Tiffen color temperature converter — shifts daylight to tungsten or vice versa without softening. Precision over gels when optical quality matters.
On set, you sometimes need light that has a different color temperature than the available source provides. Dynachrome filters from Tiffen solve this problem through optically high-quality plastic substrates that selectively shift color wavelengths — without affecting image sharpness, as cheaper gels or foils would. You place them in front of the camera or in front of the light, and the conversion happens losslessly and homogeneously across the entire image area.
Practical Use: You classically use Dynachrome when you need to bring daylight (approx. 5500–6000K) down to tungsten light temperature (3200K) — for example, because your bedroom interior is lit with tungsten spots, but the window is still too bright. Or vice versa: a light bulb scene in a daylight environment. The filters are robust, last a long time, and their coating prevents reflections better than raw gel material. You can stack them for more extreme conversions, but you always stay within the green zone of optical quality — unlike with five layers of colored plastic, which start to make the micro-structure of the lens visible.
Unlike color correction gels (which make finer color shifts) or mere white balance adjustments in the camera, Dynachrome works physically in the optical path — meaning the information is captured correctly at the sensor. This means less clipping in the color channels, less noise in post-production, and more stable color consistency over long takes. You'll notice the difference especially at 4K and higher — the raw material is simply cleaner.
Practically, standard sets are usually sufficient: 85 series (tungsten to daylight) and 80 series (vice versa). More expensive systems offer finer gradations. The disadvantage: Dynachrome filters are expensive to purchase and absorb some light value with extreme conversions — not dramatically, but you should factor in one to two stops. On set, I clamp them into the matte box system or directly in front of large lights. For handheld work or quick changes, they are less practical than gels, but for stabilized setups where image quality counts, they are standard.