Black and White filters

Black and White filters

  • 80% - 100%

    Votes: 131 19.0%

  • 50% - 80%

    Votes: 116 16.9%

  • 25% - 50%

    Votes: 106 15.4%

  • 10% - 25%

    Votes: 80 11.6%

  • less then 10%

    Votes: 121 17.6%

  • I never use them

    Votes: 65 9.4%

  • I don't own any

    Votes: 69 10.0%
  • Total voters
    688
Red filter, yellow filter...
I'm a big fan of shooting Ilford HP5+ with a red filter for the high contrast I get from that combo. I usually use the yellow filter only when I'm shooting slower films.
 
Only for landscapes.
I find the orange to be the right emphasis of the sky without being unnatural like the red.
 
With some films yellow makes little difference, except for losing a stop of film speed. With Acros it really makes clouds stand out. Red is a bit OTT for my liking and pretty much blacks out any grass and foliage, so it's best saved for artchitecture.
 
Yes, I often use yellow or red filters for B&W.

But, I don't need it for my Canon FD 35mm f2 (Thorium) lens. It's already yellow-ish, and I get plenty of contrast with it.
 
I use only ND/GND/C.Pol filters, but as long i started to shoot film i should try those color filters, i have Yellow but didn't use it yet, i had Red filter in the past but that was for digital and for P-series size which i never use anymore and sold the holder [hope to sold the filters as well], but i am not sure if yellow will serve me better or i have to add more filters and test them!!!
 
folks, maybe this is a stupid question, but when some of you say yellow/green, do you mean stacking them together? will doing this achieve both the effect of each filter when put on separately?
 
Hi,

Nothing wrong with the question and the answer is that some firms make/made a yellowish green filter, as well as green and yellow filters.

Regards, David
 
stip80 said:
folks, maybe this is a stupid question, but when some of you say yellow/green, do you mean stacking them together? will doing this achieve both the effect of each filter when put on separately?
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In my case I have a yellow-green filter. It darkens the sky a bit and lightens the foliage a bit.

These days I only shoot 35mm with a SLR and use less filters than I did with rangefinders. This is because SLR lenses have more contrast to begin with and I don't like to focus on an orange landscape ;-)
 
I have two lenses ZM 35/2 and 50/2, and I leave a yellow filter on each unless I need a different filter. I also have an orange, yellow-green, and red filter, and I use those if I need more contrast.
 
I shot about 70% film, and of the film about 80-90 % is b/w.

On my M6 is a 022 B+W yellow filter, that I hardly ever take off and that works great. Sometimes orange and red, but then I use an external lightmeter.
My Contax T3 has a B+W orange filter on (fixed exposure correction, works great).
 
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In the middle of the day, yellow K2 some of the time. But I tend not to like to shoot in the middle of the day - and there's rarely any point in using a yellow filter in the morning or evening except if it is hazy.
 
When I want to really emphasize the 'grunge' aspect to my work, I put an 80B on and shoot b&w. This enhances or creates any skin blems, adds to the sky haze and turns a blue sky white. Downright post-apocalyptic.
 
I have yellow, orange, red, I did have a green too but I never replaced that one when all my kit was stolen years. I can't remember the last time I used any of them. My guess is around 15 years ago while I was still a cruiseship photographer. Maybe I should start using them again along with the other filters I bought because they seemed like a good idea at the time.
 
I have yellow and deep orange filters for my lenses, I'd like to try dark red at some point (probably going to see very limited use, as deep orange already gives quite dramatic sky and clouds).

To me it is part of the beauty of a rangefinder system that the view is not affected when mounting filters (for black and white).

The one thing I suggest to ponder, and make up one's own mind about, is to whether one really (and for what aesthetic purpose) wants (leaving skin tones aside, and talking about the sky/clouds) the clouds to "pop" and the sky to be a bit darkened as compared to unfiltered rendering.
I mean this in the following sense: some filtering or exposure strategies are things one may pick up when setting out with photography, because one reads about it a lot, and because it sounds like you miss out on something if you do not do it. Best example for me would be "shadow detail" (and the recommendation of downrating film). It is good to know about that, one should try it, and be able to use it as a workflow or tool.... because one wants to, and because it fits your visual style. It can be perfectly fine though to let the shadows go dark or all black :)

With filter use for making clouds stand out, I feel it is in a similar way. I have a number of pictures where I am really happy I had filters handy. And yet I know a number of "landscape" pictures in black and white that "work" precisely because the sky (and clouds) do not stand out, do not have texture, but are just plain bright and white. It became most clear to me when seeing a late "landscape" picture of Cartier-Bresson, where the geometrical - if you will - beauty works because the sky is one continuous tone, and the eye is not distracted by counting clouds ;-)

So, I always have filters in my bag, and when the light is not too contrasty already I keep a yellow filter on the lens. And at some point I'll even buy a green filter, for the very rare occasion that a portrait could work with very pronounced skin tones.

Greetings, Ljós
 
For low light and indoor shots there is no reason to use b/w filters. (Please correct me if I am wrong). I don't shoot b/w in bright sunlight so only a clear filter to protect the lens.
 
Double Negative said:
No, not really. They'll still do what they're supposed to but it's of dubious worth; if nothing else they'll just rob you of light when you need it most.
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I have only ever read about how the clouds will stand out more with yellow or how green affects foliage but I shoot in urban areas usually well past the magic hour so not sure how color filters would work aside from losing a stop.
 
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