B/W contrast filters

rayonline_nz · Oct 3, 2016

I have been processing film myself for 2yr now, got a bulk roll and may get into some of the contrast filters (to attach onto the camera's lens).

I do landscapes and love Velvia for color work, so for b/w work I may lean towards a red filter over an orange. Also what about a yellow filter? Just to make something in the foreground to stand out from the rocks or the sky. Anything else?

Thanks.

Malinku · Oct 3, 2016

I'd recommend at the current prices just get one of each color and try them out.
I find yellow the most useful for general photography. It makes the scene look more natural.
Orange for when a bit more sky separation is needed or to bring out different shades of orange. Good for wooden objects.
Green is my go to for landscapes filled with plants. Just brings out the different shades of green in each plant.
I don't think I have used my red filter since I got it. Just too dark most of the time

BrianShaw · Oct 3, 2016

I lean toward yello filter. My orange filters get used sometimes. My red filters are dead weight and were a waste of money. Suggest you re-think the preference for red to make sure it's really for you.

Gerald C Koch · Oct 3, 2016

When dealing with B&W film the term contrast filter is a bit misleading since for a particular color its contrast is lowered while its compliment is increased. In other words contrast is not increased across the spectrum. Learn the color wheel before you delved too deeply into filters. Since any filter enters the image path it pays to buy the very best so as not to degrade the images.

Jim Jones · Oct 3, 2016

My main filters are red and a polarizer.

frank · Oct 3, 2016

One filter: yellow/green

MartinCrabtree · Oct 3, 2016

You can pick up some great deals on filters on the auction site. If you know what you're looking for.

NedL · Oct 3, 2016

frank said:
One filter: yellow/green

My favorite is the yellow-green (Wratten 11) too. I also like a light yellow filter with FP4+, and no filter at all with Acros.

revdoc · Oct 3, 2016

For B&W, I typically leave a K2 yellow filter on the camera all the time. They don't cost much, so I generally have one per lens.

I augment this with a polariser, which I find to be the most useful filter for controlling contrast, either for darkening blue sky or dimming specular highlights on water and vegetation.

mshchem · Oct 4, 2016

K2 is the old standby.. My Dad used one for every shot he ever took with an old Agfa Memo. Red makes for overly dramatic skies. Green is good for portraits and for lightening green foliage.
You do know that if you shoot color film scan it and convert to monotone you can adjust each color channel and get whatever you want.
But that's NO FUN compared to visualization and printing it in the darkroom

TheRook · Oct 4, 2016

rayonline_nz said:
I do landscapes and love Velvia for color work, so for b/w work I may lean towards a red filter over an orange. Also what about a yellow filter? Just to make something in the foreground to stand out from the rocks or the sky. Anything else?

For landscapes, I think you find the orange filter actually more useful than the red filter, as the red filter makes green foliage fairly dark, diminishing detail.

jonasfj · Oct 4, 2016

Yellow: makes the sky look more normal as do Caucasian skin. If you can afford the one stop loss of light, keep it on most of the times. This filter is mandatory to have in the bag

Orange: Skies look a little bit more dramatic, but still within reason. Very efficient when the storm is approaching

Red: Can make the blues in the sky look almost black. Quite dramatic and should be used with intent

Green: Makes green leaves appear lighter. Works very well on photographs with large areas of foliage

Blue: Gives the "old fisher-man" look to portraits. Maybe not the most flattering portrait filter, but if you happen to meet a fisher-man with a big beard

Yellow/Green: A little bit of the yellow filter and a little bit of the green. Think portrait

Circular polarizer: Reduces reflections depending on how you turn it. Can be used when you have unwanted reflections in water, windows, but can also be used to make skies appear more dramatic (like yellow/orange/red) and to increase the perceived structure of certain surfaces (rock, walls, wood etc.). The polarizer is very useful, but can give very uneven effects over the frame if you are using ultra-wide angle lenses. The polarizer can also be used with color film

Personally, I use yellow, orange, red and a circular polarizer for medium format and only a yellow filter for small format. For color film, I also use a 81A warming filter

etn · Oct 4, 2016

Don't discard red filters. Although rarely used by most photographers, I realized they are my most used filters
for nature photography. They can give a very dramatic look to nature/landscape pics, in particular if a deep blue sky is present.

(please disregard the white mark on the left side, just a scanning artefact)

Etienne

Svenedin · Oct 4, 2016

I like landscape photography but I dislike featureless white skies so I usually have a yellow filter on the lens by default. The yellow filter helps the sky to look more natural in that the blue is a bit darker and the clouds stand out more. I often take pictures in mountains and the yellow filter does reduce haze a bit as well. I do use red filters occasionally but the effect is too strong for general photography. It is worth experimenting with filters and keeping notes so that you can discover what suits you. Both attached photos had a yellow filter but one was in a very bright blue sky and the other partially overcast (they are low quality scans of 8"x10" prints). I also feel the filter helps to protect the lens especially clambering around on rocky mountains.

destroya · Oct 4, 2016

for landscapes I find my most used is a dark yellow followed by an orange. I only use red if I'm shooting rollei retro 80s and 400s as they have IR capabilities so the foliage does not go as dark as a normal pan film. it is a nice effect, getting the cloud separation without the dark black greens.

B/W contrast filters

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