CineBloom Diffusion Filters: How to Get Dreamy Looking Photos/Footage

Natalie (Allen) Carrasco @natalieallenco

April 8, 2024

Our #1 best-selling filter achieves cinematic ambience and enhances a hazy glow without the film stock expense.

9MomentScore

Our #1 best-selling filter, the CineBloom diffusion filter, is the perfect testament to film-like photos without breaking the bank with film stock. It produces a beautiful hazy glow around lit subjects, creating a unique style of visual appeal that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to manipulate in Photoshop.

To Know:

This is Moment’s first-ever diffusion filter. As a non-technical photographer, I had no idea what a “diffusion” filter was or how most creatives produced that dreamy haze in their photos and video. When I heard more about the simplicity of this gracious tool, I grew more and more excited. After trying it for our shoot with the Marias in LA, I’m convinced I’m never taking it off my camera. There’s something explicitly magical about using our baby, CineBloom, and I’m increasingly more inspired to create future projects.

What We Love:

Effortless Haze

Glowy lights, soft skin tones, and a dream-like haze takes off that digital edge.

Makes Your Digital Creations Look Like Film

While I’m still able to use this filter on my film camera, I can simultaneously manipulate my digital images and video to look like film.

Premium Glass

Keep your camera scratch and dirt free with CineBloom’s protective layer of premium glass.

The Details:

Brand: Moment

Product Type: Diffusion Filter

Best For: Filmmakers and Photographers looking for a softer, less clinically sharp image straight out of the camera.

CineBloom Diffusion Filters - 10% / 37mm

Moment

Our CineBloom Diffusion Filters are the secret sauce for capturing dreamy, film-like footage. Escape the clinical, ultra-sharp look of digital with this specialty glass. Available in densities of 5%, ...

Add for $45

Take the edge off with CineBloom.

We’ve shot with many filters, and nothing caught our attention quite like diffusion filters. But the ones available on the market weren’t meeting our needs... so we decided to make our own.

Offered in 10% and 20% densities, Moment CineBloom Diffusion Filters are the elusive ingredient for capturing mesmerizing, film-like visuals. Escape the cold, razor-sharp realm of digital with this extraordinary glass. Not only does it ensnare and radiate light, but it also caresses skin tones, delicately softening wrinkles. The filter ring is meticulously sculpted from aerospace-grade metal, ensuring the resilience we demand in every shooting scenario. Its ingenious design makes it slender enough to stack beneath another filter without sacrificing the field of view. As a result, you can seamlessly use an ND or VND atop the CineBloom filter to achieve cinematic frame rates and capture motion blur.

The glass is crafted by fusing a micro-layer of black particulates between two layers of premium Japanese filter glass, preserving the full image quality.

Available in densities of 10% (1/2), and 20% (1)
Premium Japanese Optical glass for superior image clarity
Easily stacks underneath Moment Variable ND Filters
Knurled grip for easy removal
Uncoated glass ensures maximum effect and strength of bloom
Works with any standard center pinch lens cap (like the one you already have for your camera lens)
Available for standard camera lens sizes 37-82mm

10%

20%

What Is A Diffusion Filter?

A diffusion filter is often used to create a glowy haze that spreads out the light across the etched filter surface while maintaining crisp contrast and sharpness. It’s the effect of bending a percentage of image-forming light from its original origin to defocus. The filter’s tiny haze pattern will also help alter the bokeh to a more creamy state. I’m truly amazed at how well it captures a beautiful haze around the light to soften the details of my subject while still retaining the sharpness of the individual hairs and details of the eye.

When You’d Want to Use a Diffusion Filter

One may use a diffusion filter for photos and videos in tandem; it is not particularly made for one or the other. That’s what makes this product so fun and versatile for any creator.

Often, within contemporary media, cinematographers diffuse an image to make it seem that the audience is no longer watching a film set in modern times. Even those not versed in cinema's language can pick up on these visual cues. It’s almost as if the viewer is watching something set beyond the real world. In fact, many films during the Golden Age of Hollywood shine with the hazy film due to the unique lighting, film stock, and use of netting within its visual appearance. The use of a diffusion filter can simulate these visual motifs for an audience.

Similarly, this type of filter can also be used for photography purposes. It takes the digital edge of you — the subject, producing a soft, majestic elegance you couldn’t otherwise manipulate in Photoshop.

How To Use a Diffusion Filter

The greatest feature behind this filter is that you don’t have to twist it back and forth to create its effect. Effortlessly thread the filter on and off your lens, and viola, and you’re done — no hassle or buggy interface.

Each thread size comes in two different diffusion tactics, 10% and 20%. The 10% offers slight blooming around lit subjects to create that buttery cinematic vibe. However, the 20% is slightly more noticeable and really blesses your lens with that dream-like ominence.