to checkout my other Cinema filter reviews below…
Black Supermist Diffusion filter review here.
Soft Silver Diffusion filter review here.
Firecrest Ultra Cinema filter review here.
Firecrest Ultra Cine superslim filters review here.
SmallRig Lightweight Matte box vs Tilta Mini Matte box.
If you have any questions on the Soft Gold filters then do please feel free to contact me and ask them, I am only too happy to help.
Don’t forget the Formatt Hitech Dsicont code HAYES10 also to save yourself a bit of money on them.
See you out there,
Kieran.