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M Monochrom & Filters


Bill W

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I looked and did not find any specific discussion on filters for the MM. I had some filters for B&W in the past but none are in 46mm. All of my lens array are 46mm except the 75 so I do not need to buy several sizes. I know it can vary based on the scene but I am interested in others experience with their MM and user of filters. Some have mentioned medium yellow. If you were to buy a filter or filters, what would you suggest. I just received my MM. Filters are cheap so I am not adverse to buying a few. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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Hi Bill, it's an interesting question and it's useful to have the discussion in one place, even if it has been done before - I am interested in this issue.

 

Back in the day when I took B&W film images, I had yellow, orange, red and polarising filters. My recollection is that I used the red (I like dramatic skies) and polarising filters the most. I didn't see a lot of point in using filters unless they had real impact.

 

The initial feedback on this forum was that a yellow filter was good for general use, and it improved skin tones. That advice seems to have moved more towards the orange filter, if I understand correctly. The red filter does not really seem to be favoured with the Monochrom, though if you use the search function, there were some images which seemed to benefit from the red filter.

 

I haven't seen any reference to a polarising filter with the Monochrom, presumably because a polariser is hard to use with a lens hood, and without seeing the effect through the viewfinder (unlike with a dSLR).

 

I have the filters kicking around somewhere, but no Monochrom as yet to try them with.

 

Cheers

John

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Hi Bill, it's an interesting question and it's useful to have the discussion in one place, even if it has been done before - I am interested in this issue.

 

Back in the day when I took B&W film images, I had yellow, orange, red and polarising filters. My recollection is that I used the red (I like dramatic skies) and polarising filters the most. I didn't see a lot of point in using filters unless they had real impact.

 

The initial feedback on this forum was that a yellow filter was good for general use, and it improved skin tones. That advice seems to have moved more towards the orange filter, if I understand correctly. The red filter does not really seem to be favoured with the Monochrom, though if you use the search function, there were some images which seemed to benefit from the red filter.

 

I haven't seen any reference to a polarising filter with the Monochrom, presumably because a polariser is hard to use with a lens hood, and without seeing the effect through the viewfinder (unlike with a dSLR).

 

I have the filters kicking around somewhere, but no Monochrom as yet to try them with.

 

Cheers

John

Thank you, I will probably order yellow, orange, green, red. Compared to the price of the MM, these are cheap. I like experimenting.

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Hi Bill, it's an interesting question and it's useful to have the discussion in one place, even if it has been done before - I am interested in this issue.

 

Back in the day when I took B&W film images, I had yellow, orange, red and polarising filters. My recollection is that I used the red (I like dramatic skies) and polarising filters the most. I didn't see a lot of point in using filters unless they had real impact.

 

The initial feedback on this forum was that a yellow filter was good for general use, and it improved skin tones. That advice seems to have moved more towards the orange filter, if I understand correctly. The red filter does not really seem to be favoured with the Monochrom, though if you use the search function, there were some images which seemed to benefit from the red filter.

 

I haven't seen any reference to a polarising filter with the Monochrom, presumably because a polariser is hard to use with a lens hood, and without seeing the effect through the viewfinder (unlike with a dSLR).

 

I have the filters kicking around somewhere, but no Monochrom as yet to try them with.

 

Cheers

John

I think the thing about a polarizing filter is that it is more of a filter for color -except reflection reduction of course.

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I think the thing about a polarizing filter is that it is more of a filter for color -except reflection reduction of course.

I have the either hated or loved M polarizing system. It will work with my 21, 28, 35, 50 and 75. I will try it on some shots.

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I think the thing about a polarizing filter is that it is more of a filter for color -except reflection reduction of course.

 

I have found it surprisingly good with B&W - somewhere I have a sunrise image of Machapuchare in Nepal. I tried lots of filters, and the polarised image in B&W wins hands down. If I can find it and scan it, I'll post it.

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I purchased a set of B+W 46mm MRC filters in:

 

ND

Yellow

Yellow/Orange

Red

Kaesemann CPL

 

I use the ND filter during evening / night time and indoor shooting just to protect the lens. I'd rather clean the ND filter than the lens itself.

 

I normally use the yellow filter when shooting in good light, no matter what I shoot. It adds a tiny bit of extra definition, especially on skintones / people and nature shots (more contrasty flowers and grass - more separation between the gray tones).

 

The Yellow/Orange filter is too much for some use, but I love it for landscape and nature images. I would never use it as a generic "every day filter" though. It adds too much for that type of use. It's basically a yellow filter on steroids.

 

The red filter is, as you probably know, extreme. I like it for some use where you want a real impact, but it doesn't fit everything. It can be used to create some dramatic mood in certain images.

 

The CPL is... Well.. a CPL. Not much too it! I also use it as a ND filter when I need one, since the MRC ND filter that I want is impossible to get in 46mm (the 64x one I believe, which is 6-stops).

Edited by borge
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I have an 040 orange B+W filter on my 35 and an 022 yellow on my 50. They are different filter sizes so I cannot interchange them (I'm waiting to see how I feel about the benefits before bothering to buy in different sizes). My non-scientific opinion is that the yellow is the more useful all-round filter for me. I like the tonality I get with the orange but it comes with the cost of 2 stops of light, which is a significant loss in some situations.

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I think the thing about a polarizing filter is that it is more of a filter for color -except reflection reduction of course.

The good thing about a polarising filter is that it doesn’t care about colour – you can use it to darken the blue sky without affecting anything else that happens to be blue or green, like an orange filter would. It has its uses in black and white photography – roughly the same uses it has in colour photography.

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I purchased a set of B+W 46mm MRC filters in:

 

ND

Yellow

Yellow/Orange

Red

Kaesemann CPL

 

I use the ND filter during evening / night time and indoor shooting just to protect the lens. I'd rather clean the ND filter than the lens itself.

 

I normally use the yellow filter when shooting in good light, no matter what I shoot. It adds a tiny bit of extra definition, especially on skintones / people and nature shots (more contrasty flowers and grass - more separation between the gray tones).

 

The Yellow/Orange filter is too much for some use, but I love it for landscape and nature images. I would never use it as a generic "every day filter" though. It adds too much for that type of use. It's basically a yellow filter on steroids.

 

The red filter is, as you probably know, extreme. I like it for some use where you want a real impact, but it doesn't fit everything. It can be used to create some dramatic mood in certain images.

 

The CPL is... Well.. a CPL. Not much too it! I also use it as a ND filter when I need one, since the MRC ND filter that I want is impossible to get in 46mm (the 64x one I believe, which is 6-stops).[/Quote]An aspect of color filters that is often forgotten: As they make the light monochromatic, they reduce or even eliminate chromatic aberrations in the lens. Sharper images.

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Irwin Puts has an ongoing project up on his site on this subject. He finds (in round terms) that moderate yellow green filtration is needed to match the rendering of typical modern panchromatic film (if that's your objective).

 

I've used yellow, orange and yellow green fairly extensively and in the end have found that no filter works fine - I tend to use medium below on sunny days for landscape to keep the sky in bounds and that's about it.

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Irwin Puts has an ongoing project up on his site on this subject. He finds (in round terms) that moderate yellow green filtration is needed to match the rendering of typical modern panchromatic film (if that's your objective).

 

I've used yellow, orange and yellow green fairly extensively and in the end have found that no filter works fine - I tend to use medium below on sunny days for landscape to keep the sky in bounds and that's about it.

Thanks for your input Woody. Read through your blog and biography and really enjoyed it. I was surprised when the name Lucien Clergue came up. A photography friend of mine went to a two week workshop somewhere in France or Italy many years ago and Lucien was there teaching them the art of nude photography. He purchased Lucien's book which I still have and signed by him. Take care,

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  • 6 months later...

Do you mean UV Filter? Or do you have an extremely light ND filter?

ND = Neutral Density = Dark Sunglasses...

 

I purchased a set of B+W 46mm MRC filters in:

 

ND

Yellow

Yellow/Orange

Red

Kaesemann CPL

 

I use the ND filter during evening / night time and indoor shooting just to protect the lens. I'd rather clean the ND filter than the lens itself.

 

I normally use the yellow filter when shooting in good light, no matter what I shoot. It adds a tiny bit of extra definition, especially on skintones / people and nature shots (more contrasty flowers and grass - more separation between the gray tones).

 

The Yellow/Orange filter is too much for some use, but I love it for landscape and nature images. I would never use it as a generic "every day filter" though. It adds too much for that type of use. It's basically a yellow filter on steroids.

 

The red filter is, as you probably know, extreme. I like it for some use where you want a real impact, but it doesn't fit everything. It can be used to create some dramatic mood in certain images.

 

The CPL is... Well.. a CPL. Not much too it! I also use it as a ND filter when I need one, since the MRC ND filter that I want is impossible to get in 46mm (the 64x one I believe, which is 6-stops).

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I'm looking for some advice on colour filters.

 

Accompanying the launch of the Monochrom M246, Leica announced that they where to offer three colour filters (yellow, orange and green). Up to now I've only ever made use of coloured filters in PP after conversion to black and white in Lightroom, Photoshop or Sliver Efex Pro. With the imminent arrival of my shiny new MM II :)  is it worth buying coloured filters to go with or can I achieve the same results by introducing a colour filter in PP as I've done up to now?

Edited by Jennifer
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You certainly cannot do so in PP, as you were playing the colour channels against one another. As you are not recording colour you do not have the data.

So you will have to use optical filters if you want the effect they produce.

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