As a street photographer I love to shoot film, but it's a costly endeavor and my vintage cameras are not weather sealed, so I shoot mostly digital with either an in-camera film simulation or a film-like preset applied in post.

One of the film qualities that is difficult to emulate with a digital camera is exposure latitude in the highlights; digital easily clips in the highlights, but even when protecting the highlights they look somewhat harsh. Also, digital images in general are sharper than analog, and a black mist diffusion filter is one way to soften both the overall image and even out the highlights so it feels more like film.

This diffusion filter does an admirable job of creating just such an effect, without being overbearing. When shooting normal subjects in daylight it is almost unnoticeable, providing a very sutble softening effect. And as the sample photos show, when shooting into the sky, highlights and even flares tend to spread out and lighten the affected portion of the image, just like they do on film. Of course it's not exact same effect as analog, but it does add to the overall mood.

One thing I did not test this filter on was night-time light sources. Once I get around to that I will update this review, but I generally prefer less powerful diffusion for that use case.

For the price, I think this K&F filter is an excellent deal. K&F image quality is always quite good, and I was not able to detect any anomalies even at high magnification. One thing to keep in mind is that it does not have a front thread to take additional filters; however it does accept K&F brand magnetic filters, which is actually pretty cool.