Mos6502
Well-known
I very frequently use a medium yellow filter when shooting B&W film. It gives a subtle, but noticeable effect, bringing out the clouds and enhancing the contrast in foliage. It is, for most lighting situations and locations a choice that will improve the rendering of the image. Then there is the yellow-green filter, one that I frequently use although not half so much as the yellow filter. This is a filter that seems to have fallen out of favor. It used to be quite common in the early years of panchromatic films for correcting color response. Perhaps because it doesn't provide the dramatic skies of an orange or red filter, it simply doesn't get recommended for those looking to create some moodiness in their images. This may be a mistake as I've found it can greatly change the look of photos without giving the "manipulated" feel of a red filter.
Effect of the Yellow Green Filter by Berang Berang, on Flickr
Above: the unfiltered image image is on the left, the filtered image is on the right. The grey-blue paint of the railing was darkened considerably by the filter, and the contrast in the grain of the unpainted wood was also boosted, shadows are slightly darker but the green plants come out at roughly the same value in both images.
The Yellow-Green filter holds back some of the indigo and violet, and lets through green and yellow. This can result in a surprisingly strong increase in contrast of the image, because most panchromatic films are somewhat less sensitive to the green spectrum of light than other colors, and because shadows are (at least in natural light) blueish. This also makes this filter one which really needs to be given a practical test for one to figure out the correct filter factor for the film they are using, as some films are less sensitive to green than others, as I found out when using this filter on AristaPan 100, and found the suggested filter factor was not strong enough!
stoned by Berang Berang, on Flickr
leaf behind bars by Berang Berang, on Flickr
All the above were shot on Rollei RPX 400.
The effect seems to evoke the look of 1950's film noir, producing a low key effect that I'm surprised isn't made use of more frequently. Perhaps, like many effects, the preference is to increase the contrast at the printing stage. An untrained eye would never know the difference.
Effect of the Yellow Green Filter by Berang Berang, on FlickrAbove: the unfiltered image image is on the left, the filtered image is on the right. The grey-blue paint of the railing was darkened considerably by the filter, and the contrast in the grain of the unpainted wood was also boosted, shadows are slightly darker but the green plants come out at roughly the same value in both images.
The Yellow-Green filter holds back some of the indigo and violet, and lets through green and yellow. This can result in a surprisingly strong increase in contrast of the image, because most panchromatic films are somewhat less sensitive to the green spectrum of light than other colors, and because shadows are (at least in natural light) blueish. This also makes this filter one which really needs to be given a practical test for one to figure out the correct filter factor for the film they are using, as some films are less sensitive to green than others, as I found out when using this filter on AristaPan 100, and found the suggested filter factor was not strong enough!
stoned by Berang Berang, on Flickrleaf behind bars by Berang Berang, on FlickrAll the above were shot on Rollei RPX 400.
The effect seems to evoke the look of 1950's film noir, producing a low key effect that I'm surprised isn't made use of more frequently. Perhaps, like many effects, the preference is to increase the contrast at the printing stage. An untrained eye would never know the difference.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I find I use Yellow-Green and Deep Green filters nearly all the time on my Leica M10 Monochrom. They push the spectral response just the right way, to the point that many of my photos with these filters need virtually no image processing at all: the raw files whip through Lightroom Classic at the defaults to near perfect JPG and HEIC files.
This shows the effects of using the M10-M without and with both Green and Orange filters using the Xrite Color Checker as a reference:
Click the photo and download the full resolution file for best readability.
G
This shows the effects of using the M10-M without and with both Green and Orange filters using the Xrite Color Checker as a reference:
Click the photo and download the full resolution file for best readability.
G
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
Thanks for this! I use yellow and sometimes orange filters, but have neglected yellow-green. Thanks for the reminder!
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
In the past, many of the old FSU cameras and lenses came with yellow-green filters, uncoated and in massively heavy brass mounts. I have a pile of them, what's left of my ill-fated foray into the Kiev 80 system in the early nineties. I've always loved them for forest landscape shooting in the spring, as they give the early yellow-green foliage an ethereal quality quite different from what a plain green filter will afford.
Perhaps these filters were so often packed with the FSU equipment because the USSR-produced films were behind the curve in technology and still resembled those early panchromatic films.
Perhaps these filters were so often packed with the FSU equipment because the USSR-produced films were behind the curve in technology and still resembled those early panchromatic films.
agentlossing
Well-known
I like this look!
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
I always use a yellow-green aka "light green" filter when shooting black and white film, except with an SLR.
Chris
Chris
Nokton48
Veteran
Easton Stilt Girl 21mm Rokkor QH XX 3 by Nokton48, on FlickrTaken on a "short end" from a Hollywood movie camera. Left over scrap film bought cheaply. Replenished straight Legacy Mic-X, several years olde, this stuff does not seem to go bad! 5x7 Arista RC #2 Multigrade print developer. Minolta SRT locked up mirror, 21mm F4 QH Rokkor Minolta Yellow Green Filter, and 20mm MD F2.8 Lens Hood. A nice rig that replaced my 19mm RF Canon lens adapted to SRT mount. This is a great lens with XX
A bit of Reportage, I yelled "One Two Three" and we coordinated. Was fun to do.
Larry H-L
Well-known
Yellow-Green and Yellow-Orange are my two most used filters. They also work well on the Sigma Merrill camera in black and white mode.
agentlossing
Well-known
What filter number is this? A #11, or maybe X0?
Zuiko-logist
Well-known
Nice!
Taken on a "short end" from a Hollywood movie camera. Left over scrap film bought cheaply. Replenished straight Legacy Mic-X, several years olde, this stuff does not seem to go bad! 5x7 Arista RC #2 Multigrade print developer. Minolta SRT locked up mirror, 21mm F4 QH Rokkor Minolta Yellow Green Filter, and 20mm MD F2.8 Lens Hood. A nice rig that replaced my 19mm RF Canon lens adapted to SRT mount. This is a great lens with XX
A bit of Reportage, I yelled "One Two Three" and we coordinated. Was fun to do.
Zuiko-logist
Well-known
Why not an SLR?
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
I don't like to view, compose, and focus through any deeply colored filter.
OTOH I do use polarizers with my SLRs, but not on viewfinder cameras.
Chris
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Zuiko-logist
Well-known
Makes sense, thanks!
Richard G
Veteran
I’ve been using a 2X yellow on my Monochrom the last couple of weeks. Not just for the skies, but for what Helen Hill mentioned on another thread, some separation of tones. And the Monochrom provides so many of those.
