Importance of filters: What do you use and should you get?

From the earliest times in my photography filters were fun. For B&W photography having a set of yellow green and and filters was a common purchase, but how often used? For the modern DSLR generation, buying a lens, the salesman pushed a UV filter to "protect the lens" like all girls should be virgins!

Now I'm doing LF, I quickly realized that with limited maximum shutter speeds of my Copal #3 shutter to 1/125 sex, I needed neutral density filters if I was going to be able to shoot anything less than f16 on a bright overcast day at ISO 400 of my HP5 Ilford film.

So in reality, what filters do you really use for your work and why.

What sits unused?

What's your wish list:

My biggest sins:

Buying UV filters for all my lenses: removed for serious work with my 70-200 Ls years ago and never seen a scratch!

Asher

re: the saleman pushing uv filters..maybe he wants all girls to be sluts!

i too had too many uvs. got rid of most of them. what i have is:

1. singh-ray variable density..for blurring motion in bright light, or helping me to get panning
blurs in the mornings without tripods. or just to use wide apertures in bright sunshine for small
dof.

2. polarising filters... for the obvious and shooting thru shop windows or glass in general

3. when i think the lens hood is obscene e.g the nikon 17-55/2.8, i do put a uv to protect the lens
if the situation warrants it and when filter flare would not be an issue.

Which filters? Since I make photographs on panchromatic film I use a full range of colour filters from deep red to deep blue and all the in between values too. In addition, a polariser and a selection of grad neutral and grad colour filters see plenty of use.

Why so many filters? The problem is subject matter. It is consistently difficult to find subject matter that effectively supports the message the photograph is intended to convey. For example the visual equivalent of "drama" could be a gothic castle against a black sky (a cliche yet still persuasive) but even after the castle is found the chances of a black sky (gathering thunderstorm?) are nearly zero. The deep red filter delivers the black sky and visual "drama" is there for the taking.

Similarly a high key photograph suggesting light, heat, air is easy to find behind a deep blue filter looking at a seascape on a cloudy day.

Every full colour scene is actually many scenes all nested together that can be unwoven with colour filters so that their individual "look" can be exploited.

Maris,

What is your experience with Singh Ray NF filters that are continuously variable?

Asher

Other than a digital UV, I don't use them anymore. I used to use an orange filter when I was doing a lot of black and white landscapes, and a red filter when doing infrared, but very early on moved into people shooting and lost interest in either.

ND filters! LF, Water Falls, Strobes!

Now thew one set I absolutely need is a set of Neutral Density filters.


Large format: With my Large Format lenses, I was limited by the max speed of 1/160 sec so I have been forced to use f 16 as my min aperture when I wanted f4.5 on a soft portrait lens!

Water: Now I want to photograph a waterfall and realize that I may want to slow the shutter yet not have a smaller aperture than f8 in the bright sun. That's new for me.

Strobes: Last, using my 50 1.2 lens, I wanted to go to f18-22 but couldn't because because it's limited to f16! It was for a shoot and that was what was need for the flash setting.

Asher

For the big classic portrait lenses (Heliar, Verito, and Petzval are the ones I use), I usually use 4" square ND filters to control exposure after setting the aperture for the effect I want. Usually I'm using a shutter for these lenses that has only one speed around 1/5 sec. or 1/15 sec. and "B." 1/125 sec. or other speeds would be a luxury!

For B&W landscapes I usually use a filter in the 8-12-15 or orange range, very rarely red, which I find a bet melodramatic in most cases.

I also have color conversion and color correction filters for shooting color film under various lighting conditions.

I have a few ND grads that I don't use very often. A neat trick that I use occasionally is to use a tobacco grad with B&W. Color grads are really hokey in color, but in B&W landscapes you can use a tobacco, orange, or red grad to darken and increase contrast in the sky without changing the foreground.

I also have polarizers that I use sometimes, mostly for color.

I've got center filters for wide lenses.

I used to have lots of tacky effects filters, prisms, split focus, focus spot, diffusers, softeners, and such, rarely used them, and eventually gave them away.

David,

What filter holder do you use filters across 35mm and LF?

Asher

I've accumulated lots of filters and a few different systems over the years. Generally, I've been migrating toward B+W and Heliopan glass filters for filters I use frequently, but not all of my lenses can take standard filters.

I have a lot of 3" filters--gel and resin--and a couple of different filter holders for them that I use mostly for 35mm and occasionally for larger formats. One is an older Ambico system with adapters like the Lee system, and I have rectangular and square compendium shades for these (I've had this system for at least 20 years). I also have a clip on shade with a 3" filter slot and barndoors made by Voss, which is very handy for older lenses that don't use a standard filter size. That little Voss filter holder and a packet of 3" gels is very light and compact for work in the field. I usually carry the gels I need in a shirt-pocket sized Moleskine book with 6 file pockets designed for filing business cards or receipts. I can fit a few gels in each pocket.

For 4" filters I use either my Linhof compendium shade with a 4" filter slot on the rear standard, Sinar filter holder that has a 4" gel filter epoxied to it (it came that way with another camera I bought, and it works, so I haven't changed it), a Lee Gel Snap, or tape. On the Sinar I can use a spare 4x5" bellows with clips to convert it to a lens shade.

I've got a set of 67mm B+W and Heliopan filters that I mostly use with my Bronica kit and my Super-8 camera, and I have different rubber and metal shades that go with them, or I can use one of the Ambico compendium shades. I like these filters, so I have step-up rings for several of my 35mm and Super-8 lenses so that they can use them. A handy thing is the Hama 3-position rubber zoom shade, since it can work with zoom lenses (as long as you remember to adjust it) usually better than the manufacturer's solid lens hood or with different prime lenses.

I also have a Linhof 70mm drop-in filter system (these are made by Heliopan) with adapters for smaller lenses and hard plastic shades (wide and normal) which are handy for press camera style shooting with my 2x3" and 4x5" Technikas, or I can use the filter holder alone with the Linhof compendium shade for view camera style shooting.

Then I've got a few filters that I use for lenses that have an odd filter size, like the Bronica Nikkor 40mm/f:4.5 lens for the S2a, which uses 90x1mm filter thread, and a few screw in UV filters for times when it makes sense to use a protective filter for a lens that would be difficult or expensive to replace.

So if I have some unusual filter requirement, I usually have some way of attaching some kind of filter to the lens I want to use, and I probably have the filter I need somewhere.

I have found that a 4 stop ND filter is a major help in working in bright open sunlight with harsh shadows and you want to use flash. This allows one to open up the shadows and get good color. I happen to use a portable Lumedyne flash unit and with just 50-100 W.S. one can really do a great job even in bright daylight.

Asher

Hello All,

I have two types of filter:

1. Polariser
2. A dark (ND400) filter.

I do not have a UV filter but a friend of mine gave me an interesting idea on how to use one. Fit it on the lens and smear vaseline on the filter for a sought of soft focus effect. I just might try this.

Regards,

Jeremy.

Jeremy Waller said:

Hello All,

I have two types of filter:

1. Polariser
2. A dark (ND400) filter.

I do not have a UV filter but a friend of mine gave me an interesting idea on how to use one. Fit it on the lens and smear vaseline on the filter for a sought of soft focus effect. I just might try this.

Click to expand...

Hi Jeremy,

A polarizing filter can be a very useful accessory. It helps to control reflections. It works also well to improve the saturation of foliage in landscapes, and intensify/darken the blue of the sky (maximum effect at 90 degrees from the sun) so that the clouds stand out more. It does take a way some light so exposures need to be adjusted, although an in-camera exposure meter does that automatically. To avoid metering problems it's best to use a Circular Polarization version of the filter. That doesn't mean that the filter is round, but that the polarization is modified in the filter so it won't cause problems with e.g. lightmeters.

When using a clear or UV filter for softfocus effects, be careful that the anti-reflection coating of the filter isn't damaged by acids. So it's not a good idea to use a very expensive multicoated filter for such an experiment. When you do try (acid free vaseline), apply it very sparingly at the edge and keep e.g. the center free. That way you'll get a nice combination of sharp image detail and a mystic glow. You can also apply only some very light dots or streaks on the filter to influence the shape of (mainly) highlights.

Cheers,
Bart

Re: "When you do try (acid free vaseline), apply it very sparingly at the edge and keep e.g. the center free. "

Excellent Bart. Thanks. I'll tell my friend John Hefferan. And when the weather gets better I'll definitely give this a try.

Regards,

Jeremy

I love my Singh Ray filters, I have the Vari Duo and the Vari, Neutral Polarizer, the Blue and Gold Polarizer, grads and reverse grads. I use them on a regular basis. The grads are an absolute neccessity for me, as I am not always able to take multiple shots to get the best results possible. This is because I shoot a lot from a moving vehicle being that my husband and I are truck drivers and my vehicle is a Big Rig, I can't always stop and take a photo. The polarizer helps me with reflections and the grads help me keep balance between the foreground and the bright skies.

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

Now thew one set I absolutely need is a set of Neutral Density filters.

Water: Now I want to photograph a waterfall and realize that I may want to slow the shutter yet not have a smaller aperture than f8 in the bright sun. That's new for me.

Click to expand...

Please, no milk falls!

Best regards,

Doug

Asher Kelman said:

From the earliest times in my photography filters were fun. For B&W photography having a set of yellow green and and filters was a common purchase, but how often used? For the modern DSLR generation, buying a lens, the salesman pushed a UV filter to "protect the lens" like all girls should be virgins!

Now I'm doing LF, I quickly realized that with limited maximum shutter speeds of my Copal #3 shutter to 1/125 sex, I needed neutral density filters if I was going to be able to shoot anything less than f16 on a bright overcast day at ISO 400 of my HP5 Ilford film.

So in reality, what filters do you really use for your work and why.

What sits unused?

What's your wish list:

My biggest sins:

Buying UV filters for all my lenses: removed for serious work with my 70-200 Ls years ago and never seen a scratch!

Asher

Click to expand...

Asher - In B&W i used olny a yellow filter - Never used a lens un filtered - in digital a skylight filter to seal the lens (i dinny ken if thats an old wifes tail)

I wont buy any others filters - I dont c the point - in the way I work.

but then that could be because I am tight !

cheers

Maris Rusis said:

Which filters? Since I make photographs on panchromatic film I use a full range of colour filters from deep red to deep blue and all the in between values too. In addition, a polariser and a selection of grad neutral and grad colour filters see plenty of use.

Click to expand...

I'd love to have a filter holder that can be used for LF and also for 35mm! All the filters I have in different sizes take up too much space!

Maris Rusis said:

The deep red filter delivers the black sky and visual "drama" is there for the taking.

Similarly a high key photograph suggesting light, heat, air is easy to find behind a deep blue filter looking at a seascape on a cloudy day.

Click to expand...

Good points!

Maris Rusis said:

Every full colour scene is actually many scenes all nested together that can be unwoven with colour filters so that their individual "look" can be exploited.

Click to expand...

This is worth repeating:



Asher

Asher Kelman said:

I'd love to have a filter holder that can be used for LF and also for 35mm! All the filters I have in different sizes take up too much space!

Click to expand...

Hi Asher,

Do the LF lenses have filter threads? In that case the Lee filterholder system has a good reputation.

Cheers,
Bart

Yes, modern ones do. However, I want to have a system that works for everything.

Look how many systems David Goldfarb has!

Asher

Thanks to Asher for pointing me to this thread. Fun to think about. When I began in the dark ages with 35mm Velvia and a Nikon FE-2 I used to stack the filters up........I'm sure there's a place in hell for what I did then. People would gasp ooooohh aaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Some of those pics are still hanging in hotel rooms in Tonopah NV.

Now that we're in digi land, if I'm doing color, why would I use a filter? So, my answer is no filters for color.

OK, so I'm a big black and white guy, but, I'm sort of over the Ansel Adams black skies and puffy clouds. I'm happiest doing some chrome shapes on an old edsel. So I fear I've outgrown the filters twice. Anybody need a filter wallet with 67 and 77mm filters? Part of it is just laziness because, with 1/25th sec exposures and f4, I could really use some neutral density action. But I've got 250 lenses! I guess I could hold a 6X6" #4 N. D. in front of some of them and it would be a good thing.

Jim Galli said:

Thanks to Asher for pointing me to this thread. Fun to think about. When I began in the dark ages with 35mm Velvia and a Nikon FE-2 I used to stack the filters up........I'm sure there's a place in hell for what I did then. People would gasp ooooohh aaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Some of those pics are still hanging in hotel rooms in Tonopah NV.

Now that we're in digi land, if I'm doing color, why would I use a filter? So, my answer is no filters for color.

OK, so I'm a big black and white guy, but, I'm sort of over the Ansel Adams black skies and puffy clouds. I'm happiest doing some chrome shapes on an old edsel. So I fear I've outgrown the filters twice. Anybody need a filter wallet with 67 and 77mm filters? Part of it is just laziness because, with 1/25th sec exposures and f4, I could really use some neutral density action. But I've got 250 lenses! I guess I could hold a 6X6" #4 N. D. in front of some of them and it would be a good thing.

Click to expand...

So maybe square filters and some gaffers tape is all I need. Would that damage the filter?

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Would that damage the filter?

Asher

Click to expand...

Undoubtedly.

My favorite is a Canon USM 14 stop ND filter.