Must have filters for B&W?

[marlinspike]

I want to start shooting some B&W with my Kiev. What are the must have filters? My dad who used to be into photography before there was any reasonable color film said he never used filters, so I wonder if there is such a thing as a must have filter? Anywho, fire away!
Thanks,
Richard

 

[Jan Cornelius]

yellow, orange, red and green .... this will cover 99% of all situations.

 

[back alley]

yellow.

start with one filter and see what it does and THEN go from there.

it can be confusing to have too many choices at the start.
joe

 

[Justin Low]

I'd advocate the opposite actually: start from the strongest and work your way down if it's too much.

That said, I think a good first filter would be an orange. I find yellow too mild, and red makes Asian skin look odd. I've used a yellow-green before, and I can't say I find it very different from a yellow.

If you're using a Kiev, a good place to get filters would probably be Araxphoto—I'm in the midst of collating an order to be placed with them. They stock 40.5mm filters at $3 apiece.

 

[rover]

I have a yellow on each lens.

 

[marlinspike]

Is there a place that tells me what filter to use when or what effect each filter has? Filters to me so far have been either UV or 81a for indoor photos at night without a flash.

 

[back alley]

i'm talking about using one filter and only one filter for a long time.
and then maybe start using another filter.
learn and then change
learn and then change

too easy to get confused...

 

[MattiasL]

Personally, I seldom use filters. The only filter I own is a red one. I find it quite usable for landscapes to put a little drama into the sky.

 

[laptoprob]

I just made Scala slides in Scotland. Must do the scanning soon. I used mostly the red filters. Terrific dramatic skies! The orange does just a little less. I also found the Leica Summicron 50 and Elmar 90 still remain softer in contrast than the Color Skopar 35. That one is fantastically sharp with great bokeh, just a lot contrasier than my oldies.
I must get an old 35mm! Maybe a canon...

If I am not mistaken I still have a red filter 40,5 Hoya; a E41 light yellow Leitz and an orange E39 Leitz. Just let me know if you are interested.

cheers, Rob.

 

[Roman]

Depends on what you want to take pictures of - for portraits and for street-photography, filters are not absolutely necessary, for landscape and architecture they are very important.

I personally use a yellow-green about 90 % of the time - it darkens the sky & gives better clouf separation like the more often recommended 'normal' yellow, without bleaching lips and other red objects as much, and it also differentiates greens (like foliage) better.

The only othe filter I occasionally use is the orange - when I deliberately want to have a dramatic look, e.g. when shooting (modern) architecture, or when shooting far away things in hazy light.

The red filter is to melodramatic for my tast (but tastes differ), and I never found a use for green or blue.

Roman

 

[Fred]

To get an idea of which filters do what for you. Take the same shot with a couple of different filters starting with yellow then red and move on from there. You'll get a much better idea of which filter fits the image that you want to get. I find red is great for dark blue sky but generally yellow works better for me, less light loss also (1/2 to 1 stop)

 

[peter_n]

Yellow or yellow/green and red or orange for dramatics. When no color filter I use a UV, so that I have a filter on the lens all the time.

 

[Jan Cornelius]

B&W filters are not expensive, buy the four basics test them so that you know where you can use what and adapt in time to others depending on what you like and what not....

No "life science" in choosing basic B&W filters !


1 question, many opinions .... UV in B&W is quite unnecessary, permantly use a middle or light yellow, will not only protect but enhance ....

Most usable in my opinion is the orange....

 

[thpook]

Here's a link to the Schneider site. They make B+W filters (the brand). They list what the filters are normally used for, but the best thing to do is just go out and experiment. I normally use a yellow, but I've been going filterless for a while because my filter has a huge chip in it. After yellow, my most often used is orange.

 

[pvdhaar]

I occasionally use an orange filter, it adds a bit of contrast in moderately cloudy skies. But I've never been able to put a green one to use..

 

[Roger Hicks]

You don't NEED any filters, but increasingly (afer almost 40 years) I regard a weak yellow (2x) as a 'base' filter for the majority of shooting, strong yellow (2.8x) or orange (4x) as useful, and red (8x) as fairly special application.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Kin Lau]

A neat trick I learned, was to use a strong red filter if you're shooting inside and there's strong window light coming in. It prevents the windows from blowing out.

 

[ErnestoJL]

A good filter set is Yellow, Red, and Yellow-Green. Try taking the same picture with every one and see the results. The you can decide which one suits best your taste, or brings out what you expected. Old Kievs have 40,5 mm filter threads so the filters may be not too easily available, however an adapter ring will solve the problem.

 

[titrisol]

Yellow is probably the most common, helos the BW film to "see" propely.
I'd also keep a red, orange and a green handy

polarizer ir also a must have for shooting outside

 

[Roger Hicks]

Funny, I've NEVER found a use for green or yellow-green filters, nor have I ever used polarizers (a) with mono or (b) on a rangefinder. Just shows how differently people see the 'must-haves'.

Cheers,

Roger