Filter for sharper footage?
 

I wonder if Tiffen's Ultra Contrast filter works with DV cams, "redistributing ambient light to capture details that would be lost in shadows...." Or is this filter meant for film only? Would it make DV shot detail under certain conditions sharper? Has anyone tried this filter with the already really sharp MX5/PV-DV953 or GS100?

I only have a UV filter but it is not a Cokin or a Tiffen. I even did not know I had a filter on because I think it came on when I bought my video camcorder. I thought it was part of the camcorder.

Yeah, I know the feeling. A couple of years ago, my wife called me about some Nikon lenses for sale. Her best friend's friend need cash in a hurry for an overseas trip. Every penny counted. I asked, "How much?" My wife said, "he'll take $200." I asked if there where filters on the lenses. She replied, "What's dat?" So when my wife came home, I saw the the lenses came with lots of filters, lens hoods, a Vivitar flash, a Nikon soft bag, A BLACK Nikon Camera! and all the lens, filters and cam manuals. (Yes, everything was mint. Couldn't believe it!) My wife was a smart cookie that day.

Anyone have or try that Tiffen? It's probbably not made under the 49mm thread size. That counts the Panas out. :-((

I have a Tiffen fold out. When I asked about Cokin the sales man he gave it to me. This is one thing it says.

The filters that make the movies - now available for still photographers and videographers

Exactly like that.

Tom
tiffen used to be the only game in town so far as film camera filters went. Sadly the Tiffen product isn't as great as they want us to think. Tiffen filers are made with green glass while most Hoyas, B+W,Schnieder, Heliopan, Formatt are made with water white glass.

For the money Hoya makes a nice coated filter for far less than much of the competition.
I believe they also make the intensifiers and contrast filters that Frank speaks of. I've never used the contrast filters but have been told that they do work well on DV to help expand the limited contrast range that we have to deal with.

This link has hours of reading and a really good FAQ section.
they also have a good stock of cokins and the new Cokin Pro Z line.

http://www.2filter.com/prices/catalog.html

Bryan, Frank just told us that green glass doesn't matter when it comes to filters for dv and we should forget the hype about B&W, Schneider and Hoya - unless we're talking about thin multi-coateds. (Of course, I have some B&W, Schneider, Hoya and Tiffens, since I only asked my question after buying various filters.)

Patricia
The only filter that gets left on my wide angle lens in a Hoya Super multi Coated UV filer with a 3mm thickness so it doesn't vignette.

I have a tiffen UV filter in my bag that's 6mm thick and with visible inperfections it isn't coated

The Hoya has 6 coatings on each side and doesn't even look like there is any glass in the ring at all. If you wear glasses you certainly know the difference between coated and uncoated.

Will the fact that the Tiffin glass has a green tinge matter? The answer is no. it just shows me that it's not as well made as they'd have us think. they son't even offer a multi coated UV.

The biggies is the thickness and the coating. my wide angle is coated all the way through. Now I'm going to place something that is suspect infront of that.

Frank also has heliopan, zeiss and nikon glass in his kit.

Fact is water white doesn't cost any more to buy.

The crazy part is that people will spend a fortune on a circular polarizer instaed of buying a linear.

The key is to buy the best you can for the same price as the other stuff. i use a 4x4 mattebox and price is important to me. I usually buy Formatt filters. their cheaper than Tiffin, I can get then without waiting for 2 lifetimes and their made with schotz water white glass.

Read the FAQ's and articles at the filter link i posted. It's a good site and an excellent resource.

Thanks, Bryan. Actually, 2filter has a lot of my money already. Yup, Tiffen filters feel clumsy and do look like they were made from coke bottle glass. But a matte box and rails and the rest, well, that seems to be the tradeoff. Aaarghh.

Actually, I have a couple of cheap Tiffens and cheap Hoyas. Looking at them in light and with my 10X loop (magnifier), I can't see any imperfections. I go through a painfull process of checking out used lenses when I'm interested in buying them, and believe me, the 10X loop reveals everything (Made in Germany/German glass---hehe). The Cokins came clean as well.

I agree that the multi coatings help, but so does using a hood and avoiding pointing toward light sources. A slim should be the only type of filter used for a wide, but even these can cause vignetting.

I was going to say that as well but figured Frank might yell at me.

Look at www.cavision .com and have a peek at the 3x3 matte box. The clamp on with the metal back plate is $250. The clamp on with an ABS (plastic) backplate is $200. You can buy the mounting plate and carbon fiber rods for $100.

The 3x3 has a flexible rubber shade. The French flag is $40.

I have the 4x4 with bellows but then I'm a full blown gear slut.

That's one way of converting your GS100 silver streaker into a pokerish MX350, MX8 or VX2000.

540 lines is a far cry from film's millions of pixels.

Note: this post is not intended for the stiff-necked. I may have bad knees but I ain't blind as a bat. Far from it in fact. My 4 eyes work quite well: 20/10 to be exact; 20/30 without the extra eyes.

I was looking at that filter, too. From what I understand
it's not suppose to sharpen the image, but more, it is
to cut down on the contrast. I think there might actually
be a slight softening of the image, either real or perceived.
This may depend on which one you get, as they come
in a number of strengths. They *are* for use with DV
and some have been happy with them. How they work
is they have some type of coating that grabs light
from the area surrounding a dark area and disperses
it so that the dark area is lightened. Highlight detail is
not increased with these filters. I think.
I wish someone who has them would pipe up. I could
make good use of something like that, but which
of the strengths to get?

Bryan . .HAHAHA . .!
 

Bryan!

"I have the 4x4 with bellows but then I'm a full blown gear slut." . . . .stop it stop it . . . still larfing . .very good! Can I use this too? I promise to only use it in London!

Grazie

Ahh, yes. I forgot it comes in different grades. This is always a problem for someone looking into Tiffen's line of Special Effect filters.

Tiffen writes about their "Ultra Contrast" filter:Too bad these filters are next to impossible find to look at in Vancouver.

I assume this filter doesn't sharpen but rather pulls in more overall detail under certain contitions.

PS: Bryan, the word, "s***," is a bad word.

Oh, I see that Ken owns one. See this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=25459

There's a thought for a video title and story line: "Living the Paris Hilton Lifestyle, or How I Lost My Wallet for the Sake of DV".