PolarPro’s Curious New Filter Captures a Surreal, Dreamlike Split-Field Effect

Oct 07, 2025

Jeremy Gray

Split image: Left shows a close-up of a camera lens. Right shows a cyclist in a yellow jacket performing a wheelie on a mountain bike, with a blurred background indicating motion.

PolarPro has unveiled a new creative effects filter: the Center Split Filter. This bold, creative tool enables photographers and filmmakers to capture images with a surreal split-field effect.

Built using PolarPro’s Cinema Series glass and durable, professional-grade housing, the new split-field filter keeps the center of the frame sharp while blooming highlights and diffusing the detail above and below (or left and right) of the subject. Since it features PolarPro’s high-end optics, the filter also includes the company’s anti-reflective coatings, similar to those found on PolarPro’s more typical neutral density (ND) and polarizing filters.

PolarPro describes it as a “bold creative tool,” which seems like a fair assessment. The company notes that the complete look, including the highlight blooms and diffusion, is very challenging, if not impossible, to replicate during post-production, which means it must be achieved in-camera.

Close-up view of a professional camera lens, focusing on the glass elements and reflections inside the lens. The background is blurred, drawing attention to the circular shape and details of the lens.

Close-up of a professional camera with a 35mm lens outdoors, showing detailed focus and aperture markings on the lens barrel, with a blurred natural background.

As a highly specialized filter, photographers and videographers may wonder what the Center Split Filter is best used for. PolarPro recommends it for stylized action shots, dynamic video transitions, and surreal imagery. The company put the new filter into the hands of filmmaker Nathan McBride, who tested it in the Utah desert to capture some motorsports action.

McBride used the filter across a wide range of lenses, and PolarPro notes that the filter’s effect is bolder at wider focal lengths, while it is less pronounced when using longer lenses. The filter also includes multi-layer coatings to ensure neutral colors.

“At 35mm, the refraction at the edges is strong, with dramatic distortion because more of the filter is in frame. At 85mm, the look is subtler, with less distortion visible,” PolarPro explains.

A person in a red shirt, cap, and headphones crouches on a rocky terrain, holding a professional video camera close to the ground, with a blurred effect around the edges of the image.

A mountain biker in mid-air performs a backflip over a rocky desert landscape, with distant hills and a cloudy sky in the background.

A person in a yellow shirt and black gloves adjusts their helmet while sitting on a mountain bike, with rocky hills and blue sky in the background.

The PolarPro Center Split Filter is a niche new product in PolarPro’s family of filters, but for creators who appreciate its look, it promises to be a high-quality option. PolarPro itself says its new filter is a “specialty” offering designed specifically for select creative sequences. It’s a complement to a broader filter kit, rather than an everyday workhorse.

Pricing and Availability

The new creative filter is available in standard threaded sizes and for PolarPro’s magnetic Helix MagLock filter system. Standard thread options come in 49mm, 67mm, 77mm, and 82mm sizes, ranging from $79.99 to $99.99. The Helix MagLock version is $149.99. All variants are available to order now through PolarPro’s website. The threaded filters are shipping now, while the Helix model will begin shipping next week.

Image credits: PolarPro