Best brand for Series VI Yellow/Orange/Red filters?

[darinwc]

I have found myself in need of some Series VI filters. It looks like most suppliers were out of business 50 years ago.
Are there certain brands or versions that are better than others? Are any coated or does it matter?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Any that you can find. The selection has been dwindling for years. Check out https://www.filterfind.net/ I have had good luck there for bayonet filters.

 

[BrianShaw]

I prefer the Kodak series filters. They are not coated, to the best of my knowledge, and perform quite admirably with a lens shade. I have a few Tiffen series filters. They are nice, too, and may be coated.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Tiffen filters no doubt have some admirable qualities, but I don't think anti-reflectrive coatings is something they are much interested in(?) They do offer a few coated filters, but as best as I can tell, their yel-orange-red filters for B&W are not coated.

@darinwc, the answer to the question - Do coatings (on filters) matter? - may depend somewhat on what lenses and films you use. But far more important is your shooting style.

If you believe the instruction that once came with Kodak films, and you alway position your subject so the light is over your shoulder, then filters are not that important. But if you shoot in contre-jour lighting situations, then coatings will probably be desireable.

Using a good lens hood may help a lot, too.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I have a bunch of series filters I bought at a swap meet back in the good ol' days when everything related to film was being dumped. Some of them are coated. I think Ednalite (sp?) coated their filters. IIRC they have a gold rim.

I never thought the Kodak filters were very good to be honest. They are really thick. Maybe they just sandwiched a gel in there? Sometimes you can find lens manufacturer filters like Canon or Leica in series sizes. Canon had a stackable case for them that was color coded and I have one. I think those are series 6. Those are pretty nice. One twist and you have what you need. The Leica ones are pricey but they should be really high quality. You might still be able to get new ones special order from B+W.

Another option is to adapt to a regular size. I can't remember what thread series 6 is but it should be doable. For example, I think the series 8 retaining ring is just 67mm so you just need the adapter ring for the lens and you are good to go if you have 67mm filters.

Hope that helps.

 

[darinwc]

@darinwc, the answer to the question - Do coatings (on filters) matter? - may depend somewhat on what lenses and films you use. But far more important is your shooting style.

If you believe the instruction that once came with Kodak films, and you alway position your subject so the light is over your shoulder, then filters are not that important. But if you shoot in contre-jour lighting situations, then coatings will probably be desireable.

Using a good lens hood may help a lot, too.

To answer that question: I often shoot backlit or bright scenes. -And since I am looking for contrast filters that darken the blue of the sky in daylight, I am expecting high contrast situations. So lack of reflections is important to me.

 

[darinwc]

Another option is to adapt to a regular size. I can't remember what thread series 6 is but it should be doable. For example, I think the series 8 retaining ring is just 67mm so you just need the adapter ring for the lens and you are good to go if you have 67mm filters.

The lenses I am using have odd filter sizes. For instance a 28mm Nikkor in Leica thread mount has a 34.5mm filter thread. I have not seen any modern yellow/orange/red filters in that size. And I cannot find any step-up rings for 34.5mm either. There are quite a few Series VI adapters available for various lenses.

I also have some Canon LTM lenses. They have hoods with clamp-on rings and series VI filter slots.

So I am trying to standardize on the Series VI size.

 

[darinwc]

Some manufactures had different quality versions of their filters. Thanks for mentioning the "Ednalite Gold" series. Looks like the are "both side hard coated" according to the box. I will check them out.

 

[Zathras]

I have an alternative suggestion. If you can find a Heliopan Adapter #223 44-49mm step up ring, Youcan thread this ring into the Series VI adapter and use 49mm filters instead. I ended up doing this sinceI shoot with a Pentax in 35mm and have a lot of 49mm filters, so I got this adapter when I found out Icould use it with a Series VI filter adapter. Now I can use 49mm filters with my 4x5 Crown Graphic and my 2x3 Baby Speed Graphic.

 

[Pieter12]

A word of caution using series and step-up adapters and wide angle lenses. You could get a bit of vignetting from either the thickness of the combined adapters and filter or even the lens hood with the additional distance from its intended mounting point. Best if you can check in-store before you buy. I know that's a near-impossibility today, but at least check before you head out on an important shoot if it is going to bother you. Since you say you shoot in high-contrast, bright situations where a lens hood is a must, realize that using a step-up filter will mean you'll have to find the appropriate lens hood for your lenses, the stock one won't fit anymore.

 

[Zathras]

A word of caution using series and step-up adapters and wide angle lenses. You could get a bit of vignetting from either the thickness of the combined adapters and filter or even the lens hood with the additional distance from its intended mounting point. Best if you can check in-store before you buy. .....

Good point. Since I don't use wide angle lenses with these cameras, I din't think of that.

 

[AnselMortensen]

+1 on www.filterfind.net

 

[eli griggs]

I believe Zeiss Icon series filters were made, but I mostly have Kodak yellow lid filters.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A word of caution using series and step-up adapters and wide angle lenses. You could get a bit of vignetting from either the thickness of the combined adapters and filter or even the lens hood with the additional distance from its intended mounting point. Best if you can check in-store before you buy. I know that's a near-impossibility today, but at least check before you head out on an important shoot if it is going to bother you. Since you say you shoot in high-contrast, bright situations where a lens hood is a must, realize that using a step-up filter will mean you'll have to find the appropriate lens hood for your lenses, the stock one won't fit anymore.

Sadly in the last year many store stopped carrying new and used black & white contrast filters. All they have are polarizers and ND filters.