People often ask me what my secret is for the warm look of my educational videos. Well, the 1/8th filter is it.
I have been using diffusion and mist filters for years and when I needed to get a full time diffusion filter for my two 77mm lenses, I didn’t want to pay the exorbitant prices of the bigger name brands. Having used other K&F filters and being satisfied with the quality, I thought I’d give these a shot.
I’m glad I did. These are at least as good and perhaps even better than the others I have. The 1/8 diffuses lights and specular highlights with a very pleasing, subtle softness. It also smooths the face a bit and makes small blemishes, wrinkles, and imperfections barely noticeable. It is a subtle filter versus the 1/4.
The 1/4 is of the same quality, but a far more intense effect. I’m glad I have it and have had a chance to use it on multiple occasions for creative, dreamy shots. That said, the 1/8 is a workhorse and I use it all the time.
If you’re considering these versus the more expensive brands, worry not. These are excellent and get the job done.
I have been using diffusion and mist filters for years and when I needed to get a full time diffusion filter for my two 77mm lenses, I didn’t want to pay the exorbitant prices of the bigger name brands. Having used other K&F filters and being satisfied with the quality, I thought I’d give these a shot.
I’m glad I did. These are at least as good and perhaps even better than the others I have. The 1/8 diffuses lights and specular highlights with a very pleasing, subtle softness. It also smooths the face a bit and makes small blemishes, wrinkles, and imperfections barely noticeable. It is a subtle filter versus the 1/4.
The 1/4 is of the same quality, but a far more intense effect. I’m glad I have it and have had a chance to use it on multiple occasions for creative, dreamy shots. That said, the 1/8 is a workhorse and I use it all the time.
If you’re considering these versus the more expensive brands, worry not. These are excellent and get the job done.
19/04/2025
I'm really happy with the K&F Concept 62mm Black Diffusion 1 4 & 1 8 Lens Filter Kit. The filters are a great addition to my camera bag and have already come in handy. The mist cinematic effect filter is perfect for vlogging and portrait images, and the black diffusion filter helps to create a more cinematic look in my photos. The quality of the filters is great, and they're easy to use.
16/04/2025
The K&F Concept Black Diffusion are excellent examples of a filter type that's a little misunderstood by some people, I think, as to what it can accomplish and do. The filters come in various strengths, and at the strong end of the range can produce results that look like diffusion. That might be useful sometimes for still photography. But the real use for these filters is at lower strength (1/8 and 1/4) for video. When used that way they can both subtly reduce contrast, reduce highlight burn and smooth skin. They won't work miracles. But if your scene is well lit and involves a person speaking to the camera or otherwise being face on to the camera these filters can subtly smooth skin and reduce imperfections. The effect is more noticeable with video shot using log profiles and gamma, to be graded in post production, but shows results even with standard color and camera profiles. I have a whole set of these filters in various sizes just for shooting face to camera subjects, talking heads, etc. There are several manufacturers making variations on this type of filter but the K&F Black Diffusion filters have been outstanding.
15/04/2025
Diffusion filters are a great tool for softening skin and "blooming" highlights. They can minimize the "digital video" look and yield a "cinematic" (sorry, I have to use that term) quality to otherwise overly sharp images. Unlike the old, messy trick of smearing grease on a clear lens, mist filters will retain detail while also softening. Seems contradictory, but once you try it you will see what I mean. The effect can dramatic in high contrast lighting with practical lights (visible in frame). The effect is less visible in flat lighting, but can still be effective.
Unlike neutral density filters, black mist diffusion filters typically do not impose a color cast. From my testing, the K&F Concept filters are neutral and work very well, especially for the price. The 1/8 is fairly subtle, and holds detail well. The 1/4 is stronger and what I would most likely try first, but does obscure some fine details. Note that diffusion tends to become more pronounced when shooting with a longer lens, or small aperture. So, testing and a good monitor is always necessary.
These filters have a nice grip to the outer ring, which makes installation and removal easy. They are threaded on the front if you decide to stack other filters in front. They also ship in a nice cary case, although I transport my collection of filters in a large filter organizer.
For the price, these filters are a great value, and well worth having in any videographer's tool kit.
Unlike neutral density filters, black mist diffusion filters typically do not impose a color cast. From my testing, the K&F Concept filters are neutral and work very well, especially for the price. The 1/8 is fairly subtle, and holds detail well. The 1/4 is stronger and what I would most likely try first, but does obscure some fine details. Note that diffusion tends to become more pronounced when shooting with a longer lens, or small aperture. So, testing and a good monitor is always necessary.
These filters have a nice grip to the outer ring, which makes installation and removal easy. They are threaded on the front if you decide to stack other filters in front. They also ship in a nice cary case, although I transport my collection of filters in a large filter organizer.
For the price, these filters are a great value, and well worth having in any videographer's tool kit.
14/04/2025
So.. I'm going to be up front.. I'm NOT A huge fan of diffusion filters. People already tend to over-soften their images they post online, so I'm not a giant fan of a 'dirty lens' look.
However, for some of our sessions we've done, soft images are more desireable than hard/crisp images. (An example, is if you're producing an image that appears to be in a fog or smoke) In the past, I would have simply used an oiled UV Filter (that's literally what it sounds like... put a light layer of oil or grease on the filter, and then attach it). As you can imagine, while those images turn out ok, introducing oil/grease/vaseline into gear, is always a nightmare. So, diffusion filters are a go to, for many photographers.. now myself included.
Black diffusion filters by and large, are used for 2 purposes.. 1.) Soften images, and 2.) reduce highlights/glare.. To that end, these 2 filters serve their purpose well.
However, I will point out, for MOST use cases, while the 1/8 can be used as an all around every day use filter (if you so desire), I would strongly recommend taking the time to find your use case for the 1/4, as it can drastically change your image.
As for these particular filters, they do their jobs, as expected.. EXCEPT, there is one thing I REALLY want to point out: These are double threaded filters, in that you obviously thread them onto your lens, BUT, these is a thread on the external side of the element too, so you can couple this up with other filters, as well.
THAT is a major design decision, that I honestly wish more manufacturers would take the time to implement. It's often frustrating, when you're trying to couple up multiple filters, and yet, you can't.
As with all K&F filters, the easy twist to open case for the filters are amazing, and the fact they have multiple rings, so you can store a different filter in their case, is a bonus.
However, while the fact that you can store other filters in the case is a plus.. it can also be a minus. If/when you have multiple filters of the same manufacturer (in this case, K&F), keeping track of what each filter is, in each case, especially while in studio, can be a challenge. So, it'd be nice to see a label on the case, indicating what is inside. Still, that's something that a simple label maker could do, too, so it's not a big deal... just one thing I've always noticed with multiple manufactures, and is NOT limited to K&F.
K&F claims there's an anti-scratch coating on their lenses, but short of taking sandpaper to the filter, I cannot attest to that claim, until I've used these longer than a few weeks. That said, I have no reason to doubt this claim, as the other couple of K&F filters I've used, seem to have held up well.
So far, I'm quite happy with these 2 filters. They soften the images, without adding any real color shift. They are comparable to a significantly more expensive set of filters that I've been using for years... so much so, in fact, that I'm thinking about giving more of the K&F brand filters a go.
These are an amazing set of filters, and I'm quite happy to have them in my studio gear collection.
However, for some of our sessions we've done, soft images are more desireable than hard/crisp images. (An example, is if you're producing an image that appears to be in a fog or smoke) In the past, I would have simply used an oiled UV Filter (that's literally what it sounds like... put a light layer of oil or grease on the filter, and then attach it). As you can imagine, while those images turn out ok, introducing oil/grease/vaseline into gear, is always a nightmare. So, diffusion filters are a go to, for many photographers.. now myself included.
Black diffusion filters by and large, are used for 2 purposes.. 1.) Soften images, and 2.) reduce highlights/glare.. To that end, these 2 filters serve their purpose well.
However, I will point out, for MOST use cases, while the 1/8 can be used as an all around every day use filter (if you so desire), I would strongly recommend taking the time to find your use case for the 1/4, as it can drastically change your image.
As for these particular filters, they do their jobs, as expected.. EXCEPT, there is one thing I REALLY want to point out: These are double threaded filters, in that you obviously thread them onto your lens, BUT, these is a thread on the external side of the element too, so you can couple this up with other filters, as well.
THAT is a major design decision, that I honestly wish more manufacturers would take the time to implement. It's often frustrating, when you're trying to couple up multiple filters, and yet, you can't.
As with all K&F filters, the easy twist to open case for the filters are amazing, and the fact they have multiple rings, so you can store a different filter in their case, is a bonus.
However, while the fact that you can store other filters in the case is a plus.. it can also be a minus. If/when you have multiple filters of the same manufacturer (in this case, K&F), keeping track of what each filter is, in each case, especially while in studio, can be a challenge. So, it'd be nice to see a label on the case, indicating what is inside. Still, that's something that a simple label maker could do, too, so it's not a big deal... just one thing I've always noticed with multiple manufactures, and is NOT limited to K&F.
K&F claims there's an anti-scratch coating on their lenses, but short of taking sandpaper to the filter, I cannot attest to that claim, until I've used these longer than a few weeks. That said, I have no reason to doubt this claim, as the other couple of K&F filters I've used, seem to have held up well.
So far, I'm quite happy with these 2 filters. They soften the images, without adding any real color shift. They are comparable to a significantly more expensive set of filters that I've been using for years... so much so, in fact, that I'm thinking about giving more of the K&F brand filters a go.
These are an amazing set of filters, and I'm quite happy to have them in my studio gear collection.
14/04/2025
I love using these at night for music video and creative film work and I really appreciate K&F as a brand. I slowly replaced all my filters with K&F Nano-X to get very sharp images with low reflections and consistent color cast on their ND filters. These filters give all the lights halos and a dreamy look to highlights. I rarely use the 1/4 however, except, perhaps on very wide lenses. The 1/8 is subtle without being too obvious. I also add step-up rings on some telephoto lenses (75mm +) to put these filters further from the front element and get a finer diffusion pattern.
10/04/2025
The best Black Mist filters available. Zero loss of quality, even with a GM lens. Very satisfied.
09/04/2025
The effects are clearly visible with both the 1/8 and 1/4 filters. The sharpness of the focused subject is slightly reduced, but the softening of faces is clearly noticeable. A noticeable soft halo effect forms around highlights. I don't have any other filters to compare them to, but what I see here is exactly what I expected from these filters.
03/04/2025