Every so often, a product drops that feels like it’s aimed squarely at those of us who miss the tactile joy of making an image, rather than tweaking pixels afterwards. Prism Lens FX’s new Phantom FX and Spectre FX filters are exactly that—tools designed to push creativity back into the moment of capture.
Instead of screwing them onto your lens like a traditional filter, you move them across the lens by hand while shooting. It’s wonderfully lo-fi. The result is an effect you’d usually spend hours recreating in post-production: dreamy streaks, ghosting trails, and a soft, cinematic distortion that looks organic because, well, it is.
The Phantom FX is all about motion blur—drag it across the glass and it mimics the look of a slow shutter or even a double exposure, without needing to compromise your actual shutter speed. It’s available in two sizes: 100mm for mirrorless/DSLR setups, and 150mm for cinema rigs. You also get two strengths—half and full—depending on how heavy-handed you want the effect.
The Spectre FX, meanwhile, feels more deliberate. It keeps the centre of your frame sharp while introducing four ghosted blur zones around the edges, almost like a haunted vignette. It’s perfect for portraits where you want your subject to pop against a dreamy, shifting background.
Both filters are clearly designed with flexibility in mind. They include a 1/4-20 threaded hole so you can mount them instead of hand-holding, which is a thoughtful touch for longer shoots. And yes, they’re not cheap—priced at $170 for the 100mm and $190 for the 150mm versions, with shipping in about 10–12 weeks—but they’re also niche creative tools.
What I love most here is the mindset. These filters aren’t about fixing mistakes; they’re about playing. They encourage experimentation, happy accidents, and an immediacy that gets lost when everything happens in front of a computer.
If you’re a photographer or filmmaker who thrives on in-camera creativity—or you just want to surprise yourself with unpredictable, cinematic textures—the Phantom FX and Spectre FX could be the perfect excuse to step away from your timeline and back behind the lens.
Full details on Prism Lens FX’s website here.
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