Filters for Black and White Film Photography 

Thanks Michael. I’ll follow this up at some point with a video comparing graduated filters and a polariser with the coloured ones.

Good point Stephan.

Thanks Roger. I usually avoid reading through the filter unless it’s onto a grey card (or similar tone).

I’m definitely in the yellow is best camp 🙂

Thanks Rene, I’m sure I can do something interesting in the garden 🙂

Glad it was useful Larry.

Thanks Arron, I’m glad you enjoy the videos 🙂

Definitely worth trying, especially if there’s mist around.

You’re welcome.

It’s definitely a different look, all the others are variations on the same basic look but blue is way out there.

🙂

Thanks Randy 🙂

Thanks

Thank you 🙂

ah, but I guess the stop adj would create an issue actually doing something like that!

Thanks Gary.

Thanks Stuart, glad you liked it.

Glad you liked it Jeff 👍

Very true Marvin 👍

Haha, yes - blue really does have a purpose 😀

You’re welcome Chris.

Cheers Barry.

I agree, a brilliant demonstration, many thanks.

Thanks Tim.

Cheers Graham.

A much underrated tool 👍

Please do!

Thanks Benjamin 🙂

Glad you liked it 😊

Thanks Kent.

@@lisaw150 These are different times now for photography and film. I'm in Austin, TX and we are fortunate to have a large camera store here but they're film supply and related film items is rather dismal. I buy all my film needs on-line with one of the big camera stores out of NY or CA.

Thanks Michael. The direction I shot in made the effect less noticeable, the sky behind me was deep blue but there was little else of interest in the scene so I decided to stick with the beach view. Next time I’ll ensure the sky is the main element of the test.

You're not going to catch COVID-19 by being out in the wilderness alone. The lockdown where he lives seems very heavy-handed.

Totally agree Roger, glad you said what I’ve been thinking 🙂. Separate videos would be very useful in a mix of environments. PS - I’ll be introducing some urban content this year.

I’m very pleased you found the video useful 🙂

Thanks Andreas.

Thanks Diz. I remember being surprised at the response of the blue filter when I saw it covered in Ansel Adams book series.

Even I’ve realised I need to be using it more Steve 🙂

I’ve never come across a purple filter Jim, I have used red and polariser which gives a very strong effect.

Thanks Bill.

Glad you liked it Anthony.

Thank you.

Thanks Alan. Sadly we seem to be forecast to get lovely weather for the next couple of weeks 😕

I also like to shoot 400 speed handheld to allow for a filter, it’s a bit of a push with ISO 100 even with primes 🙂

Thanks Kerry.

I’m glad you liked it Claudio.

I feel like a cat that’s sat behind a window looking out at little birds 😊

Thanks Ray.

Thanks John. I’ve used green to give a result close to infrared at times. I would have chosen to shoot the deep blue sky but I really wanted the beach in the shot 🙂

Glad you liked the video Ian.

Thanks Stuart.

Thanks Terry. I’d like to do another test and include grads alongside polariser.

Cheers Curtis 👍

Thanks Jason.

Thanks Isaias, good luck with the 645.

You’re welcome James.

Thanks Bobby 👍

I’d nearly always use a yellow as a standard filter unless it’s dull and rainy when I usually do without anything.

You can do some adjustment in LR Barry but the filters do provide some separation in the tones which helps a lot. In the darkroom however I have no such control so I have to get it right in the negative.

I think blue offers a lot of possibilities Erin, it’s effect is totally different to the other four.

Thanks Sylvain.

@@SteveONions do you have a recommendation for a decent 35mm film scanner for someone on a budget? I use an epson flatbed right now, but it's kind of a pain for 35mm...

Sylvain Petit you could try an intermediary model like a Plustek or even a Reflecta Crystalscan 7200. I have the latter and it gives a true 3200 dpi with excellent infrared cleaning. It’s not as good as a late Coolscan or Minolta but a big step up from a flatbed.

@@SteveONions thank you I'll check those out!

Good question Justin. It's extremely rare that using a filter will make a shot work compared to not using one. The differences are often subtle, especially when using the more modest colours (I don't care much for red or even orange in landscape work). What I do notice is the subtle improvement in tonal separation, to my eye a shot taken with a yellow filter looks better than one taken without a filter. This isn't always the case and on dull/overcast days it makes no appreciable difference to my eye. If I were to work exclusively with a film/digital workflow then I could achieve good results without the filter. Digital processing allows so much more control over highlights and shadows that even a poor negative can be rescued. In the darkroom however I need all the help I can get and having even slightly improved separation and a darker sky means less manipulations are required. I particularly dislike working on the sky area with long and complicated burning and find the yellow filter will reduce this noticeably. PS - another reason for using XP2 super is the much improved highlight control, even when used without a filter.

@@SteveONions thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful response. Excellent feedback for someone thinking about returning to film after being away 25 years.

Thanks Valerij.

Indeed, I need to cover this in more detail next time I delve into filters. I’ll pick a few different locations and also use 35mm so I can include a polariser and ND grads.

I like green but prefer yellow as an all round filter 🙂

Thanks David. The simple reason I left out the polariser was that I had just enough frames to cover the 5 filters and one unfiltered shot for the two scenes. I’d have needed another roll to do it with the polariser (definitely next time though) 😀

Amazed that you replied! Thanks! I've just adapted my RB with a 90mm view camera lens. It cuts down on the weight and slows me down enough to think about the quality of my images. I'm eating up your videos! I still print with an omega 4x5 enlarger and enjoy nature like you do. I live in Florida where we have nature to rival your area. Thanks again and photograph your brains out!

Now that would be interesting Richard, I think those grads are extremely cheap too.

Thank you. I’d pretty much go with your summary, yellow is a go to filter for me unless very dull and grey.

Very true 🙂

I can’t remember who repaired it to be honest as it was 10 years ago but I do remember them saying the sand had got everywhere.

I could have made significant differences Elbert but if there’s insufficient separation in the tones to begin with there is only so far you can go. Dodging and burning would also help but do it too much and the grain structure is adversely affected and it would look false in bigger enlargements.

It is indeed Crosby beach Tom.

Only a couple of times to be honest to slow down the shutter speed and this was red and orange. Not sure what it would look like if you used something like red and blue!

That could actually work Gregory.

That's a killer idea! Could experiment with a digital camera in monochrome mode to see the effect.

It could be good indeed.

I’m really not sure which filter would work best, I don’t shoot portraits 🙂

I've never tried it Eris but I think it would make a very interesting video!

That’s a very good question and not something I’ve ever tried before. Maybe there’s a video in it 😀

Hmmm maybe there’s a commission in it for me 😂

I've used my red and yellow before on my dslr knowing I would convert later to b&w and it has added the exact contrast you would expect from film. Also have a cheap 10 stop nd filter that doesn't filter infrared, so color shots come out as if shot with a red filter adding nice contrast when converted as well. So I guess yeah, give it a shot if you want!

@@martineden1165 Thanks, I will.

I’ve never tried it Steve, might be worth a go 🙂

If I am working in Lightroom I’d just start with the straight colour image then adjust contrast and brightness initially. After than I’d work on the individual colour channels, especially blue but only if necessary, I like to keep the scene natural and not over processed.

Good luck with the Q2 Stefan, it sounds like a great camera.

They all differ Martin, I chose FP4+ as it’s fairly standard but even your brand of filter would make subtle changes. It’s worth sticking to as few films and developers as possible to reduce the number of variable.

It was probably the Rode Video Micro (or their smart Lav).

I now use the Z series on the Bronica but the video uses the smaller P range I believe. I need the larger size for the 40mm PS lens that has a 95mm filter thread.

Steve O'Nions thanks!

It’s not a problem with B&W film as the cast (if any) is very slight and makes no difference when rendered in a grey scale. I’ll do a follow up video later this year comparing coloured and graduated filters.

I’m quite liking the yellow green (I have a couple of screw in ones), some yellow filters are a bit weak.

Blue is a real oddball Patrick, often it will kill a scene but it can also expand shadows and reduce contrast in others. Well worth an extra frame when you are unsure of how to capture certain scenes.

Thanks, I’m also still trying to get a black sky , using a Red filter and a Polarisation filter.

It’s a 25 🙂

Hi Lars. Depending on which 40mm Bronica lens you use you’ll. need a pretty big filter. My PS 40 can just about work with 100mm square filters - just. All the other lenses you mention will be fine with 85mm square ones.

@@SteveONions Thanks. I have the 40/4 S. I am considering the upgrade to the PS.

Very interesting 🙂