Filter Hire

Filter hire from Cam-A-Lot Rentals. We offer both a range of screw on filters as well as glass plates for the X-Pro filter system available for hire.

Circular Polarising Filters (CPL)

A circular polarizing filter is used by photographers to reduce glare and reflections on shiny surfaces and to increase the overall saturation and contrast of a scene. This is achieved by blocking certain wavelengths of light, which can have the effect of darkening blue skies and making white clouds pop out more. Additionally, a circular polarizing filter can be rotated to adjust the amount of polarization, allowing photographers to control the intensity of the effect. This can be particularly useful for landscape photography, where it can help to make colours appear more vibrant and to make the sky appear more dramatic.

Variable ND Filters

A Variable ND differs from a normal ND filter in that you can control the amount of light reduction simply by rotating the filter. A Variable Neutral Density Filter is like a pair of sunglasses for your lens. A pair of sunglasses that you can adjust like a volume knob to control the amount of light they let through. Cameras have three ways to control exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. This filter effectively becomes a fourth control tool to manipulate light exposure. It controls the amount of light that enters your lens by opposing two polarised filters. Rotating one creates a darkening effect, which ranges in influence from 1 to 8 f-stops of light reduction. By reducing the amount of light entering the lens and sensor, a photographer can create several awesome visual image effects. These effects would not be possible in bright light conditions without a variable ND. Simply adding the filter to the lens gains you your first f-stop reduction of light. If you have ever visited a beach, desert or salt flats you will know how much you appreciated having sunglasses with you. Under those extreme lighting conditions you camera sits with all its exposure controlling settings topped out. The amount of artistic control you can take becomes limited by the restriction of all values being maxed. Adding dialable sunglasses to your camera reopens creative possibilities.

Black Diffusion Mist Filters

We have Black Diffusion filters available at varing strenghts of the effect. If you are looking to give your images a unique look and style, a black diffusion filter may be a great option for you. It changes some of the key characteristics of a modern digital camera image. Firstly, it diffuses the image. The coatings on the filter slightly softens the image. A soft image is not the same as an out of focus image. Softening filters have been used in cinema for decades. This removes some of the harshness of a modern camera. It preserves the sharp focus but reduces some fine details. This is particularly good for capturing skin in a more forgiving way and make objects appear more glamorous as imperfections are blended and minimised. This can make it great for fashion and beauty applications.The second effect the filter has is to bloom light sources. An additional effect of the filter's diffusion is to create a glow around light sources. If a light or neon tube is in the shot it gets a dreamy glow effect or “bloom”. This is very impactful in street photography at night (think Blade Runner). The combination of these two characteristics are images which appear lower in overall contrast. You can underexpose shots for richer blacks which helps to create mystery, while the bloomed highlights have such smooth graduation in tone so that the resultant contrast is more like a vintage filmic look.

The effects of this filter are well suited to stylised product photography, portraits, landscapes, narrative story telling work and urban street photography. As it impacts the look of light sources so strongly it is most effective in night shots, its characteristics can be more subdued in daylight shooting. Because of its stylised look it is less suited to news, documentary or reviews.

Neutral Density (ND) Filters

An ND filter is like a pair of sunglasses for your lens. It allows you more control over your exposure settings especially in mid-day lighting conditions. If you want shallower depth of field or slower shutter speed, you may need to add a filter like this to get the images you want. For photographers wanting performance beyond the limitations of your camera and lenses, upgrade to the X-Pro filter system with this system add-on, to up your photography game.

Graduated ND Filters.

An ND filter is like a pair of sunglasses for your lens. It allows you more control over your exposure settings especially in mid-day lighting conditions. Graduated filters are great for reducing the overall brightness of the sky so its exposure is better matched to the landscape. For photographers wanting performance beyond the limitations of your camera and lenses, upgrade to the X-Pro filter system with this system add-on, to up your photography game.

Filter Systems

The X-Pro filter system is designed to work on every one of your lenses. There are adapter rings for every size lens. It can be used for a round CLP or square ND filters and even rectangular graduated filters. Easy on, easy off and you can even stack filters.