Shooting B/W film, do you use a Yellow filter?

[Solinar]

The same here. I usually forgo a filter when shooting black and white. When I do want to enhance the sky and clouds - I opt for orange not yellow.

Best Regards,

 

[ferider]

Depends on the film, Akiva. Tri-X & Neopan 400 I would use a yellow filter by default, makes landscapes and skin look more natural. Take it off when I need the the additional stop of the "naked" lens.

Tmax 400 on the other hand has a weak "yellow filter built-in". Might want to check the spectral densities that are provided by film manufacturers.

Roland.

 

[Godfrey]

Occasionally. Depends more on the subject matter than the film, as I almost always use either ACROS 100 or XP2 Super, which both seem to have very similar spectral response curves.

My filter rule of thumb:
- Yellow and Orange filters helps soften skin tones and push down blues.
- Green helps separate foliage (but it can highlight skin defects).
- Take filters off when you're working in limited light because all of them cost 1 to 3 stops of film speed.

G

 

[Wulfthari]

The yellow filter will be of no effect on modern B&W films and thus can be merely used as a protective filter (at the expense of one lost f-stop).

Want to see some results (under the proper lighting circumstances only) on the negatives ? Use an orange filter. Really worth it sometimes.

Of course, there is the red filter too... Yet its effects may now rather suffer from the "special effects for special effects' sake" thing.

Caveat : this is my opinion based on what I am seeing on my (home processed) negatives after more than 25 years of B&W film shooting. Tonal range separation and greyscale experts might say otherwise.

I use yellow filters on modern lenses (even SLR) and I see a difference. For films, Kodsk BW400CN seems to appreciate it most.

 

[sdotkling]

I always use a light yellow filter with Tri-X and similar films. I thought it darkened the sky, and increased contrast in general. Maybe it doesn't? Now I find out?

 

[Dan Daniel]

I always use a light yellow filter with Tri-X and similar films. I thought it darkened the sky, and increased contrast in general. Maybe it doesn't? Now I find out?

Run a test! All of these practices and observations and such are based on individual experience. There's only been once reference to the spectral response curves that manufacturers provide. Which can be a starting point? I noticed dip in the green range on the Delta 400 curve, and slight rise in the blue end, so I thought a yellow-green might be interesting to try.

And yep, I liked the result of that filter on that emulsion for the scenes I was shooting. You might like it, you might not. If your yellow filter with Tri-X gives you the look you want, keep using it.

There are long traditions of 'accepted practices' in photography. We are not doing scientific research with the need for repeatable, objective results. We're making pretty pics. Use what works for you.

But dang, I am not the only one who thinks that Tri-X's spectral response has changed over the last 50 years! I have shots from the 1970s without a yellow filter that have the light gray sky I equate with people like Lee Freidlander of that time. And I have similar images from the last five years with darker skies, crisper clouds. Go figure....

Test. Experiment. Learn what filters do FOR YOU with your setup, and then use them as needed to get the result you want. That's the bottom line. I like hearing what other people do, it gives me ideas and helps me refine or change my techniques. For my shooting, and to get the images I want, not to fit some 'standard' that, face it, doesn't exist any more.

 

[sdotkling]

That's a great idea, I think I'll do that and figure out why I've had that yellow filter on all these years! Thanks for the thoughtful advice. It's strange how we go along out of habit and forget why we did it in the first place.

 

[farlymac]

I was using an orange filter with Ilford FP4 Plus, and I don't really think it helped in general. It was okay when in town on a cloudy morning, but out in the country with some proper sun it just seemed to muddy things up (not to mention the blocked up shadows).

PF

 

[kiemchacsu]

Sometimes I used filters just to reduce the film iso, ie: orange filter will reduce the film 400 to 200 and it works in bright daylight.

 

[Bingley]

I always use a yellow filter with Tri-X when shooting in strong daylight lighting, for example landscapes shot between late morning and late afternoon. It darkens the sky a bit and enhances contrast. I've also used a yellow filter with TMax 400 and was pleased with the results. I use Diafine a lot, and a yellow filter has a one stop filter factor which allows me to shoot Tri-X outside at 400; I take the filter off indoors and adjust the meter to 800.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Hi Akiva,
The main reason for using a yellow filter is/was making a b&w scene closer to reality than it was recorded on film if the filter was not used... This was relevant only when the scene was shot on a blue sky day (no need for yellow filter on overcast), and it was true for older films, and IMO for current Tri-X too. To my eye, TMax400 looks like a yellow filtered film, so I don't use a yellow filter for it.
Apart from the improved, cleaner overall balance, the yellow filter is used to make the blue sky look a little bit darker, and the orange one to do the same with a bit more strength, so clouds, by contrast, have more punch in the sky. That, for all b&w films.
Keeping a yellow filter always on, makes sense with Tri-X, because:
If the day has blue sky, images will look more real and clean.
If blue sky is included in the shot, it will look better, and clouds too.
On overcast days, it doesn't hurt images in any way.
The lens is protected.
With most films blue sky is horribly pale without yellow or orange filter. I don't like to abuse darkroom or digital dodging and burning, so I prefer getting all I can on negative.
I find this useful for nature and landscape photography, but for street shooting I don't care.
Cheers,
Juan

 

[markus_h_photography]

If I want to increase contrast and / or darken a sky I'll use an orange or red. However I'll throw this one out to you all, but for general B+W I'll keep a yellow filter on the lens not for any effect but to actually help me visualize in monochrome. Of course this only works when I'm using an SLR...

 

[AlexMax]

I use red filter + Polarizer + Neopan Acros 100 😀

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I use an X0 (yellow green) filter.

Chris

 

[btgc]

Yellow filter as a reminder of film loaded?

 

[pete hogan]

Light yellow filter with Tri-X for landscapes, nearly all that I have shot for many years. Meter at box speed +1 stop for the filter. I like what it does in darkening clear sky.

Now I'm trying a Leica "Fedoo" R.h. light red filter supposed to reduce haze, e.g., mountain shots, that's +4 stops with Tri-X.

 

[Addy101]

If I want to increase contrast and / or darken a sky I'll use an orange or red. However I'll throw this one out to you all, but for general B+W I'll keep a yellow filter on the lens not for any effect but to actually help me visualize in monochrome. Of course this only works when I'm using an SLR...

Me too, I mostly use an orange filter and I find it helps to not see the picture in color.

 

[csxcnj]

I use a yellow filter a good bit with black and white film.

COLOR film too. When I get THOSE rolls back instead of saying "oh $#!+" I say " oh cool old timey looking colorized postcard shots" 😀

 

[Calzone]

Most of the time I use a yellow filter to add contrast onto the negative. In art school in the seventies I was taught to make consistent negatives that more or less could be straight printed with very little or none at all dodging and burning. At one point I learned to print directly onto a straight grade number 2 paper without any contrast filters.

Today my approach is like a large format shooter who wants to make a negative for contact printing. BTW Ansel Adams almost always used a yellow filter on his 8x10 view camera. The idea is to make good contrast at the time of image capture and not in post.

IMHO today people control contrast in post processing relying on software too much. This adds didital artifact and noise, especially if "abused." I ask why not control contrast at the time of image capture? To me the loss of an F-stop is well worth it.

Understand that I also shoot a Leica MM with yellow filters to get wonderful histograms that require little or no post processing.

Cal

 

[kanzlr]

Me too, I mostly use an orange filter and I find it helps to not see the picture in color.

Funny. I prefer rangefinders for B&W photography because I do NOT have to look through a color filter (which I use a lot)