Lens Filters

We source cinema lens filters from the camera rental houses concentrated in Warsaw and in Łódź, where optical inventory has deepened since the Polish Film Institute introduced its 30% PISF cash rebates in 2019.

Here is how this works in practice. Our team matches filter sets to your lens diameters, matte box system and the look the cinematographer is after: full ranges of ND and IRND for exposure control, diffusion glass for skin and highlight character, circular and linear polarisers for reflections and skies, and graduated and effects filters in the standard 4x5.65 and 6.6x6.6 cinema sizes. We set up filter delivery alongside the camera and lens package and can supply matte boxes configured with the right number of stages.

Here is the short of it. Because hire from Polish vendors counts as qualifying spend toward the rebates, sourcing filters locally keeps the budget efficient. Any pro or vintage filter not held in-country moves freely by road from Germany or the Czech Republic, since Poland is in the EU single market and Schengen with no carnet for intra-EU transport.

Here is the breakdown. We strongly recommend testing diffusion and effects filters against your specific camera and lenses before the shoot. We arrange that testing time as part of prep so the cinematographer commits to a look with confidence. Productions arriving from outside the EU clear imported filters and matte boxes on ATA Carnets through the National Revenue Administration (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa), with Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) as the main air-cargo gateway and road links to Berlin and Prague.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Billing is in Polish złoty (PLN). Poland is an EU member but not in the Eurozone — and gear hire carries 23% VAT, both reflected in our quotes. Poland's temperate continental climate also affects filter handling: cold, snowy winters demand condensation control when filters and matte boxes move between heated cars and exterior sets in the Tatra Mountains or along the Baltic coast, while the clear, low winter light around Kraków and Gdańsk often shapes which NDs and polarisers a production reaches for.