Filters for B&W

[Alex1994]

What filters do you guys use with B&W film? I heard that yellow was useful for all weathers and red for darker skies...anything else?

 

[Sirius Glass]

What filters do you guys use with B&W film? I heard that yellow was useful for all weathers and red for darker skies...anything else?

Yellow for most days
Orange for stronger clouds
Red for a really dark sky effect or use with IR film if you can find it.

Steve

 

[Rick A]

Blue, red, yellow, orange, green. I use blue to accentuate mist and fog. Yellow is my main and stays on my lens 99% of the time. Red or orange for dramatic skies. I use green mainly when I shoot orthochromatic film, darkens the sky. Red has no use for ortho film. Green lightens foliage and darkens red with panchromatic film, makes some flowers pop. If you want to get a chart of which filter for a specific effect, check out "www.crime-scene-investigator.net/filters1.html" .

 

[R gould]

Yellow as a general filter, but for more pronouced effects and better contrast on dull days an orange,Richard

 

[srtiwari]

The post by Chris101 (Post#5) on this RFF thread covers it very nicely...
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91037&highlight=filters

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Every time I use a orange I have to peel it!

Jeff

 

[Rick A]

Use tangerine, its easier to peel.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Of course!

Jeff

 

[Ian David]

I have yellow, orange and red - I find orange the most useful for what I do. A polariser is also a very useful addition to a B&W filter kit. And ND filters can be handy too.

Ian

 

[Anthony Cronin]

I use blue to accentuate mist and fog. .

I never knew this, and we get loads of misty foggy mornings in Ireland. TY

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I find I use medium yellow and orange most to accentuate clouds and cut through haze typically. I usually find red a bit overly dramatic, and I rarely use blue or green.

Sometimes with an older lens that has some chromatic aberration, a strong monochromatic filter will improve sharpness (focus with the filter in place, of course, presuming the camera allows you to focus through the lens).

 

[Q.G.]

Yellow-green (11) and orange.
Sometimes red.

 

[Martin Aislabie]

What filters do you guys use with B&W film? I heard that yellow was useful for all weathers and red for darker skies...anything else?

Well, it depends

It mainly depends on what sort of photography you want to do (I assume landscapes) and where you are in the world.

If you intend to shoot landscapes in the almost waterless south western USA, then a yellow filter will being some tone to a sky, an orange filter will bring considerable tone to the sky and a red filter render a blue sky almost black.

Most people when they start playing with Filters tend to over-do the darkening effect - most find an over-darkened sky gets boring very quickly

If you live in the watery/hazy atmosphere of the UK the effects of the coloured filters are far less pronounced.

Unlike some of the others posting here, I like a Green Filter - it makes any foliage much more vibrant.

Don't discount a Polariser either - deepens shadows and darkens blue sky

However, if you want an idea of where to start - most people opt for a Yellow, an Orange and a Red to begin with and then develop their own palette and style from there

Have fun

Martin

 

[Alex1994]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I think I'll get a yellow and a polariser just to start out.

 

[TareqPhoto]

And what i need for very strong sunny day dusty and flat sky?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Green to accentuate green/turquoise colors as lighter, and their opposite colors as darker.
Orange for the opposite, to render orange/red subjects lighter, and blue/green/turquoise darker.
Sometimes yellow for a milder effect on rendering blue darker.
Sometimes red for a strong effect on green and/or red, or a blue sky.

Generally it's just about building contrast in the gray-scale between colors that would otherwise look similar and perhaps boringly uniform. Think of a red rose, for example. If you shoot it without color filters, the stem, leaves, and flower will all be of a similar tonality in the gray scale. If you use a red filter, the flower will appear much brighter, while the leaves and stem turn much darker. Now if you use a green filter, you get the opposite: a very dark flower and much brighter leaves and stem.

Color filters can also be very helpful if you make portraits of someone with poor complexion, for example. But you have to be careful, so you don't change the whole frame too much. If you want to smooth out fair skin with lots of red pimples, for example, you might be tempted to use an orange or red filter, but if that person has blue eyes, they will be rendered a lot darker than normal, for example.

It's a compromise no matter how you twist and turn it, but they sure can be helpful.

To TareqPhoto: "And what i need for very strong sunny day dusty and flat sky?"
Answer: Skill. It depends on what you are after, doesn't it? You can use no filter and get pictures that look like reality. Or you can use various filters based on the color palette in front of you. Is there green grass, trees, and flowers? Or is it a desert? Are you making a portrait? How do you want those colors in front of you to look?

 

[stevebrot]

My region is just the opposite of the U.S. Desert Southwest. I live in the coastal area of the Pacific Northwest and have to deal with perpetual hazy conditions due to high humidity. For my purposes, a yellow #8 (aka K2, Y2, medium yellow) is on the camera pretty much all of the time. I may pick up a red #25 someday, but find the affect a little jarring. I have recently purchased a couple of yellow #12 (minus-blue) and am very interested in seeing what kind of results I get.


Steve

 

[TareqPhoto]

Green to accentuate green/turquoise colors as lighter, and their opposite colors as darker.
Orange for the opposite, to render orange/red subjects lighter, and blue/green/turquoise darker.
Sometimes yellow for a milder effect on rendering blue darker.
Sometimes red for a strong effect on green and/or red, or a blue sky.

Generally it's just about building contrast in the gray-scale between colors that would otherwise look similar and perhaps boringly uniform. Think of a red rose, for example. If you shoot it without color filters, the stem, leaves, and flower will all be of a similar tonality in the gray scale. If you use a red filter, the flower will appear much brighter, while the leaves and stem turn much darker. Now if you use a green filter, you get the opposite: a very dark flower and much brighter leaves and stem.

Color filters can also be very helpful if you make portraits of someone with poor complexion, for example. But you have to be careful, so you don't change the whole frame too much. If you want to smooth out fair skin with lots of red pimples, for example, you might be tempted to use an orange or red filter, but if that person has blue eyes, they will be rendered a lot darker than normal, for example.

It's a compromise no matter how you twist and turn it, but they sure can be helpful.

To TareqPhoto: "And what i need for very strong sunny day dusty and flat sky?"
Answer: Skill. It depends on what you are after, doesn't it? You can use no filter and get pictures that look like reality. Or you can use various filters based on the color palette in front of you. Is there green grass, trees, and flowers? Or is it a desert? Are you making a portrait? How do you want those colors in front of you to look?

no color there, very hot and so high humidity, and no green or just some trees around and no much flowers as well, not desert but a lot of buildings where the desert was and i was living near of the beach, so it is a dry hot humid place and it is hazy and color temp is awful.

 

[lxdude]

Every time I use a orange I have to peel it!

Jeff

Contemplating your Navel again, eh?

 

[lxdude]

no color there, very hot and so high humidity, and no green or just some trees around and no much flowers as well, not desert but a lot of buildings where the desert was and i was living near of the beach, so it is a dry hot humid place and it is hazy and color temp is awful.

Tareq, you might just need to move somewhere else!

A polarizer will help cut through the haze and improve contrast by reducing scattered light.

I think early morning or late in the day will give you better pictures. Maybe try night photos if you haven't done that.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Tareq, you might just need to move somewhere else!

A polarizer will help cut through the haze and improve contrast by reducing scattered light.

I think early morning or late in the day will give you better pictures. Maybe try night photos if you haven't done that.

I will try to buy a polarizer for B&W then, also i can't move to somewhere else even if i try due tot some reasons, and last, I did night shots but only with digital, will try that with film and see.

 

[lxdude]

Buy a quality polarizer; they are not all the same. I think Neopan 100 is a good place to start with B+W night shots. Its reciprocity characteristics make it easy to use for long exposures, and you will get fine grain. Then try other films to find what you like best.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Buy a quality polarizer; they are not all the same. I think Neopan 100 is a good place to start with B+W night shots. Its reciprocity characteristics make it easy to use for long exposures, and you will get fine grain. Then try other films to find what you like best.

OK, thank you!

 

[haziz]

Yellow filter or none at all. Red is too dramatic most of the time.

 

[David Henderson]

I don't bother with anything but orange, red, and polariser, each of which I use only when i make a conscious decision to do so.