Top iii reasons to use B&W Filters

  1. Better Contrast - create separation betwixt nearby colors that reflect similar gray tones
  2. Artistic Creativity - In less than ideal conditions, B&Due west filters tin can still produce stunning images
  3. Remove Haze - Cake blueish, violet, and/or UV light from the scene to better detail and increase sharpness

What B&Westward (Panchromatic) Movie sees

Panchromatic motion-picture show does not come across or record color the way our eyes and encephalon practise. In fact black and white film sees all visible colors of low-cal as similar tones of gray. The only thing that separates those tones is the intensity of lite being reflected off the surface of the bailiwick; shadows and highlights. To put that into context, just imagine a grayness rainy twenty-four hour period outside at the beach where the light is very flat; no bright highlights and no deep shadows. The sand, water, clouds and horizon will render about the same depression contrast gray tone. Black and White filters are used to split those colors to improve contrast at the fourth dimension the image is recorded.

It'due south All About Complementary Colors

To effectively use B&W filters in the field yous demand to understand the concept of complementary colors and how it influences the mode picture records those colors as tones of gray. In the simplest terms a colored filter will pass its own color and block its complementary color. For example, y'all are taking a picture of a carmine rose with greenish leaves (below) against a blackness background and yous choose to put a 25A red filter on your lens. The filter will laissez passer the red low-cal which will render the rose a very light grayness and cake the green light (complimentary color) rendering the leaves much darker. In turn, you could use a X1 Dark-green filter to create the opposite look in which the rose will turn nearly black and the leaves volition lighten.

Nosotros explain how each filter affects color below past using a color wavelength chart and then converting it to grayscale. These charts are a visual approximation and provides a really potent visual to help y'all empathise of how these filters can help improve your images. The nautical chart below is a baseline grayscale conversion without using any filters. You can see that it is very flat and lacks contrast based on color alone. This chart does not take into account the reflectivity of the subject or the overall exposure of the scene.

How to Choose a B&W filter

Hoya currently makes 5 filters for B&W film shooters to help them capture beautiful images

Use the information below to aid chose the filter that is best for the situation. All black and white images were shot on Kodak Tri-10 Pan flick using a Canon F1 with a 50mm f1.4 lens. The colour images were shot with a Sony A7R2 with a 50mm f1.8 lens. The movie was scanned on a flat bed scanner and each image was processed for exposure only and dissimilarity was non manipulated.

Hoya 25A - Red Filter

The 25A Carmine filter will make reds a very light gray. As nosotros movement further away on the color wavelength chart, density increases to nigh blackness as we go to green and beyond. Since the filter is on the far left of the chart it provides very dramatic contrast changes. A lot of mural and architectural photographers volition use this filter to create dramatic separation between blue skies, trees, clouds, and buildings. The filter nearly eliminates all Blue UV haze resulting in well-baked, sharp images of distant subjects like mountains.

The filter can be hard to see through depending on the lighting conditions. Nosotros recommend composing and focusing prior to attaching the filter. You volition demand to compensate for 3-stops of light loss when determining your exposure.

Hoya YA3 - Orange Filter

    This filter is more versatile and more than popular for everyday landscape shooting because information technology is effective but much less contrasty than the 25A Red. The orange filter helps separate each of the nearly colors but is less dramatic when shooting blue skies because the complementary color pushes into the deep blue range which is across the typical bluish heaven. This translates to lighter and more natural looking tones for bluish skies. It is also great on overcast days when trying to carve up h2o, cloudy skies and foreground.

    The filter is not every bit dark as the red filter and it is possible for most to focus and compose with the filter attached. You will demand to compensate for 2-stops of light loss when determining your exposure.

    Hoya K2 - Yellow Filter

      This is the most popular filter for everyday shooting. It is effective at filtering out the blue/violet/UV light that kills contrast and provides a nice balance of dissimilarity between all colors without being also dramatic. Great for outdoors, buildings, landscapes, and people. Considering y'all only lose 1/2-stop of low-cal information technology is easy to focus and compose. Your camera's built-in meter can typically compensate accurately with the filter attached.

      Hoya X0 - Yellowish-Light-green Filter

      This filter is a subtle fashion to aid dissever light-green tones from ane some other. This is best used in forests, gardens, and situations where yellow-dark-green to bluish-green foliage needs separation from one another. Yellow-green plants volition become lighter and Blue-greenish plants will be darker. Without the filter those types of plants volition render the aforementioned greyness tone and lack contrast. You lot will demand to compensate for 1 ane/two-stops of light loss when determining your exposure.

      Hoya X1 - Greenish Filter

      Substantially the opposite effect created by Red. Bluish skies will get lighter and accept a similar tone to the clouds, leaves and copse will also exist lighter. Reds and oranges will be darker. The filter is helpful when green is the predominate color in the scene and yous want to create separation between each blazon of light-green. It also helps create separation betwixt the ocean (bluish-green = lighter) and the sky (blue-violet = darker). You will need to compensate for 2-stops of light loss when determining your exposure.