Welcome to my Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra Cine Superslim filters review.
These filters are amazing value for money at less than half the price of a normal Firecrest Ultra 4mm 4 x 5.65 filters. Now bearing in mind the 4mm Firecrest Ultra cinema filters are used on blockbuster productions like Star Wars, Fast and the Furious, Bridget Jones, The Batman (2021), Dune, Peak Blinders, Doctor Who etc…
It’s clear to see that Formatt Hitech has a great pedigree in the cinema industry. To think you can buy these Superslim 2mm versions for less than half the price of their 4mm cousins is staggering. The Superslim filters at the time of writing this are £147.41 in the UK and $199.- in the USA.
So they are incredible value for money, what makes them even better value for money is the Formatt Hitech discount code HAYES10 which Formatt Hitech have given me so I can give you all 10% discount off their prices.
Now for the sake of transparency I should mention I get a slight commission for any sales made with the discount code and I use some of this money to plant a tree for each approved sale. You also get a 10% reduction so it’s a win-win situation for us all.
As with all Firecrest Ultra cinema filters you are getting a colour neutral filter that’s pin sharp and robust so what’s new with the 2mm superslim cine filters? Let’s find out….
Why buy the Firecrest Ultra cine superslim filters?
Well to save a lot of money firstly but there are three other reasons to consider them also…
Weight
Yes, it might only seem like a small thing but if you are hand holding your rig for a few hours or using a steadicam or gimbal then the weight savings all add up.
I use these filters in both my Firecrest 100mm MKii filter holder (review here) and the awesome SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box (review here) and they are just like their bigger brothers in their optical performance and colour neutrality I use the Superslims in my 100mm Firecrest MKii Magnetic holder when I am using my DJI RS2 gimbal and it’s a match made in heaven.
I use these filters in my SmallRig lightweight matte box when I am hand holding my rig and the combination works really well together. Getting back to the filters and the hidden features…
Filter stacking
Yes, you read that right you can actually stack these filters as they are half the thickness of standard filters so two filters fit in a 4mm tray or filter slot… how cool is that?
Now if you are wondering about damaging your filters then let me just say these filters are Ultra filters so it’s going to be hard to scratch them and impossible to scratch the filter coating due to the amazing way they are made read on to find out more…
Filter coating.
I mentioned the coating is impossible to scratch, so if you are now thinking ah it’s a scratch proof coating then you are wrong!!!
These filters are made in the same way as all other Firecrest Ultra filters are, they are made of two sheets of optical grade hardened glass with a rare earth metal coating bonded in between the two sheets of glass.
So, the actual ND coating is sandwiched in between two sheets of Optical grade hardened glass making it impossible to scratch the coating. Nearly every other Cinema filter is a coated filter and as we all know coating can get scratched ruining the filter but not in this case.
Again this is another one of the reasons I love these filters and oh by the way a side result of this process is the filters are slightly more resilient to dropping than a standard filter making them more resistant to abuse.
BTW never drop any filters as in ever or any cinematography gear to think of it 🙂
The final step in the making any Firecrest Ultra filters is just mind blowing. As I mentioned above these filters are made of two Schott optical grade pure optical grade glass sheets and are bonded together but the last piece of the process blows my mind.
Having bonded the sheets together most other Normal companies would despatch the filters for sale…. but no, not the perfectionist over in Formatt Hitech this is where they take the filters and lap and polish the filters to make them as optically flat as physically possible.
Absolutely killing off any imperfections and creating the most optically perfect filter on the market today. Now that truly is creating something special and tbh I took me back when I read that the first time.
When we add all these little advantages together you can clearly see what great value these Firecrest Ultra cine superslim ND filters are and why the Firecrest Ultra Cinema nd filter range are the best in the business and trusted on blockbuster movies.
4mm Firecrest Ultra versus 2mm Firecrest Ultra superslim and which is best?
The simple answer right now is 4mm Firecrest Ultra as they are made to a higher tolerance level but if are considering buying anything other than the 4mm Firecrest Ultra filters then do yourself a favour and buy the 2mm superslim filters.
They are amazing value for money and right now one of the best kept secrets in cinematography. They are as good or better than most of the standard 4mm cinema filters, with the exception of their 4mm brothers of course.
My UnBoxing video of the Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra Cine Superslim ND filters is below, it clearly shows exactly what you get in this 5 piece ND filter kit. There is a video review of them coming shortly also so don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube cahnnel.
Best way to buy the Firecrest Ultra Cine Superslim filters.
I highly reccomend buying the Superslim filters in either the 3 filter kit or the 5 filter kit versions and these kits come with the 2mm cine filter tray adaptor also. Don’t forget to add the discount code HAYES10 to save you some serious money also.
You get the filters cheaper in the kits and the 2mm adaptor tray lets you use the 2mm filters in most Bright Tangerine, Chroziel, Wooden Camera and ARRI matteboxes.
As I mentioned above I use my superslim 5 filter kit in my SmallRig lightweight Matte box (review here) and in my Firecrest 100mm MKii Filter holder (review here) on my DJI RS2 gimbal (review here) and they work perfectly in them.
I also have discount codes, special offers and reviews for the following bits of software and photography equipment if you are interested…
Don’t forget to checkout my other cinema product reviews below….
Formatt Hitech Black Supermist Diffusion filter review here.
Formatt Hitech Soft Silver Diffusion filter review here.
Formatt Hitech Soft Gold Diffusion filters review here.
Formatt Hitech Firecrest Ultra Cinema filter review here.
If you have any questions then please do feel free to reach out to me I am only too happy to help.
See you out there,
Kieran.
