PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist filter review: Like magic pixie dust, but for a camera lens

I banned glitter from entering my house after a bad experience with a Christmas decoration that had me vacuuming up tiny specs of sparkle into July. But I think I’ve found a form of glitter that belongs not just in my house, but in my camera bag: the Polar Pro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist filter.

The Polar Pro Gold Mist filter has tiny flecks of gold-colored specks embedded in the glass. (Don’t worry, it’s not actual loose glitter – which is still banned from my house.) Adding this bit of sparkle is like magic pixie dust for a camera lens, creating golden blooms of light and more analog-inspired colors.

The Gold Mist is part of the Polar Pro Peter McKinnon 135 Series, a trio of filters that are designed for a cinematic, analog-inspired look. But I was even able to use this filter to get a more golden-hour look despite the true golden hour being more than an hour away.

I tried this filter with my mirrorless camera, and it's my new favorite filter that's going to spend more time on my lens than in my camera bag.

PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Specifications

PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Price and availability

The price of the PolarPro McKinnin 135 Gold Mist filter varies based on the thread size. (If you don’t know what thread size your lens is, it’s usually written inside the lens cap or on the front of the lens next to the ⊘ symbol.)

The smallest 49mm threaded option starts at $99.99 / £83.99 (Australian pricing to be confirmed) while the largest 82mm threaded is $139.99 / £129.99.

The lens filter is available from multiple retailers, including Amazon and photo retailers like B&H and Adorama. The Gold Mist can also be ordered directly from PolarPro.

PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Build and handling

The PolarPro 135mm Series filters are made with aluminum rings and Dura Glass. The Gold Mist filter’s brass-colored ring has a nice texture to it and twists easily onto the lens.

But perhaps my favorite part of the filter’s durability is that it comes with aluminum front and rear caps. Most filter cases tend to be pretty bulky, but the screw-in caps help protect the filter in a bag without adding a lot of bulk.

I accidentally dropped the filter a few feet onto a wooden floor with the protective cap on, and it survived unscathed (though of course, I recommend not dropping something made of glass.)

PolarPro says the design of the filter with both of its caps is made to look like an old film reel. That film-inspired touch is apparent when looking at the inside of the protective cap, which has a Sunny 16 Rule chart built right in.

PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Performance

What first caught my eye on the PolarPro McKinnin 135 Gold Mist is the way that it both diffuses and warms up light sources. In layman’s terms, that means that it spreads the light out and makes it appear more orange.

Take a look at these car headlights in a photo without the filter:

Now look what happens to those lights when you add a filter:

While any mist or diffusion filter will help spread out the light source, the Gold Mist uses golden-colored flecks for diffusion. This helps warm up the colors and, at times, gives colors a more analog feel. Take a look at all these greens without the filter on:

Now watch how the colors change with the filter on:

Magic, right? I’m the sort of photographer who always edits a bit warm. Plus, I often find grass and leaves to be a bit too oversaturated, and this filter helps dial that back a bit while also warming everything up.

That diffusion effect also helps make magic during golden hour. This gold mist filter makes golden hour much more glowy and, well, golden. Shooting towards the sun, the filter spreads the sun’s rays a bit farther.

I also noticed I was able to get more of that golden hour look when shooting a bit too early for true golden hour. If the sun is low enough to get in the shots, the gold mist filter will help bring out warmer tones from that sunlight.

While the most noticeable difference is using the Gold Mist filter pointed towards a light source, there are some subtle color differences that made me want to keep this filter on my lens even when I didn’t need to diffuse a light source.

Colors are a bit warmer, and I preferred the skin tones in my portraits with the filter on rather than with it off, though the difference was far more subtle.

The only color that I wasn’t crazy about is that sometimes, stronger sun flares can get a bit of a green tone to them, along with the gold. I did more color correction of the shots that had sun flare to fix some of the green.

PolarPro says that this filter is designed to mimic the look of Kodak Gold film. While I do agree the filter makes the images look more film-like, the filter is more like one ingredient in a recipe for a film-like look, rather than a complete solution.

Used with some editing presets or in-camera film simulations, this filter will help edge even closer to that film-like feel, but don’t expect the filter to do that all on its own without a bit of help from film simulations or color editing.

As a diffusion filter, the Gold Mist does reduce sharpness a bit – after all, it is designed for a more analog look. I think the McKinnon 135 Gold Mist, however, strikes that Goldilocks balance between not too soft but not too sharp.

I’ve made the mistake of buying a diffusion filter that was too strong before, but this is definitely not that. I was still able to get sharp eyes in my portraits when using this filter.

Like the colors, the strongest softening effect is when shooting into the light, working with even lighting, the softening effect is far more subtle.

PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Image Samples

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PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist: Verdict

The PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist creates magical light diffusion, golden tones and more analog-like colors. Photographers who love the cinematic look, film-like colors, or warmer tones can get closer to that final look in-camera with this filter.

Don’t expect to skip the edit entirely – the filter is more of one ingredient in the process rather than a one-step solution, but creates magical results when mixed with film simulation or analog-inspired presets.

My only complaint was that sun flares occasionally seemed to skew slightly more green than I would have liked, but it’s a relatively easy fix with manual white balance settings or a quick edit in post. I didn’t think the diffusion effect was too strong, but some pixel peepers may not like the softening effect.

If your photography style skews towards warm, analog colors, try the PolarPro McKinnon 135 Gold Mist filter. I have the feeling this filter is going to stay on my lens more often than not.

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