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Lens Filter

Optics · filters in front of the lens

A lens filter is a disc of glass screwed onto the front of the lens. Lens Filter gives you ten of them, from a plain ND that cuts the light to mist filters that soften every highlight.

Before · AfterThe sample picture with no effectLens Filter at its default settings

The sample at Lens Filter's defaults. Drag to compare, or press Play with it to tune it live. Open as a shared look

What it's like

Photographers carry a pouch of these. An ND darkens the picture so you can shoot wide open in daylight. A polarizer turns in its ring to deepen a blue sky and cut glare. Yellow, orange and red glass reshape a black-and-white picture. Mist and glow filters scatter a little light around every highlight, the soft halo you know from film and music videos. Pick a filter on the wheel at the top of the faceplate. Hover to preview it, click to fit it. Each filter only shows the knobs it uses.

When to reach for it

  • Taking the digital edge off a clean picture. Black Mist softens the lights and keeps the blacks deep.
  • Dramatic skies. Polarizer in color, or Red with a black-and-white Film roll above it.
  • Dreamy portraits with Soft Glow or White Mist.
  • Darkening by exact stops with ND, before a Film roll's exposure or under Drag Shutter.

How it works

The colored filters multiply the picture by the color of the glass, so in color they tint, and under a black-and-white roll they change which tones go dark. The mist filters find the highlights above Threshold, spread them into a close glow and a wide one, and add them back. White Mist also lifts the shadows to a pastel. Glimmer adds short cross sparkles to the brightest points. Soft Glow eases the midtones toward a softened copy, which is kind to skin.

Controls

8 controls in 1 section, in the order Tune shows them.

Filter

  • Hero knobStrength 0 to 100 · rests at 45

    How strong the filter is. For colored glass, how deep the color. For mist filters, how much glow. ND uses Stops instead.

  • KnobStops 0.0 stops to 6.0 stops · rests at 3.0 stops

    ND only. How much light the filter cuts, up to six stops. Each stop halves the light.

  • KnobRotate 0° to 90° · rests at 68°

    Polarizer only. Turns the polarizer in its ring. It does almost nothing near 0° and the most at 90°. It also tames glare on bright, pale highlights and adds a little saturation.

  • SelectSun LeftTopRightBehind

    Polarizer only. Where the sun is. The sky darkens most on the side away from it. Behind darkens evenly.

  • KnobThreshold 0 to 100 · rests at 50

    Mist filters. How bright a part must be before it glows. Lower and more of the picture blooms.

  • KnobRadius 0 to 100 · rests at 50

    Halo only. How wide the glow spreads.

  • KnobMist 0 to 100 · rests at 25

    Halo only. A veil over the whole frame that softens contrast and lifts the blacks a touch.

  • SelectTint WhiteWarmCoolSource

    Halo only. The glow's color. White, Warm, Cool, or Source to keep the color of the light.