SONY CINEALTA PRIME LENSES: softening them up

[omar robles]

Hello fellow members:

 

I own a set of SONY CINEALTA LENSES and while I am very happy with them I do wish they weren't as sharp as they are. Is there a filter to give them a more organic not as sharp look? I wish for it to be as pronounced as the TIFFEN pro mist filters out there.

[David Mullen ASC]

Any diffusion filter would soften the image, what effect are you going for?

 

If you want softening but not much of anything else, no misty look, then I suggest the lightest grade of Tiffen Black Diffusion/FX or Schneider Radiant Softs.

[omar robles]

Hello DAVID:

 

I seek a more natural organic look like that of the older lenses if thats possible. Subtle is what I seek like the look of Cooke lens (dont have the money for those :( )

[David Mullen ASC]

Then I suggest the filters I mentioned, or the lightest LowCon, UltraCon or ProMist if you want less contrast and more halation that will in turn lower the sharpness a bit. But the Black Diffusion/FX and Radiant Softs were more designed to soften detail rather than mist up the image.

 

If you use a #1/2 or #1 Tiffen Black Diffusion/FX, I suspect you would not see a filter effect, just get that bit of softening you want. I haven't shot with the new Radiant Softs yet, but they seem similar. These filters are subtle, so you're paying money for an expensive cinema filter that hardly looks like you are using a filter (unless you use the heavy grades). But if it is that important to soften your lenses, then look into these filters.

[omar robles]

Thanks David that is very helpful