Tiffen Dfx 3.0 – for your creative side

Newest version of Tiffen Dfx simulates 2,000+ glass filters, lenses, film grains and more

Back in the “good old” days, photographers had to choose which filters they were going to pack on each assignment and chances are the one you needed might not have made the cut. Today with digital processing, and software from Tiffen, they can all be simulated in post processing.

The Tiffen Dfx version 3.0 makes an unbelievably wide range of choices available to simulate simple colored gels, specialized lenses, optical lab processes, film grain, exacting color correction, plus natural light and photographic effects. The software comes in multiple forms:

Standalone software
Plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, After Effects
Plug-in for Apple Aperture, Final Cut Pro
Plug-in for Avid Editing System

I just began using the plug-in version for Lightroom and I was totally impressed with the ease of use and the quality results. With a photo selected in Lightroom, I chose Edit -> in Tiffen Dfx and a new window opened full screen. (Actually in two screens since I’m using dual monitors.) With a preview choice of either 1024 or 2048 pixels wide, I had a nice large image to see the results of the filters as I picked them. Heck, you can even size the thumbnails small, medium or large.

The amount of filters is just too large to discuss in one article, but suffice it to say; whatever you want to do is probably available in tabbed sets for different type effects. You aren’t limited to just one effect either…they can be stacked until you get the result you want.

Maybe you found just the right filter but the effect is too strong. Simply change the opacity. Want it applied to just parts of the image?

Original lion photo without filters

There are numerous ways of masking, from gradients to a customizable paintbrush. Want to make your shot look like it was shot in a studio? Add one of hundreds of gobos included. With the EZ Mask feature it’s easy to make the gobo look like it was always in the background. (The attached feature photo was done by the EZ Mask which was no easy task since the lion and the background were essentially the same tone values.)

I loved the options to simulate my old film favorites – Kodak Tri-X and Fuji’s Velvia 50 slide film. Favorites can even be stored in their own tabs for quick retrieval on your subsequent images. Want one of those old great, but expensive Warm Pro-Mist filters? They’re all in there. How about a bleach bypass effect? You’ve got the idea now, it’s in there too.

Check the photos below to see just some of the subtle or not so subtle effects that you can create. They were all done in a matter of seconds. Or watch the Tiffen video. When you’re convinced you need it, head over to Tiffen.com and try their 15 day free trial.