Tobacco filter

When I was starting out, in the '50s, I remember hearing "old-timers"

speaking of using a "Tobacco" filter. I had no idea what they were

talking about. Kodak and Graflex literature didn't list it either,

so I assumed that it was just old-timer's slang for something

common. Recently I have come into possession of a set of three

ancient filters, the first is medium yellow (K2), the second orange

(G), and the third is sort of a nasty looking yellow/orange/red very

much like the juice I remember being spit by tobacco chewers. Can

anyone supply additional details? (I wonder if it was just as close

to red as one could get with orthochromatic or early panchromatic

film?) Thanks.

Tobacco-coloured filters are often used today by video or film camera recordists to give a very warm look to interviews or outdoor scenes. I do not know what these filters are called by various manufacturers but a cinematographers' supply house should be able to point you in the right direction.

Actually Bill, it sounds like an amber filter which can be used in the darkroom, under an enlarging lens for instance.

Tobacco filters are sometimes used in landscape photography too, mostly to dismal effect. See <a href="http://www.leefilters.com/CPEF.asp?PageID=79">the Lee sample page</a>.

Some years ago before I was aware of ND grads I bought a tobacco grad which gave all skies a nightmarish brown look.

And they are very commonly seen in the car magazines, trying and failing to cover up dull photographs.

I beleive that Lee or Cokin make this heavily sepia'd filter called Tobacco. Beware, in the words of many photographers who's work I admire, "Don't do it! Tobacco kills"!

Check out the Lee and Tiffen brochures. Some more interesting filters are the Coral Grads and Red Enhancers.

Some "old timers" would blow smoke under the lens during a printing exposure to soften the image. Some would also use the cellopane from a cigarette pack under the lens for a portion of the exposure. Could these be the tobacco filter? I think the tobacco colored camera filters are a relatively recent invention. I think they came about with the square plastic filters.

I've tried a tobacco grad for B&W, and it's not bad actually--has the usual effect of an ND grad filter and also increases contrast in the sky. Cheesy for color though.

I have a graduated tobacco filter (T2) from Cokin. As others have suggested it looks OK with B&W but somewhat ordinary for colour work. It came with a cokin holder in a bargain bin when I was travelling the UK so I inherited it that way.