Controlling the
contrast of your film or video image is critical. Bright lights or
sunlight create problems when the ration between the highlight and shadow
areas is beyond the latitude of the recording medium. If you expose
for the highlights the shadows appear without detail. If you expose
for the shadows, the result is washed-out overly bright highlights.
Tiffen offers three alternatives to solving your contrast problems:
ULTRA CONTRAST, LOW CONTRAST, AND SOFT CONTRAST filters.
ULTRA CONTRAST filter work with
ambient light from surrounding, lowering contrast uniformly through the
scene. Shadow areas reveal more detail without any flare or halation
from light sources or bright reflections, even direct shooting into the
sun.
LOW CONTRAST filers work by spreading
light from the highlights to the darker areas. Shadows are lighter,
enabling you to see more detail. They also create a very slight
flare or halation around hot spots which can be a useful effect. Low
Contrast is the filter of choice for people who shoot video but want to
achieve more of f film look.
SOFT CONTRAST filters diminish
highlights while retaining the darker look of the shadows, hence a reduction
in contrast. Although the Soft Contrast filter is a neutral gray, do
not compensate for exposure.
Compare the filtered photos to
the photo without filter. With the Low Contrast 5 filter,
notice the greater detail in the leaves caused by the lightening of the shadows
and the mild flare around the bright areas. In the scene utilizing
the Soft Contrast 5 filter, the dark areas of the leaves, tree trunks and
walkway retain their darkness, but there is more detail visible in the
bright areas, particularly in the buses. The mild flare still exists
With the Ultra Contrast 5 filter, the dark areas of the leaves and tree
trunks show more detail but without the flare from the bright areas around
the edges of the backlit leaves. Use Ultra Contrast filters in
scenes with sufficient brightness to lower the contrast without the
minimal amount of flare produced by the Low Contrast and Soft Contrast
filters.
Tiffen offers Low Contrast and
Ultra Contrast filters in densities 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Soft
Contrast in densities 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. They are available through
your dealer in a range of sizes to fit every type of lens or Matte Box.
