Tiffen – The Rusty Ruin Journal

Spending two weeks on the road, driving through multiple states, and racking up around 10 000 kilometres seems to have fuelled the desire to squeeze the most out of each day before the day job resumes. At 3 am on a cold Wednesday, we arose, grabbed the bags, and boarded a plane for Brisbane. This was in the week after returning from our two week 10k holiday!

I decided to take the Nikon Z5, the 24-70 F4S lens, the Nikkor 40mm F2 lens, and a recently acquired Tiffen Glimmerglass 1/8 filter.

I was curious about what the Glimmerglass could do. I kept it on the Nikkor 24-70 F4S lens during the day and was pleasantly surprised at the results. The filter lowers contrast and smears light in the brightest areas of an image. This can create flaring when strong and direct light sources are involved, but I found the filter well-behaved for the most part.

*Plane-spotting around Queen’s Wharf – Nikon Z5*

I really enjoyed the lines and angles around the Queen’s Wharf area of the city. It seems that others were also enjoyng the lines and angles of the bridge, as you can see in the photo above. A keen young man approached us to chat about the city and asked what kind of photography I was doing – “I really like the lines and angles around here.” I said with a smile. He was holding a Nikon D3xxx series camera and clicking away happily.

You can see how the Glimmerglass filter has lowered the overall contrast of the photo above. The light in bright areas, like the clouds and parts of the metal grab rails, is spread around. When some people suggest this filter results in a filmic look, I suspect they are referring to the halation around these bright areas. I like it. The result is not as obvious as some diffusion filters, like the Tiffen Black Pro-Mist. And at 1/8 strength, I think the Glimmerglass is regularly usable during the day and won’t announce itself strongly.

For all of the great cameras and sharp glass on the shelves, it’s liberating to play around with low-tech options sometimes. Maybe there’s a scene in front of you with great lighting but a subject that has been overdone? Maybe you’re gear-fatigued and just want to try something else? Do you know what I do when I’m a bit exhausted with tech and sharp lenses? I put something cheap in front of the camera lens to see what happens…

*Dreams of green cool – Nikon Z5 with cheap plastic*

The time of day was right and the leaves were catching golden light but I was weary of the same tired approach. Sharpness is a state of mind! Great photos have been made with the most primitive film boxes. So, instead of doing the usual, I pulled out a flexible piece of clear plastic and stuck it in front of the sharp Z glass. As you can see, it pulls the light in different directions when moved about. After some Split Toning, Vibrance, and a decrease in Clarity, the photo has a nice dreamy look.

*Dreams of a glassy sun – Nikon Z5 with Diffusion Filter and cheap plastic*

Diffusion filters are a good idea when you want some highlight blooming and a softer tone to a photo. Though the Tiffen Black Mist Pro filter tends to be the top of the price and quality pile, my feeling is that dreaminess can be found in even cheaper materials. I purchased the K&F Concept Black Diffusion filter and it does just fine.

The sun photos were both made with the Black Diffusion filter in place. There’s some nice blooming around the sun, but that’s pretty much obscured by the use of the cheap plastic I used for the photo of the trees. Details are hidden, contrast is lowered, and only bright shapes remain.

Tag: Tiffen

A quick trip to Brisbane and a day with the Tiffen Glimmerglass filter

Diffuse sunlight – experimenting with cheap plastic and dreamy filters