Starting B&W film photography: filters

Hello, I've got the urge to start black and white film photography and have some rolls of film waiting in the refrigerator while I muster some confidence to use them. I've been reading about filters and recently downloaded an Android app called Hypocam which allows you visualise images in B&W and also experiment with 5 basic filters: red, green, blue, yellow and orange (Hypocam doesn't allow you to change the grade for the different filters). From my experiments, it seems well worth buying a few filters before I start taking shots and seems to me the most useful ones are the yellow, orange and red. If I were to buy just 1 each of these colours, what grade (ie. colour code) should I select for each? I'm also curious to know if many of you use tools like Hypocam when preparing to shoot. Useful for beginners at least, I think. All the best,

Morning. No use here for using the phone app since I am the Luddite guy. . just a flip phone, but 40+ years with b/w filters. Types & "grades" are: Yellow: (K-2), Orange (G) & Red (25A). There may be different "gradings" but these are standards. Each filter will require additional exposure "increase". My experience is K2= +1.0 f stop, G= 1.5 f stop & 25A = 4.5 f stop. Try using your app for the beginning, but "train" your eye/brain to "see" the effect of each filter. K2 has an almost unnoticeable effect on sky/clouds, but the G "pops" sky/clouds without looking like the 25A (red) "ink" skies, but the "ink" skies look very dramatic if done correctly. Ansel Adams was the master of the scenic with a 25A. I use a G on just about all my outdoor work involving sky/clouds.

Some testing on your part will be required for the filters you purchase. As you select other film types, these "values" may change a bit, so "retest" the filters with a new film. Keep the filters clean as they are out front of the lens AND will affect the recorded image if smugged or gunk is on them.

Go crazy ! & have fun ! Ton's of help in all the forum. Bill Fed-2 / Jupiter-8, Kentmere400, Obsidian Aqua & V600 scan

Edited August 10, 2017 by Bill Bowes

Medium Yellow, Orange, Green, Polarizing would be of most interest, I think, for monochrome film. Secondary would be Red and if your film is fast, a Neutral Density 4. As in Bill's case, not much into apps. A simple old device I used in film days when carrying cameras loaded with color and B&W at the same time, is the Tiffen Monochrome Viewing Filter. No batteries or WiFi required, on a neck cord, hold it to your eye -- gives a rough translation of color to contrast. Last I looked they were still made. Have fun with your film adventure.

As the other folks have said, you really have to experiment with filters to see what you like and what gives the results on the film stock you are using.

 

As an example, a lot of folks on the Large Format Photography Forum who shoot TMAX-400 claim that it has a built in "yellow filter" effect. I don't use it-large format or otherwise-so I don't know if that's only applicable to the sheet film version or if it's universally true.

 

At an absolute minimum, when I go out I want a light yellow(Y2), medium orange, and an R25(dark red). Blue and green are a bit unconventional but they have their uses.

 

I'll also add that on principle I rarely if ever buy new filters. I think that in 15 years or so of serious photography, I've only bought two new filters- a polarizer at one point or another, and then more recently a Hoya R72(used for IR photography). A lot of mine came with camera bundles on Ebay, but more recently I've been buying them from a local camera store. Unfortunately, that's not an option for everyone-my local store has an old library card catalog with thousands of filters sorted by size. They started out at $5 each, but I've become a regular enough customer that they apologize when they have to charge me(a token amount) for something like a large size name brand polarizer or a Bay 1 filter-most are just tossed in with whatever I'm buying. You might troll Ebay for some filter lots.

 

BTW, at times I've played with Google's Silver Efex Pro, which is free. It allows you not only to emulate filters but also the response of certain film stocks. NOTHING beats looking at the results using your own equipment, but IMO it's a decent and fairly flexible too.

Just a rule-of-thumb: filters lighten colors similar to the filter and darken colors complementary to the filter. A yellow filter will lighten yellow and darken blue. If you can find a Kodak Master Photoguide there is all kinds useful information on filters, exposure, depth of field, etc. I always carry mine in my bag. Might find a used one on ebay or Amazon. It will probably cost you more than$1.95. I have had mine a long time.

Good suggestion from Robert B -- I have found all of the Kodak Guides to be useful and have several.

Thanks everyone. Some great advice. Found a few copies of the guide. Looks good, I'll get one. I also have a copy of Ansel Adams' The Negative which is pretty amazing, of course. Bought it 15 years ago when I last thought about B&W, but got distracted with life's interventions and by cheap digital cameras. He mentions the Wratten #90 viewing filter somewhere in the first chapter which must be similar too the Tiffen Monochrome Viewing Filter - will see if I can locate one or the other at a good price. All the best!

To me the filters boil down to a 2 stops eating orange (which felt like the absolute must have to include skies). - I dabbled with yellow but didn't see a sufficiently relevant effect. - I own red too for my main camera but it eats too much light to see much use hand held. Maybe you'll encounter situations shouting for green but for me it was too much hassle to deal with them. Filters take some extra time. They also get quite annoying on SLRs and sell the alternative camera concepts like RFs & TLRs.

Why complicate things with filters right from the outset? You'll have enough to do mastering film exposure and development at this stage.

 

Besides, you haven't said what film you intend to use, and film varies greatly in its colour response. For example; there's some horrible Eastern European stuff with hardly any red response, while Tri-x is perhaps overly red sensitive. So filters aren't a "one size fits all" solution. They should be tailored to the scene and film used.

 

My advice would be to stick to basics until you know what you're doing. Purchasing filters can be done as and when you feel a need not a whim.

I'll be the judge of that, thanks. Tri X 400

Tri-X is nice film as is. Filters are sometimes handy. UV-protector to cover lens front element and color photography. NC for long exposure. Yellow for landscape pictures. Red, green, blue filters are only usefull if You plan to shoot color images with black and white film.

Red, green, blue filters are only usefull if You plan to shoot color images with black and white film

 

I don't quite follow what you're saying there.

Red, green, blue filters are only usefull if You plan to shoot color images with black and white film.

If I'd only known that was possible!

Red for very dramatic clouds / skies or Night shots in the daytime. Green for some portraits, and interesting nature effects. Agree pretty much on blue, though it can be handy copying. One I never did use much.

I tend to agree with Rodeo Joe here. If you are new to B&W film I'd shoot several rolls with no filters and see what you are getting. Try to have an idea of what you want to accomplish and then you can apply filters to go from where you are to where you want to be. I've been shooting Tri-X, HP-5, Plus X and the T Max films for years and I never use more than a UV filter. I've got several but they don't do anything for me. It is the kind of thing you have to practice and decide for yourself what works.

 

Rick H.

Amongst all this filter banter, a small pocket sized notebook should go with you. . .Oh, this Luddite Guy forgot that in todays world, one uses the Smart Phone for note taking!! Goodness how time flies. Bill

In RE: filter usage -- no Merit Badges, no initiations, no secret handshake. If you want higher contrast, more drama, add a yellow filter and apply the appropriate filter factor. Easy enough to have another filter in its case in your pocket -- orange, polar, whatever - quick & easy change. Experimenting is fun! I always have a yellow on for B^W in the daytime. Low light, I switch to UV. Everyone gets to decide how they want to operate and what results they want.

Thanks again everyone, Rodeo Joe and Rick may well be correct to keep it simple, but I like to experiment and I'm not a complete novice, just to B&W. Ordered a used Nikon K2 filter this morning online, I think an orange G will be next followed by a polarising filter for colour as well...

I don't quite follow what you're saying there.

Red, green, blue filters are only usefull if You plan to shoot color images with black and white film.

If you take one exposure with each of those filters you can compose them together to a color image. - Common prepress / process camera practice to permit 4c printing also cheaper than shooting real color film in LF. Folks dabbled with that approach before color film got invented.

If you take one exposure with each of those filters you can compose them together to a color image. - Common prepress / process camera practice to permit 4c printing also cheaper than shooting real color film in LF. Folks dabbled with that approach before color film got invented.

 

I don't understand your saying they're "only" useful for that application.

 

BTW, that's also how 3-strip Technicolor worked.

Sorry Ben, I got you wrong and only elaborated Hapien's statement. - I own a green filter here a red filter there, some yellowish green and blue to shoot color under Tungsten lighting but in the end of the day I needed orange to include a sky or battle acne on HP5 or TMY and didn't find nearly as much use for the other filters.

You can find good condition used filters cheap today, so I would get them all.

I would get: yellow, orange, red, green, Polarizing.

To me, yellow, orange and red are variations on a common theme of increasing contrast and making the blue sky darker. And each has it's place.

I forget why I got the green, but at the time it made sense.

Pola, for both color and B&W.

 

Today I would add a 4 stop and 10 stop ND filter.

 

BUT in practice, I hardly used my filters. As was mentioned it was/is a hassle to swap filters and change lenses, so I used these filters less and less. The reason was that is is a hassle to change filters, and it was a chance to drop and break the filter each time you changed filters. The screw on filter was/is a PAIN to use, and took a while to unscrew one filter then screw on the next filter. And it was not just the filter but also the lens hood that you had to remove and replace. So changing filters was a chore. Easier and faster to use is a bayonet filter like on the Hasselblad, but I did not own a Hasselblad (that was the DREAM camera). Even better would be to have 2 or 3 yellow filters and just leave it on the lenses you are using, so you don't have to change filters. But back then (1970s), filters were relatively EXPENSIVE for a student, especially the Pola, so I could only afford a few filters (yellow, orange and Pola).

 

BTW, since you are starting B&W, my experience with Tri-X (at ISO 400) has been frustrating.

The issue is, during the day, my exposure is 1/500 sec @ f/16 (sunny 16 rule). That pretty much maxed out my camera, effectively turning my SLR into a box camera. I had 1 stop of exposure control at 1/1000 sec @ f/11, and that was it. Just 2 exposure setting that I could use. My friends Mamiya was even worse. It was maxed out, as its max speed was 1/500 sec, so he had NO exposure control, it was 1/500 sec at f/16, and that was it.

Because of that issue, my preferred film is a 100 speed film. That gives me 2 stops more exposure control than 400 speed Tri-x.

Only if I were shooting in dim light areas, would switch to the faster 400 speed film.

Today I would have 2 bodies, #1 with 50 or 100 speed film, #2 with 400 speed film. 30-40 years ago, that was an outrageous thought, because the gear was EXPENSIVE. Today film bodies are cheap enough to have 2 or 3 bodies.

Green is useful for lightening green leaves and other plants as well as a slight darkening of the skin. Be aware, though, that this look for skin can make blemishes more visible. The darker green filter can make panchromatic black & white films behave somewhat like orthrochromatic film. I find the filter I use most, though, is deep yellow. Besides bracketing exposure and even focus, one often has to bracket with filters to achieve the desired effect. Worth the effort, IMHO. Edited August 12, 2017 by Mike Gammill

Filters allow you to apply creative controls to the final image in black and white photography. You need to learn to visualize the final photograph before you take it. While your phone app is one way to do it, it's not very intuitive or connected to what you're photographing. You need to learn to see the image with your mind, using the best tools available - your eyes.

 

I would suggest getting a monochromatic viewing filter and learn to use it. Never stare through the filter as your eye will become adapted to the filter. Look through it for a brief period not more than 30-60 seconds and then lower the filter and look at the scene. Evaluate the shadows, mid-tones and highlights through the filter. Once you're sure you understand the tonality of the scene in black and white - you move on to the next step - using a color filter with the monochromatic viewing filter.

 

Hold the monochromatic filter up to your eye and then "flick" the colored filter in front of the viewing filter. Mentally note the change to each color in the scene. Do reds look darker or lighter? Blues darker or lighter? Greens? etc. Again, don't stare through the filters as your eyes will adapt and you won't see the change.

 

You will see little, if any change to neutral colors like greys, and browns. You'll also see little if any changes to purple.

 

Learn the Wratten filter numbers. #8 is yellow, #11 is yellowish green, #15 is orange, #23 is light red, #25 is red, etc.

 

To see the most dramatic effects, get a set of color separation filters: red - #29 (although #25 can be used); blue #47; green #58.

 

Find a scene outdoors with a wide range of colors. Working outdoors will help because the filters have larger filter factors. Setup your camera on a tripod and make an exposure of the scene through each of the filters. You will have three different photographs of the same scene - one through each of the filters. Make a print of each exposure and compare the results.

 

This will show you the range of control you have in translating colors differently by using filters. It will also teach you how to use filter factors in altering your exposure for the light being absorbed by the filters. Once you see the maximum effect that each color filter will produce you will understand that less saturated color filters will have less effect and that the use of filters will give you another creative control in your photography.

Learning about filters doesn't require you to buy screw on filters for every lens. The most cost effective method of trying filters is to use Lee Polyester filters - about $16 each in the 3x3 inch size. While somewhat fragile, if you're careful you can use them for years. I still use Kodak Wratten gelatin filters that I purchased in the 1970's - and the gelatin filters are far more fragile than polyester filters.

 

Like the gelatin filters, polyester filters have no optical (refractive) effect and you don't have to worry about them distorting the image if they're slightly curved or not parallel to the film plane when you make an exposure. All you have to do is hold the filter by one corner in front of the lens and make the exposure. Carefully put the filter back in its package when you're done using it - making sure to blow off any dust or dirt that might scratch it before you slide it back into its package.

 

I have used both gelatin filters and polyester filters for 50 years, they work as well or better than glass filters as long as you're careful to not fingerprint or scratch the filters. However, at the relatively low cost for the polyester filters it's not all that bad if you do damage one.

A quick return on this - so far I've picked up up only a Y48 (K2) and a polarising filter and had the chance to use the yellow filter on B&W film the weekend before last in very clear weather. One of the better shots below and I think it helped make the church stand out more (Nikon FE, 28mm f2.8 Ais, Tri-X 400, Darktable perspective adjustment). Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.