If Tiffen's Black Pro-Mist costs more than you want to spend on a filter you're not sure you'll keep on the lens, a cheaper black mist is a reasonable place to start. Just know what you're giving up and what you aren't. You are not buying the same look for less. You're buying a different maker's version of the same idea, and the useful question is whether it does the job you have in mind.

I run XT Filters, so read this with that in view. I'll try to keep it to things you can check yourself.

Why people look past Tiffen in the first place

Tiffen made this kind of filter famous. Black Pro-Mist has been on film and TV sets for a long time, it comes in a wide range of grades, and a lot of cinematographers know exactly how each one behaves on their lenses. That track record is the real thing you pay for, and nothing in this post is an argument that it isn't worth it for them.

For a solo creator, the situation is usually different. You want a bit of glow around highlights and a little less digital edge on video or street frames. You're not matching a look across a crew, and the filter might end up in a drawer after a month. Paying top price to find out whether you like mist at all is the part that stings.

What actually matters when you compare

The grade numbers don't line up across brands. A 1/4 from one company is not a calibrated match for a 1/4 from another. The fraction tells you where a filter sits in that maker's own range, nothing more. So don't buy any alternative expecting it to look identical to a Tiffen 1/4. Expect "roughly this much glow" and judge it on your own footage.

Coating matters more than people think. Mist is supposed to scatter light on purpose. What you don't want on top of that is the filter's own surface bouncing light around and adding flare you didn't ask for, especially with street lamps or the sun near the frame. That's where reflectance numbers are worth reading.

Your exact thread size has to exist. This sounds obvious until you own a Leica or a Fuji with a 39mm thread, or a Q3 43 that takes 49mm. Check that the size printed on your lens front is actually sold before you get attached to any brand.

How you'll use it decides the strength. Evenings, backlit people, window light, lamps in frame: a 1/4 shows the effect clearly. Daylight client work where any lifted shadow gets rejected: go lighter, or skip mist for that job.

Where our black mist fits, honestly

We only make 1/4 strength, in three lines. They're not the same filter at three prices. Each one leans a different way.

  • XT888 135 Bottom 1/4 is the entry mist, tuned for atmosphere over maximum sharpness. It's listed at ≈88.8% average transmittance and ≈0.3% average reflectance, with 28–36 layers of coating per side. Sizes run 39mm to 105mm, including the 39mm Leica/Fuji thread and 49mm for the Q3 43. One caveat: the 86, 95 and 105mm sizes are only meant for lenses at 70mm or shorter. This is the one I'd tell most people trying mist for the first time to start with, and it's the least expensive way into our range.
  • XT888 135 Top keeps detail as the priority. Its diffusion sits between 1/8 and 1/4, so it's the pick if your main worry is "I don't want it to look soft." 49–82mm, black frame only.
  • XT925 is the 1/4 for night portraits and mid-to-long lenses, with ≈0.1% average reflectance from 36–48 coating layers per side. That lower reflectance is the part that matters with neon and street lamps in frame: less extra flare on top of the glow you wanted. It has the widest size range we make, 39mm to 112mm, in black, silver, or black-silver frames.

If you're coming from a lighter grade, or you've read that 1/8 is "safer," I went through why we stop at 1/4 in Black Mist 1/8 vs 1/4.

When I'd tell you to buy the Tiffen anyway

  • You already own Tiffen mist in other grades and want the new one to match them.
  • You need a strength we don't make. That includes 1/8, and anything heavier than 1/4.
  • You're working to a look a client or a DP has already specified by name.

In those cases a cheaper filter is the wrong saving.

A simple way to decide

Read the number on the front of your lens. Think about the first week you'll shoot with mist: if it's mostly evenings and people, a 1/4 will show you the look. Then pick on the job, not the brand. Entry 1/4 to see if you like it, the Top if sharpness worries you, the XT925 if your frames are full of night lights.

And if some shots look better without the glow, take it off for those. That's how mist is meant to be used.

You can see all three side by side in the Black Mist collection.

— Leo Liang