What is your most used filter?

[mark]

I meter through the filter in reflected mode and adjust based on manufacturer setting to begin with and play the trial and error game to get it right the next time.

 

[Shesh]

If the camera I am using has a TTL meter (i.e 35mm), I use the meter reading. With MF and LF, I compensate for the filter using the manufacturer's recommendations.

One other thing (you may already know this)... while you are in the process of deciding what to buy, you also need to spend some time on the filter size you want to standardize on, based on the equipment you own and the range of lenses you are likely to use.

 

[Leon]

I always apply the manufacturer factor rather than meter through ... never had any probs.

 

[roteague]

I guess another question would be how do you compensate your exposures? Meter through the filter? Film manufacturers data sheet? or do you use a constant adjustment for each filter on all film types?

It depends. I prefer using a hand held meter (1 or 3 degree spot) and metering through the filter when possible. However, there are times when I need to meter much faster. In those cases, I will meter using my Nikon N80 - which is always loaded with the same filter/film combination.

Also, I have an old Minolta meter which has a ground glass attachment. When doing close-ups I will simply meter through the ground glass - no bellows factors, filter factors to worry about once the meter is configured correctly.

 

[Ian Grant]

I only ever use a Cokin P series Green filter with B&W, usually when shooting a landscape with green foliage and brick, sone or rock.

Minimal interpretation via filters, just enhanced clarity.

Can't remember when I last used a fiilter for colour, except for technical work and colour balance on slide film - we have to find the dropped "u" to get good results here in the UK. Has got to be over 12 years for personal work and would only have been a polariser.

 

[John McCallum]

Don't forget if you use a very wide angle LF lens there could be vignetting due to falloff of illumination towards the corners. There are concentrically graduated center filters available that will compensate.
My Schneider 90mm gives 1-1.5 stops difference in illumination from the center to the corners of the image.

 

[TPPhotog]

I would also go with either a yellow and orange filter. Yellow being the most frequently used.

I shot a test roll of each type of film I use with both the F100 meter and Sekonic meter, bracketing in 1/3rd stops. Now when I shoot I use the experience from the test rolls as an average and bracket depending on the lighting conditions.

When developing I choose the developer (usually Rodinal now) and again guesstimate the length of time to either increase or decrease contrast. Then I find the darkroom takes care of the rest. Not very scientific but a lot of fun and I feel I have complete control usually within a 1/2 of a stop of what I require.

 

[jim kirk jr.]

I usually use (all B+W filters)red or orange for black and white.For IR it's usually a dark red,sometimes with a polariser,light red or opaque filter.I understand,maybe incorrectly,that a blue filter is good for portraits in BW but as I havn't done portaits as of yet I can't confirm the validity.

 

[glbeas]

I usually use (all B+W filters)red or orange for black and white.For IR it's usually a dark red,sometimes with a polariser,light red or opaque filter.I understand,maybe incorrectly,that a blue filter is good for portraits in BW but as I havn't done portaits as of yet I can't confirm the validity.

Haven't heard about the blue filters for portraits, that would be the same problems as old emulsions, red or pink blemishes would be much darkened and unattractive. I've read a green filter is excellent for male portraiture to darken the skin to make them look tanned and healthy. Orange may be good to de-emphasize blemishes and make skin look more fair.

 

[Aggie]

Thanks guys who answered on where to get the info as to filter designations numbers the different manufacturers use. I understand how to use the various filters, I just wanted to know a 136 from a K2 in designation

 

[sparx]

I have also been told orange or red is best for portraits as it smooths the skin tones and hides blemishes.

 

[Andy K]

I have also been told orange or red is best for portraits as it smooths the skin tones and hides blemishes.

A clear 'softon' filter will do this for colour photography.

 

[jim kirk jr.]

Gary,thanks for the info on the blue filter-I knew there was something about blue and portraits-guess I had it backwards...but as I said I never tried it.

 

[AndyH]

I advise buying the polarizer, yellow, and orange first in that order - as someone has already pointed out, you should probably standardize on the largest size you will need and buy appropriate step down rings for any lenses that take a smaller one. (of course this system fails when you standardize on, say 55mm and then buy a new lens that takes 62!)

I have found over the years that I usually strive now for a more intense cut - the yellow green, green, and red are my most frequently used nowadays - perhaps it's just the type of shots I'm "seeing" these days?

For use of BW filters there is no better guide than Ansel Adams's basic photo series from Morgan. As best I recall the volumes on "natural light" and "artificial light" have excellent practical examples.

For color photography I often use the polarizer when shooting outdoors, but I also carry the first two grades of cooling and warming filters with me and use them to adjust the general Kelvin temp of the daylight by a few degrees.

As for metering, I have no problem metering through the filter in 35mm (and on larger formats by holding the filter over the meter cell) although when I'm using my Weston Master my Rollei and some 4x5 filters are too small to fit over the cell. Then I just use the filter factor and set it into the Weston's dial.

Somewhere in the dim dark recesses of my memory I recall that selenium and CdS meters respond differently to color than standard panchromatic film and that for perfect exposure one should use the calculation rather than metering through the filter. Does anyone else remember this?

 

[modafoto]

For B&W: Orange and Red

For colour: Polariser

For both B&W and Colour I use softeners, UV and close-ups.

Morten

 

[mobtown_4x5]

I'd also be interested in knowing if there is anything wrong with metering through the filter- I have been trying to be a little more presice in my exposures lately, and one of the things I did was pick up a second orange filter (I use all the time) to fit my spotmeter, so there is the same filter on the lens and meter (old analog Pentax 1 deg).

Matt

 

[Donald Miller]

I'd also be interested in knowing if there is anything wrong with metering through the filter- I have been trying to be a little more presice in my exposures lately, and one of the things I did was pick up a second orange filter (I use all the time) to fit my spotmeter, so there is the same filter on the lens and meter (old analog Pentax 1 deg).

Matt

I think that when one considers the matter of metering through the filter a couple of issues become involved.

The first is that the meter may not have the same spectral response as the film being used and the second is that when one meters through the filter what one is basically determining is the response to light passage through the filter dependent on the color of the object being metered.

In other words if one were to meter the northern sky at midmorning through a yellow 12 filter one would find that the effect on exposure would be far different then if one were metering through the same filter and metering a field of ripened wheat.

The most accurate way of metering through a filter, in my opinion, is to meter an evenly illuminated 18% gray card.

Having said that I would prefer to meter a card as indicated above then to accept the filter factor as ascribed by a filter manufacturer. Filter factors will vary dependent on the color of the object being photographed and the film being used.

A more accurate way is to measure the filter as it affects the passage of light through the four channels of a color transmission densitometer. By doing this one can more accurately determine the filter factor as it applies to a given filter and a given generally colored object.

 

[Ed Sukach]

That is certainly true. It is equally as true whether or not metering though the filter in question.

Fred Picker tried to address that problem, by modifying Honeywell Spot meters to respond more accurately to the spectral sensitivity of black and white film. A good idea in theory, but all black and white films do not have the same spectral response .. and metering for color would be adversely affected.

Generally, the average well-known meter is ... dare I say it? ... "good enough" for most practical purposes.

 

[david b]

In the current issue of LFI magazine (a leica magazine), they discuss why you should you a YELLOW filter with black and white film.
They show comparisons of no filter, red filter, and the yellow filter.

As for metering through the filter, I have a small filter on my pentax digital meter that matches what I have on the lens. So far, I've not had any issues.

 

[roteague]

I advise buying the polarizer, yellow, and orange first in that order - as someone has already pointed out, you should probably standardize on the largest size you will need and buy appropriate step down rings for any lenses that take a smaller one. (of course this system fails when you standardize on, say 55mm and then buy a new lens that takes 62!)

If you are doing landscapes, I would really consider making a split graduated (either hard or soft) filters at the top of the list. At a minimum get a 1 stop and a 2 stop filter (Cokin G1 and G2).

 

[Flotsam]

Spiratone Colorburst Eight Point Star, Five Step Graduated Repeater.

I _never_ take it off of my camera

 

[John McCallum]

Spiratone Colorburst Eight Point Star, Five Step Graduated Repeater.

I _never_ take it off of my camera

LOL

 

[AndyH]

If you are doing landscapes, I would really consider making a split graduated (either hard or soft) filters at the top of the list. At a minimum get a 1 stop and a 2 stop filter (Cokin G1 and G2).

Excellent advice roteague! I just discovered these a couple of years ago and have some 62s that work on everything from my super tak 200 down in 35mm size.

I try to zone meter, even when my expansion or contraction of contrast range is limited to paper grades. Therefore I'm often metering very bright or dark areas of the subject "through" the filter and I've never really noticed a significant difference between the calculated filter factor for dark or light areas.

As best I recall, CdS meter cells are more reflective of the spectrum sensitivity of normal panchromatic film. The smaller cells are also easier to cover with even my Rollei Series I filters..

 

[sunnygem]

Filters

Hi,

I am also new to this world of filters. ALthough I always have a UV filter on my camera at all times. Any advice on , which filters are best suited for Portraits and Glamour shots.

Thanks,
Sunny