(Page 3 of 6 pages for this article  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »)

Filed under: Cameras •Production •Tips •Training •

RED Hot Mirror Shoot-Out

FIRST UP: SCHNEIDER OPTICS HOT MIRRORS

Schneider Optics kindly got the ball rolling by loaning me three different filters with three different degrees of far red/IR cut: The Tru-Cut 680, Tru-Cut 720, and the Tru-Cut 750. First up is the Tru-Cut IR 680, in combination with a standard Schneider ND 1.2 filter:

The Tru-Cut 680 is probably the lowest cut filter that we tested, and as you can see it does an excellent job of cutting IR/far red. The black jacket is rich black, with no obvious color shift, and the red kimono is still nice and red. The problem, though, is that the dichroic coating on the filter is very heavy. Dichroic IR filters typically have two sides: the side that faces out appears to be salmon-colored when viewed at an angle, and the side that faces the lens appears cyan when viewed the same way. On wide angle lenses, such as a 16mm lens, the angle of view around the edges becomes so extreme in relation to the dichroic coating that the cyan hue becomes visible:

In my Sony F35 tests (to be published shortly) we detected vignetting on lenses wider than 50mm when using this filter, although it was most noticeable on the 16mm and 24mm. So while the Tru-Cut 680 is a great filter for cutting IR, it’s not so good on wide angle lenses.

Next up is the Schneider Tru-Cut 720 + ND 1.2 combination filter:

This filter cuts most of the IR from the image after color correction. Before color correction, though, with the blacks lifted up a bit, we can see a little maroon-colored IR infiltration:

For practical purposes the Tru-Cut 720 filter removes all the IR necessary to recover good blacks in post. The flat field test of this filter shows it has a slight warmth to it:

This tint is easily removed in post. The edges of the frame show no obvious color fringing beyond the natural brightness vignette of the 16mm UltraPrime, so this would be a good choice for an all-around IR ND filter. (We only received this filter as a Hot Mirror/ND combination, so we didn’t test a Tru-Cut 720 clear filter—if it exists. Before this test I’d not heard of the Tru-Cut 720.)

The final Schneider filter tested is the Schneider Tru-Cut IR 750, which has been a staple of local rental houses for the last six months. We stacked it with a Schneider ND 1.2 and viewed the results:

After color correction the filter seems to be doing a fine job, although a look at the frame prior to color correction shows that there is some IR/far red contamination in the jacket:

When I mentioned this to one rental house tech, all he had to say was “Every RED rental we’ve had for six months has gone out with one of these filters, and we’ve had no complaints.”

While the Tru-Cut 750 doesn’t do a perfect job, it seems to do its job well enough. Here is the fiat field test on the 16mm lens:

While this JPEG shows some slight color vignetting that appears to be a side effect of JPEG compression. The actual DPX file shows no color vignetting at all.

Schneider was among one of the first companies to offer Hot Mirror filters for the RED, and their offerings hold up well. While the 720 and 750 filters don’t do a 100% perfect job of cutting all IR/far red, they do contain it well enough to effectively eliminate contamination after post color correction.

The camera assistant who helped me with this test, Rod Williams, noted that Schneider Optics coats their filters with a slippery finish, making it very easy to remove fingerprints and other smudges.

We move on to Tiffen IR ND filters on the next page…

(Page 3 of 6 pages for this article  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »)

                   

 

The Best of Stunning Good Looks Art Adams | 08/30 A directory of my best articles, sorted by topic. This entry is a guide to my best articles, sorted by topic. Enjoy!

ASSIMILATE Announces Breakthrough 48 FPS Playback of RAW RED EPIC Stereo Streams PVC News Staff | 02/10 In SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab ASSIMILATE, Inc today announced that SCRATCH® and SCRATCH Lab® version 6.1 have achieved never-before-seen performance levels in the playback of RED EPIC Stereo content. SCRATCH Lab now provides…

Revisiting the RED workflow, Smoke 2012 style Marc-Andre Ferguson | 02/03 My love affair with RED Digital Cinema began in 2007, when my brief stint as demo artist in the NAB RED booth turned into a regular gig at events and trade shows.…

You must be registered to comment. This is an effort to reduce spam. Please REGISTER HERE.

Another great article, Art!  I always learn new stuff from your tests.  The Tiffen\Genesis explanation was particularly interesting.

Can you comment on how much these different filters cost?

Looking forward to your F35 IR tests.  Thanks!
-Graham

Posted by Graham Futerfas  on  02/10  at  09:30 PM

---

I’m sorry, Graham, I don’t know the pricing. I do know that Tiffen asked me to make it very clear that you don’t need Hot Mirror ND’s for the F35 because they cost a lot more and aren’t necessary on that camera.

I’m quite impressed with what Tiffen has done. I hope to get that article up on Friday. It’s a biggie…

Posted by Art Adams  on  02/10  at  09:54 PM

---

Thanks for the comparison tests.  I was sorry not to see the Rosco TruColor IR filter in the mix since I helped Rosco develop it specifically for the RED One.

Best,

Michael

Posted by Michael Morlan  on  02/16  at  11:50 AM

---

This is a very informative article. I learned a lot from it. Like the right Hot Mirror filter improve your image quality, does the right ND also improve the Red One image? Like there are reflective ND’s and absorbing ND’s, and what are the quality differences between manufactures?

Kind Regards,

Vincent Visser (The Netherlands)

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/09  at  11:40 PM

---

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below: