Enter UK-based Formatt Filters with a solution to this problem designed to fit any budget as well as a variety of shooting situations. The company’s new “HD Soft” filters are available in three densities and are useful even in SD applications where an excessive dynamic range can yield poor results, such as when shooting water that features bright sunlight reflections.
Designed to soften harsh areas while preserving as much detail and contrast as possible, the HD Soft filters can be used with other filters to deliver the warm, soft textures desired by many adult content producers.
According to the Formatt Filters website, “The filters allow light to pass through for the most part undisturbed, however a small part of the surface area of the filter has a series of tiny perfect hemispheres (significantly smaller than traditional soft effects filters) acting as small, but high-quality, planar convex lenses. These hemispheres defocus the light rays producing a slight softening of the image within a very small area of view. The hemispheres are distributed within the filter area in a stochastic pattern, eliminating Moiré fringing in the most challenging conditions such as sun lit water surfaces. The filter can be reversed giving a different range of focal points.”
While other manufacturers may offer similar products, the flexibility and price / performance ratio of the Formatt Filters offerings make this an attractive alternative for producers seeking to soften their hi-def edge.
