diffusion filter??

i recently took advantage of a good filter sale at my local shop and got a few 77mm filters for my sigma 2.8 and i grabbed a diffusion as it was very inexpensive,when would be the right time to use one,i tried it the other day and it seemed very blurry to me,is there any optimal time and or settings to use one for,im happy with the polarizer and others i picked up,thanx for any info and tips

I never could understand the point of a "diffusion filter".

Basically it blurs your image. Something that you could do much more precisely and usefully in photoshop if you really had the need.

I can't think of a single time I've looked at an image and thought, "boy, I wish that was a bit blurry".

Good thing it was inexpensive. Maybe it could be used as a cup-holder.

Thats an artifact from the days of film before photoshop. Soft focus or diffusion filters were used to create hazy foggy scenes. Absolutely no reason to do that now that you can create the effect in photoshop with an infinite degree of variability in the strength of the effect. Might make a unique coaster though.

Diffusion filters are still useful for video, if you're into that, since sometimes it's better for the footage to be soft going into the lens. Helps reduce moire too.

I'm more concerned about the quality of your other filters.. ie. the CPL? You say a good filter sale, and that you bought a few. A few filters of good (or better) quality are far from cheap.. hope your other filters aren't junk.

You may end up with blurry photos using those as well.

thanx for the replies,the filters are rocketfish brand,they were about 70%off,got the diffusion for about 15buks,ill try it on some indoor portraits and see if i like the result,the cpl seems decent and also got a nuetral density which i havent used yet,also a star fliter also which i havent used yet,the quality seems pretty decent but im pretty new so i dont know what a cheappy filter would looklike and what the results would be,i wonder if theres a thread onhere with a sample image using no filter then same image with cheappy filter then same image with good quailty filter,ill try a search on here,again thanx for the replies

I've had the Rocketfish CPL for a while and it does pretty well. I'd bet the CPL and the ND are going to work just fine for you. It's on my 300mm most of the time, but I was using it on the 17-40L the most when I first got it.

Read the content at http://www.thephoblogr​apher.com …ey-degrade-image-quality/ for remarks relative to quality of filters. Scroll down especially to the Coke bottle pictures.

Your Rocketfish filters are likely plastic rings, as opposed to the best being brass. In beteeen is aluminum. The glass and the coatings are critical as well.

The money spent on the diffuser would have been better spent on a memory card, remote release, etc. Something useful.

In this instance, https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=163803 a Hoya diffusion filter may have affected the autofocus capabilites of the camera/lens combination.

i believe the filter body is metal,seems like good construction and case and cleaning cloth look decent,i realize the difusion was prob a waste of cash but the others seem pretty decnt for price i paid,they were 70%off so that tells u the mark up on these things haha

John from PA wrote in post #16326403
In this instance, https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=163803 a Hoya diffusion filter may have affected the autofocus capabilites of the camera/lens combination.

im sure the difusion filter gave him a out of focus image,it looks out of focus to me on my set up and i have a much newer model than that old poster on that 7 year old thread haha,

But are you trying make this work simply because you bought the filter? Its designed to take blurry shots, thats what you got in your first test. Why spend another moment with it? To justify the fact that you spent a few bucks on it?

i did read a bit on what they do before i bought it but it was the price that made me get it,i bought all the flilters they had on sale,cpl,nd star and difusion,i will give it anothr shot with some indoor soft portraits,that seems like what they may be useful for.

Wagons and buggies were made to haul people to work, but they are poorly suited to the task. Holding on to something poorly suited to the task just because you bought it is pointless.

70% of junk...still leaves you with junk...