Demystifying the Mist Filter

With the vast quantity (and quality) of digital post-production tools available, many filmmakers prefer to apply effects in post-production rather than creating them in-camera using settings or filters. These effects can be easily added later without restricting your creative options. 

For example, if we add a black-and-white in-camera look directly to the footage while shooting, we’d be left exclusively with black-and-white footage once we entered the editing stage. On the other hand, filming in color provides flexibility. It allows conversion to black-and-white but keeps the original color footage available.

However, one type of filter that has been used since the Golden Age of Hollywood and is still used extensively today cannot be replicated as convincingly in post-production, and that is the diffusion filter.

A 4 x 5.65 Tiffen Pro Mist diffusion filter. Image via Lewis McGregor

What are diffusion filters? 

There’s little mystery behind diffusion filters; they do exactly what their name suggests. They give video footage a soft, hazy, or somewhat romantic diffusion layer while preserving contrast and sharpness. 

Diffusion filters create this haze through microscopic etches across their surface. When light rays hit the filter, some rays are redirected from their original path toward the lens and sensor. These etched imperfections become defocused as the scattered light crosses the uneven surface, thus generating a distinctive hazy look. 

However, not all diffusion filters are created equal. With varying strengths that affect how light scatters across the filter and different coatings, you can obtain a degree of looks. Some of the more popular brands with amateur filmmakers are: 

• Tiffen Black Pro-Mist: Reduces contrast and adds a halation effect around highlights
• Tiffen Black Satin and Pearlescent: Add a softer glow with some impact on highlights
• Schneider Hollywood Black Magic: Combines elements of both Pro-Mist and Classic Soft filters
• Moment CineBloom: Has a more organic, filmic softness
  

Today, we'll focus more on the ever-popular mist filter.

Using the mist filter 

A mist filter reduces highlights, lowers contrast, and creates a softer quality of light. It also softens wrinkles and blemishes, but most importantly, it adds an element of halation (a type of bloom) to the bright regions of the image.

Tiffen, the manufacturer of the Pro Mist filter, says: "Even at its lowest density, it [the Pro Mist filter] delivers an effective increase in halation, which adds a pleasing depth of warmth but is not transported to the skin tone values."

If there’s a reason mist filters are incredibly popular in this digital age, it’s mainly down to the halation, but we’ll talk about that a little later. 

As with most diffusion filters, mist filters are available in various strengths, typically as follows:

• 1/8
• 1/4
• 1/2
• 1
• 2

While choosing the middle ground might seem the safest option, it's important to know that mist filters increase sharply in strength. In many cases, anything above 1/4 strength could appear too strong. This video demonstrates the complete range of the Pro-Mist line.

How to use mist filters 

We've previously explored filters in detail, In that guide, we highlighted three primary types of filter attachments: circular screw-on filters, 4 x 5.65 filters, and 4 x 4 square filters (these are mostly used in photography).

Mist filters are available in all these sizes, allowing you to select the system that best fits your requirements. But do note, as referenced in our lens filter guide, you will need additional tools to use the 4 x 5.65 and 4 x 4 filter systems. 

With most amateur filmmakers, you will gravitate toward the less expensive screw-on filters for ease and convenience. However, it’s important to understand that longer focal lengths amplify the effect of diffusion. For example, a 200mm lens will appear to produce more diffusion than a 35mm lens, even when using a mist filter of the same strength. Because of this, it’s recommended to decrease the diffusion level as focal length increases, this is why different diffusion strengths were initially created.

Conversely, you don’t want to go too wide when using a mist filter, as you risk losing visual clarity within your image. Smaller details become lost as the diffusion pattern becomes too strong for fine details when shooting with a wide-angle lens, and you end up with a washed-looking image.

Image via Lewis McGregor

The image on the top has no filter, whereas the image on the bottom has a 1/8 Tiffen Pro-Mist filter. Notice how the difference is nominal. Instead of a layer of boutique diffusion, we’ve just lost clarity and made the image muddier.  

Of course, it goes without saying that since a mist filter's effect is activated when light interacts with its etched surface, the filter is most effective in scenes containing bright areas. To maximize its impact, ensure your composition includes plenty of highlights, such as lamps, window lighting, and specular highlights. Additionally, opt for using a hairlight on your subject to emphasize the misty glow around them.

As you can imagine, the haze is lost on a dark set, and instead, you may be left with an image of murky shadows.

When to use a mist filter?

Since a mist filter adds a hazy, romantic, and dream-like glow to an image, it is often used when a sequence calls for those thematic elements.

Image via Warner Brothers

Harry Potter in a magical limbo is a prime setting for mist filters.

For another example, in "American Horror Story," a diffusion filter emphasizes the magical nature of a resurrected character.

Historically, during Hollywood's Golden Era, filmmakers softened the appearance of starlets' skin by placing fishnets between the lens and the film gate, creating a diffusion effect to smooth out imperfections. While digital touch-up software has primarily replaced this technique, mist filters can still achieve a similar result today.

Image via Golden Boy

Beyond skin softening, filmmakers also use mist and other diffusion filters to signal visually that a scene occurs in the past. Even viewers without technical knowledge of filmmaking can recognize the distinct characteristics of period photographs and videos. Since early 20th-century lenses lacked the sharpness of modern optics, mist filters help convincingly replicate that nostalgic aesthetic. 

However, in 2025, amateur filmmakers tend to use mist filters for a different reason. Before explaining exactly how they're currently used, we first need to introduce the concept of highlight roll-off.

Understanding highlight roll-off

The highlight roll-off is a visual characteristic where the brightest parts of the image gradually fade into white rather than abruptly transitioning. This has been a visual component of celluloid for decades, but only more recently have high-end digital cinema cameras been provided by Arri and RED.  

The aesthetic of highlights rolling off is organically pleasing, a big part of the term “film look” that so many digital filmmakers try to emulate. Film's dynamic range surpasses digital sensors because film dyes and silver react to extreme exposures, resulting in a natural highlight roll-off. 

Within the amateur filmmaking community, there’s a common misconception that all highlights need to be saved and must not reach overexposure. However, if you watch enough movies and TV shows, especially those shot on film, you’ll frequently see highlights that hold no data value, like this:

Image via Eon Productions (Casino Royale)

Here, the roll-off and halation around the hot areas make this shot look still visually pleasing. The bright highlights bloom against the dark gate and tree edges rather than clip. 

If this were shot with a budget digital consumer mirrorless camera, it would likely look like this:

Image via Unsplash 

See how the values from the tree line into the bright sky clip straight to white? There’s no chroma retention, no soft roll-off—just a hard cutoff.  This occurs because the photosites—elements that make up the digital sensor—have a linear response and quickly reach the full well capacity, lacking celluloid smooth highlight roll-off characteristic. 

This is why amateur filmmakers are advised to avoid extreme highlights; their gear just isn’t built to handle them. However, in this instance, there is a tool that we can use to mimic that roll-off. Yes, you guessed it: the mist filter. 

Using a mist filter to mimic highlight roll-off 

So, let’s recap so far. We now understand that mist filters spread light across their surface, producing a halation-like effect around the brighter regions of the image. 

Likewise, we know that film (and more expensive digital cameras) have the gradual rounding off of values of the highlights, where they fade or progressively bloom into white, unlike older and cheaper digital cameras, where the transition is sharper. 

Okay, do you get where we’re heading? If your camera is not up to scratch, you can use a mist filter to prevent the highlights from appearing too harsh or blown out. This can help enhance the image’s overall perception and create a more cinematic look. 

Now, while a blossom around highlights and highlight roll-off are inherently two different visual elements, the hazy glow created by a diffusion filter can undoubtedly push you closer to producing a more naturally pleasing image.

Final thoughts

Mist filters have grown in popularity over the last decade, often for reasons beyond their original intent. Suppose you're considering a set for artistic or thematic purposes. In that case, it's worth watching a few comparison videos to determine which filter best suits your needs, as they can be expensive.

If you aim to emulate highlight roll-off, we recommend opting for the lowest density filter, typically a 1/8 strength. You don’t want to overdo the effect! While diffusion can soften the transition into bright highlights, it's not as if celluloid or high-end cinema cameras always have a diffused look.

We also highly recommend following cinematography community legend David Mullen ASC on social media, as he constantly shares diffusion filter insights. Lastly, for more resources regarding specific filmmaking techniques, be sure to check out WeVideo's Film School!