April 22, 2024 -> Full Review was published.

Intro

Although I’m a big fan of photographic filters, which are a part on my daily workflow, I cannot say that I have used so much filters that offer a specific effect.
When Kenko informed me about the release of the Anamorflare filters, a new anamorphic type flare filters, I was eager to test them and see if they can be added on my workflow, in both stills and video.

Let’s find out more about Kenko Anamorflare Filters, but before let’s first dive into anamorphic lenses and their unique look, so to better understand the effect of the filter and how it performs.

What is an anamorphic lens?

Most available lenses fall into one of two categories: being either spherical or anamorphic.
While a spherical lens has a consistently curved surface (like a sphere), an anamorphic lens is shaped more like an oval and it is designed to horizontally compress the image it captures onto the camera’s image sensor (or film plane). This compression creates a distorted image that appears squeezed horizontally. To restore the correct aspect ratio during playback or post-production, the footage must be de-squeezed or “stretched” back to its original proportions.

Anamorphic lenses allow for a wider field of view on a narrower sensor. That makes them great to use for wide-angle shots, helping you to capture an epic, larger-than-life cinematic look, as well as in adding drama in close-up shots due to their shallow depth of field.

Moonlight (2016)

Shot with Angenieux Optimo Anamorphic Lenses

Director: Barry Jenkins
Director of Photography: James Laxton

Blade Runner (1982)

Shot on Panavision C Series Anamorphic Lenses

Director: Ridley Scott
Director of Photography: Jordan Cronenweth

Another characteristic of anamorphic lenses is that they produce an oval shaped bokeh like shown in the sample below:

Anamorphic Lens Bokeh Example  •  Heat

What about (Anamorphic) Flare?

Except what I described in the previous part about optical design, image format and bokeh, anamorphic lenses also produce another popular effect that many filmmakers and photographers want to reproduce, that unique flaring, often referred to as anamorphic flare.

Anamorphic flare refers to a type of optical distortion or artifact that occurs in anamorphic lenses when bright light sources enter the lens at oblique angles.

When bright light sources, such as the sun or artificial lights, hit the lens at certain angles, they can create characteristic flare patterns. These flares are typically elongated and have a unique, organic quality due to the cylindrical lens elements in anamorphic lenses.

Star Trek (2009)

Shot on Panavision C Series & Primo Anamorphic Lenses

Batman Begins (2005)

Shot on Panavision C & E Series Anamorphic Lenses

Either you like this flare-effect or not, it is so popular amongst creators that many photographers/filmmakers buy old lenses (specifically Helios 44-2) and modify them to produce this unique flaring directly in their images.

Kenko Anamorflare (Anamorphic+Flare)

Now that we covered the basics of anamorphic lenses and especially their unique flaring, its time to get back on the specific filter of this review, the Kenko Anamorflare.

Kenko Anamorflare is a new type of filter that produces a ray-like flare effect similar to anamorphic lenses which can be controlled in terms of angle and color.

Kenko Anamorflare Red
Photo | Tokina SZ 33mm F1.2 X lens & Fujifilm X-H2s camera

Kenko Anamorflare Blue
Frame grab from 6.2k Video – Graded with Dehancer on Davinci Resolve | Tokina SZ 33mm F1.2 X lens & Fujifilm X-H2s camera

Available Colors

The Kenko Anamorflare filter is available in six (6) color variations and these are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Clear and Rainbow, which will produce a ray of light of that color respectively.

Testing Notes

The camera used in this review was the Fujifilm X-H2s with the following lenses:

• Tokina atx-i 11-20mm F2.8 (F-mount with adapter)
• Tokina atx-m 23mm F1.4 X
• Tokina SZ 33mm F1.2 X
• Tokina atx-m 56mm F1.4 X

*Disclaimer*

I’m a Global Ambassador of Tokina since 2017, however this is not a paid post, and I’m only expressing my personal thoughts and experiences using the Kenko Anamorflare Filters.

Build Quality

When evaluating any product, my initial priority is to examine its build quality. Given my frequent exposure to diverse weather conditions—from light rain to strong winds, and from extreme heat to ice and even snow—while working in the field, it’s crucial that I can rely on the durability of my tools.

The Kenko Anamorflare filter, which is made in Japan, stands out for its high-grade aluminum construction, ensuring both robustness in challenging environments and a lightweight design, tipping the scales at just 30 grams. Additionally, it boasts a water-repellent coating, further enhancing its resilience against the elements.

Filter Size: 82mm

Regarding filter size, and despite being available only in 82mm due to its design, this is not an issue as even if your lenses has a smaller filter diameter (i.e. 72mm or 77mm), it is very affordable to get a step-up ring, although there is a good chance to already have one spare in your home already.

Personally, I’ve been using step-up rings on all my lenses as it is a good tactic to always get the biggest possible size when buying a new filter, so to ensure that in the future even if you change lenses, you will still be able to use them without having to buy new filters each time.

Kenko Anamorflare Blue on Tokina SZ 33mm F1.2 X lens (with a step-up 62mm to 82mm ring) & Fujifilm X-H2s camera

How Anamorflare Works

The filter contains thirty-nine (39) thin lines (yes, I’ve counted them), which depending on the color selection you’ve bought, have that specific color.

For this review I’ve used the Red and Blue versions.

When the filter is attached in the front of the lens, any light source that is visible, like streetlights, car front or tail lights, the sun, or light reflected from water surfaces when shooting during the day will create an impressive ray of light directly in camera without the need of software.

The impressive flare can create a cinematic in-camera effect not only in your photos but also in your videos and vlogs.

Left: Without Filter | Right: With Kenko Anamorflare Blue Filter

Handling

Very similar to the most commonly used filter, the CPL, the Kenko Anamorflare filter has a rotating front element that is used to change the angle of the flare lines as per your wish or frame requirements.

For example, you can have horizontal, vertical or even diagonal lines to create the image that you envisioned.

Focal Lengths?

Kenko notes that the ideal focal length of the lens used should be 50mm, as when a wider angle focal length is selected, light rays might be distorted.

In my tests with the ultra-wide angle Tokina atx-i 11-20mm F2.8 lens, indeed the light rays become distorted in all its focal range.

Captured at 11mm with Tokina atx-i 11-20mm F2.8 lens

Colors

Except the color selection of the filter, the color of the rays may vary depending on the light source.

A colored light source, such as a signal, produces rays of the color of the light source. When the sunset is used as the light source, reddish tones will greatly affect the color of the rays. Areas close to a strong light source may have difficulty producing color. If light sources such as illuminations or street lights are so dense that the rays of light seem dull, use a composition with few light sources.

Kenko also suggests that White balance should be set to “Auto”. Set the white balance to “sunny” or set the color temperature to your liking. The color of light rays will vary depending on the type of light source, time of day, and other shooting conditions.

Notice that despite the same filter was used, the Anamorflare Blue, the produced light rays on the three (3) top lamps of the amusement park device have different colors as the pattern scheme were changing.

Light Source

Kenko suggests that if light sources such as illuminations or street lights are so dense that the rays of light seem dull, it is advised to use a composition with few light sources.

From my tests, I also found that if the light source is somehow milder or diffused, like the lamps shown below, the produced light ray is either very soft or not even captured.

Notice how mild the ray of light is on the first right lamp, while how much more visible is on the very last lamp on the left, which lamp is bare.

Ghosting

Depending on the angle and intensity of the light source, some ghosting of the filter lines might be captured.
However, please note that the following example is a frame grab from a video, and only managed to see it when checking the video frame by frame, and I wasn’t able to reproduce it in a photo.

Personal Thoughts

As happens with 99% of special, effect-type filters, these filters are not for everyone and definitely not to be used in every scenario.
The biggest drawback of effect filters is that the produced effect is captured directly in-camera, meaning that if the effect is too “intense” and the user later regrets having this effect, it would be very difficult to fix the captured image or video in post (if not impossible).

Many times I have noted in my reviews, blog posts and on my photography workshops that I’m an old school type regarding photography and I want to make the (final) image directly in camera, avoiding spending lots of time editing.

Before getting misunderstood, as the above two sentences might seem controversial to one another, what I’m trying to say is that when using a special type filter like Anamorflare, the user must think the shot prior in order to avoid getting in situations like the one described above.

So, is it a useful filter in the hands of a creator? Yes, it sure is. As said in the first sentence, this filter cannot be used in any case, its not a CPL or an ND, or even a Black Mist. However, it can be used with a lot of success in special and dedicated occasions.
Especially for video, it can give that extra “cinematic” touch in some of your clips.

Also, I can understand the logic behind the rotating front element that provides the ability to set the angle of the rays by your desire, but in the movies the light rays most of the times horizontal, or at least this is how my mind remembers them.

Personally I would prefer the design of the filter to be without the rotating front element, and even better the filter to be magnetic, so that the user could easily attach & detach it if he isn’t sure about the shot (or even to capture quickly one shot with rays and one without, just to be sure).
Also by being magnetic, the rotating ability could still happen, but I guess that this might increase the overall costs, something that I’m not an expert on.

Regarding cost, based on my knowledge the filter has a price of around 100€, which I think is a little pricey. An ideal price would be closer to 70-80€, but again, I’m not an expert in manufacturing costs, I’m just mentioning my thoughts.
However, I would definitely pay even more than 120€, if this filter could be combined with a subtle 1/8 Mist filter as one. I will suggest this to Kenko.

So to conclude, will I use this filter? Yes I will. I already have in mind some scenarios that this filter could provide an extra touch of style in my shots, and to be 100% honest, that will be mostly in video and not so much in stills.

Conclusion

“A useful filter that gives a cinematic touch in your content, although the effect can be intense sometimes. For me it is a very welcome addition to my usual filter collection, that will give an extra impressive effect to my video content.“