Tiffen Contrast Filters Owner's manual

Photos: © Ira Tiffen
Controlling the contrast of your film or video image
is critical. Bright lights or sunlight create problems
when the ratio 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 filters work with ambient light
from surroundings, lowering contrast uniformly
throughout 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 filters 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 a 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 exposure.
Compare the filtered photos to the photo without a
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
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.
Insight...Controlling Contrast
No Filter
Ultra Contrast 5
Low Contrast 5
Soft Contrast 5
90 Oser Avenue, Hauppauge, New York 11788
[phone] • FAX: [phone] • 1-800-645-2522
[email protected] • www.tiffen.com
Tiffen Technical Center
6933 San Fernando Road, Glendale, CA 91201
[phone] • FAX: [phone]