Which filter should I get for B&W film?

@DREW WILEY
@Paul Howell
@BrianShaw
@BrianShaw



You’re right I’m letting my anxiety to start shooting get ahead of me before even trying. I bought what I think will be enough to learn with for quite a while.

I picked up a Yellow (Medium) #8, an Orange #15 (though I hesitated between that and the #21), Red #25 and #28, and a Green #11 (VG9).

Now I just need to study a lot to understand the best situations to use them, how to use them, and what I should be thinking about beforehand.

Good decisions! That's certainly enough to get you through most B&W applications. Perhaps a polarizer too?

A good way to understand the uses mgiht be to consult one of the filter maker catalogs. They are generally very instructive and illustrated. Like these ones:



There are also a multitude of basic photography books that do the same/similar. The use of B&W color contrast filters has been quite stable for long time so older books can be consulted (and are often very affordable to buy).

Pedroga said:

Now I just need to study a lot to understand the best situations to use them, how to use them, and what I should be thinking about beforehand.

Click to expand...

This has pretty much all the theoretical info you need.

What general theory doesn't teach very well is that colors in nature aren't necessary the same as they are with artificial color reproduction charts, or shots of colored crayons, etc. As most of us know, deciduous foliage may look green, but also has a lot of yellow and even red natural pigment disguised by the more dominant green chlorophyll until Autumn arrives and the chlorophyll bleaches out, leaving those other colors dominant. So quite often, even a strong minus-green filter won't have the same impact with green foliage as you might think at first. It still reflects a lot of red light which insects and film itself might see, but we do not. This is all a matter of testing and practice. No way around that; just make it fun.

But to start out, just visually look at various settings through your respective filters, to see how they alter things. No, the film won't see things exactly the same way, but it will help with the learning curve. For basic black and white shooting, you don't need to read up too much. Scientific use of filters is obviously different, and color photographic uses can get more technical too; but black and white applications are straightforward.

What you do need to learn is the basic "filter factor" of each respective filter - that is, how much extra exposure is needed for each filter. This can vary somewhat film to film. But you can start with the Tech Sheet for each film you plan on using, and see what filters factors they recommend for common filters. Its best to learn with just one specific favorite film first, before introducing any other complications.

The same goes for polarizers. Learn the basics before adding those. Frankly, I don't even like them, and never carry one. I only use polarizers to control reflections on my copy stand in the lab, and then only when absolutely essential.

Polarizer
Red R23, R25 R27 R29 720 [Infrared]
Yellow
Green