Filters That Hit The Spot!
Posted on Dec 16, 2024 by Pro Moviemaker
Schneider-Kreuznach’s Diopter Spot filters wins a Pro Moviemaker Gear of the Year award
Advertisement feature
No amount of lengthy post-production can truly replicate the wonderfully dreamy look of cinematic footage with a sharp centre image and fast fall-off. It’s the sort of standout shot skilfully captured with a special optic, in-camera. That’s why big-name DOPs often search out vintage glass to create these evocative looks.
It’s not just one vintage lens you would need expensively rehoused to create the effect, but several to give a choice of focal lengths. Then, you’re also stuck with a clear image circle of a certain size. Of course, these lenses don’t communicate with the camera and are all manual focus only. The colours produced by these older lenses won’t be a match for modern optics that might be used on the rest of the project. It’s a complex problem with no easy lens-based solution.
But, there is a much more modern and cost-effective way of both creating the effect and controlling the amount of clear area in the frame at will. Not only that, it works on all lenses –including anamorphic or autofocus – so there will be a consistency of look across the whole project. Any lens-to-camera will still be intact to speed up post work.
The solution is the Schneider-Kreuznach Diopter Spot filter range – made by the legendary German optical specialist – ensuring quality is second to none. Controlling the image directly on set while shooting means no need for time-consuming and costly corrections in post.
These special dioptres have a plain, polished area in the middle of the frame. This results in dreamy images outside of the frame with an in-focus centre, which guides the eye of the viewer towards the most important area.
Achieve a dreamy and cinematic look by selecting the correct strength of filter. Filters with a polished area of either 25mm or 50mm in the centre will allow you to fine-tune how big the main area of sharpness will be.
Additionally, the out-of-focus zone towards the edges of the frame is controllable from subtle to strong, depending upon the dioptre’s strength, while lens focal length lens and subject distance have an effect, too.
Schneider-Kreuznach offers its Diopter Spots in six variants, with 25mm and 50mm size options combined with dioptre strengths of either +1/2, +1 or +2. They are produced as 138mm/5.43in drop-in filter cells for use with compatible matte boxes, allowing them to work on just about any lens. Plus, there’s no exposure compensation needed.
This simple way to quickly create a unique look is why the Schneider-Kreuznach Diopter Spot filters were voted winners in the lens accessory category by readers of Pro Moviemaker. The audience of working filmmakers voted in their thousands in these annual Awards, and they know the real difference a creative set of filters can add to a special project. Isn’t it time you upped your game and tried out these incredible filters on your next important project?
This feature was first published in the November/December 2024 issue of Pro Moviemaker.
