Black and white colour filters

Ben johns

Ben johns

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I’ve been looking af getting a red 25a filter to get really dark skies then I saw a 25 red, how much of a difference does the “A” make?
I’ve also done a bit of reading and not a lot of people use the red 25a, usually an orange 22 as the red can be too strong. I can’t actially find and comparisons between the 22 and the 25a though, I can only afford one at the moment so not sure which to plump for. Has be to 77mm too as it’s for an rb67, they seem to be a bit harder to come by in the uk
 
There should be no difference between the two filters other than that created by different manufacturers. The "A" relates back to the Wratten codes used when "A" was the red filter. There is a red filter number 29 not seen much
that is darker by up to three stops and does give a different effect.

Here is a link to a booklet that you may find useful.

https://schneideroptics.com/pdfs/filters/BWHandbook.pdf
 
IMHO an orange filter is useful in more situations than a red filter. With a red filter you may have to add more exposure compensation even on TTL-metered cameras due to the way metering works... or so I've been told in the past!

Mind you, I got very interesting results fixing a red filter on the front of a HP5 single use camera with sticky tape!
 
I made a reply last night on my tablet, and it didn't appear :( It was only a link to Wratten numbers, which described the filters - a search on Wratten (who was English) could be useful.

If you look at post 21 in this thread, I made a few comments on filters.

For what it's worth, I carry yellow in the minus blue variant, light and dark green, orange and red filters.
 
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medwaygreen said:
There should be no difference between the two filters other than that created by different manufacturers. The "A" relates back to the Wratten codes used when "A" was the red filter. There is a red filter number 29 not seen much
that is darker by up to three stops and does give a different effect.

Here is a link to a booklet that you may find useful.

https://schneideroptics.com/pdfs/filters/BWHandbook.pdf
Click to expand...
Right ok. I had looked at the wratten numbers but I wasn’t sure what the A was there. Hoya sell it as a 25A and heliopan as a 25 so I thought one would be darker
 
ChrisR said:
IMHO an orange filter is useful in more situations than a red filter. With a red filter you may have to add more exposure compensation even on TTL-metered cameras due to the way metering works... or so I've been told in the past!

Mind you, I got very interesting results fixing a red filter on the front of a HP5 single use camera with sticky tape!
Click to expand...
I am leaning towards the orange, for price too. I’ve said it a lot on these forums but my favourite skies are ansel Adams and Clyde butcher. I know Adams used red but butcher uses an orange filter more. Obviously they do a lot of darkroom manipulation which I don’t have access to
 
You can do the same things in Photoshop. You could even follow a route I toyed with but ultimately rejected, and use colour negative film for black and white photography. Once you have the scans, you can choose areas selectively to apply colour filters to (I use channel mixer, but I use CS2) which you can't do with black and white filters. Plus no filter factors to juggle with.

One thing to keep in mind - Ansel Adams took a lot of photos at what for us are high altitudes, and red filters have a greater effect at high altitudes.
 
StephenM said:
You can do the same things in Photoshop. You could even follow a route I toyed with but ultimately rejected, and use colour negative film for black and white photography. Once you have the scans, you can choose areas selectively to apply colour filters to (I use channel mixer, but I use CS2) which you can't do with black and white filters. Plus no filter factors to juggle with.

One thing to keep in mind - Ansel Adams took a lot of photos at what for us are high altitudes, and red filters have a greater effect at high altitudes.
Click to expand...
Yea I usually do that when using digital, mainly using silver fx though.
That is true. I’ll using a polariser at the same time which should help bump the contrast
 
If a red 25 and a 25a are the same then heliopan have an Orange 22 and a red 25 77mm for £48 each which isn’t bad
 
Peter B said:
Ben, I've no idea what the quality of these filters will be, although Expro batteries are fine replacements for my Fuji ones at far less money. Possibly worth a punt at the price to try them?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ex-Pro-77mm-Colour-Filter-Set-5-Piece-Filter-Kit-with-Case-Lens-Cap/391042624124?epid=26017167122&hash=item5b0bf4ea7c:g:p04AAOSw9mpaCwn~&_sacat=15216&_nkw=set&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2499334.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xset.TRS0
Click to expand...
I’ll have a look, I was looking at them a while ago for my 35mm Camera actually.
 
Ste_S said:
I'd get used to using Lightroom or similar to replicate what was done in the darkroom, it's near essential for B&W photography
Click to expand...
I do for contrast, seeing blacks and making whites lighter. But I’ve not been able to replicate the look of using a red filter for the sky in lightroom when using film
 
Ben johns said:
I do for contrast, seeing blacks and making whites lighter. But I’ve not been able to replicate the look of using a red filter for the sky in lightroom when using film
Click to expand...
You might get something but I doubt it'd be anywhere near as good as shooting B&W with a red filter. Most panchromatic films are more sensitive to blue light than to other colours so the effect won't be the same.
 
Ben johns said:
I do for contrast, seeing blacks and making whites lighter. But I’ve not been able to replicate the look of using a red filter for the sky in lightroom when using film
Click to expand...

I'd learn to dodge and burn using the radial and graduated filters, and the vignette function. It's something you can use in combo with a red filter, or by itself.

Eg this photo was taken directly into the sun, with me metering for the ground (or at least trying to - luckily TMax has a good latitude even when pushed 2 stops)

01730011-2.JPG

I burnt in the sky using a graduated filter, and dodged the ground also with a graduated filter. Also burnt in the corners with a vignette

01730011.JPG
 
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