Red filter for black & white

[Nick De Marco]

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I recently bought a red filter for my two new leietz lenses, for use in black & white photography. Basically, I want to achieve a more dramatic effect on some pics I plan to take soon.

 

I haven't used one of these before so i have a couple of questions:

 

(1) As i am using a rangefinder, when using separate meter how many stops must I compensate for the filter?

 

(2) Can I use the filter with infrared film or is a special filter required for this?

 

The filtre is a "Heliopan Red 25, E 39 (coated)"

 

Many thanks

 

Nick

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[Jean-Michel Komarnicki]

Hi,

 

Here is a blurb from the B+W manual (available as a PDF) Sorry I do not have the web link, but should be easy enough to find.

 

The 5 times exposure factor means a 2,5 f-stop factor.

You can use IR film with this but will not get the same results as with an IR filter, since the Red 25 will let visible light in too. Try and see.

 

"B+W Light Red Filter 090 (25) [OG 590]

This is the classic filter for architectural photography. White façades glow brightly, the blue sky is darkened dramatically and clouds become more impressive. It is also excellent for spectacular landscape photo-graphs with greatly improved distant views. Its filter factor is approximately 5."

 

Jean-Michel

[rob_x2004]

Filter factor will be printed on the box, probably in several languages.

If you google you will get heaps of refernces like this Filter factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[luigi bertolotti]

I recently bought a red filter for my two new leietz lenses, for use in black & white photography. Basically, I want to achieve a more dramatic effect on some pics I plan to take soon.

 

I haven't used one of these before so i have a couple of questions:

 

(1) As i am using a rangefinder, when using separate meter how many stops must I compensate for the filter?

 

(2) Can I use the filter with infrared film or is a special filter required for this?

 

The filtre is a "Heliopan Red 25, E 39 (coated)"

 

Many thanks

 

Nick

 

Red filters are often "strong" in terms of exposure factor: 4x is a typical value (meter= 1/125 ----> shoot at 1/30): usually, the factor is engraved in the mount of the filter itself, or in the box.

 

The typical use of red filters is with standard B&W films, in architecture or paysage to achieve, as you say, some special effect (blue sky darkens, more contrast with clouds...): i sometime has used it in mountains-glaciers-rocks environment : interesting contrast of a unique flavour...

 

I think You can use it with IR film (have no experience with this film) but, for what I know, the results can be "strange" (maybe interesting, anyway); if one wants to take a "real IR picture" you need to BLOCK COMPLETELY the visible part of the light spectrum, and make the film impressed by IR rays only: this requires a specific IR filter which is available by several vendors, and is a sort of "black" filter, with very high compensation factor (seems to me 8x or 12-16x).

[stunsworth]

Nick

 

One thing to be aware of is that a red filter lightens caucasian skin tones considerably, so any in the shots will have totally white faces. It makes them look like Goths :-)

 

I've tried a red filter with some Ilford SFX and to be honest I didn't see much of an IR effect. I think you are better with a true IR filter for this kind of film.

 

It also may be worth trying a yellow filter. This doesn't give quite the same dramatic sky as a red filter but it renders skin tones more naturally. A yellow filter used to more or less live on all my lenses when I was shooting b&w on my M6

[plasticman]

There's also the matter of focus shift to take into account when shooting infrared - a quick google turned-up this page:

 

http://www.apogeephoto.com/mag1-4/mag1-4mfir.shtml

 

which seemed pretty informative.

 

None of the Leica lenses i own have an infrared compensation mark - but you could do some tests, and paint on a guide for yourself (sound of distant thunder...)

[stunsworth]

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Mani, based on some recent M8 shots with an IR filter on the lens Leica lense most certainly do need focus adjustment. In every case the actual focus point was quite a bit behind what I focused on. It was suggested in the forum that I transfer the distance focused on by the rangefinder to the f5.6 mark on the lens. I'll be trying that at the weekend as it's meant to be sunny here in the UK.

 

The M8 works very well as an IR camera by the way.

[rob_x2004]

MAAAAANNNNIIIIII !!!!!! Welcome to the forum we though tyou were dead or something! Well someone said you were hiding out in the German side, which is pretty much the same thing for us blokes dont speak them foreign languages.

[rob_x2004]

Ohh yeah...teh red25 is their light red...there si a plus eight ff red Heliopan too. Red 26 or 29 or something which might be their ri filter thing. Have to goodle pray.

[plasticman]

MAAAAANNNNIIIIII !!!!!! Welcome to the forum we though tyou were dead or something! Well someone said you were hiding out in the German side, which is pretty much the same thing for us blokes dont speak them foreign languages.

 

Thanks Rob! :-)

i was actually undercover working as a double-agent on a Canon forum - that really WAS the same as being dead.

 

Actually bought a nice little M6TTL instead of the M8 in the end. I guess it might be safe to say this on the film forum - if i whisper anyway - but between you and me, i kinda felt that the M8 wasn't errrm entirely ready for primetime just yet...

 

...but - if anyone else sees that comment - please bear in mind it would be VERY bad form to hijack this thread about IR and red filters to discuss the status of the M8.

 

[did i dodge that bullet?]

[Guest stnami]

(agree about fledgling).......... no bullets here Mr Mani............. I went for the poor man's leica a Bessa

[Nick De Marco]

Thanks for the replies, and the interesting diversion. Also many thanks for the useful link.

 

There was not no x factor on the box, but I checked and saw it had x8 and -3 on the side of the filter itself. Guess it's pretty strong then. Although it also sounds like I will need a special IR filter for IR work.

[rob_x2004]

Well there you go. It might not be the 25, it might be the other one. The comprehensive Heliopan cattledog is in german so it is a bit of a wade. But the x8 minus three pretty much cans it huh. Bit of three stop correction comming to your light meter soon:D.

[rob_x2004]

Wow...Here you go Heliopan Filters For B&W Photography.

even got a piccie... Heliopan 25A Red Filters

 

Less beer for me next time:p.

[Photoskeptic]

I use a red filter when I really want clouds to "pop". If the clouds are already pretty good, I use a yellow filter. Here on the coast, due to the rather harsh light, a yellow filter usually lives on one of my M's.