Warming filters

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Leica Photography : One Thread

I know this is a bit off topic (not directly Leica related) but this is just such a great forum so Iīll give it a try. I am shopping for a warming filter to use for my color photography. I use fuji Provia 100F and Velvia and do experience blue color casts in photos taken in the shade (especially if itīs a blue sky day), what kind of filtration do you guys use for this situation? Also can anyone recommend a good book on color photography (especially color temperature and filtration. Thanks.

-- Jonas Vilslev (jonasvilslev@groenjord.dk), October 04, 2001

Answers

Get an 81B. The 81A isn't really strong enough and the 81C is too warm.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

Both B+W & Heliopan make a KR series. Personally, I much prefer these to the 81 series, which are a little to yellow for my taste. I'd start with the basic KR 1.5 which is what they call a skylight filter. The color seems to be slightly salmon.

-- Leicaddict (leicaddict@hotmail.com), October 04, 2001.

I too use the multicoated B+W KR1.5 filters. They are of excellent quality and will not degrade image quality........

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

B+W KR3 is a very special warming formula, and it works very well for taking the blue cast out of images lit by large area of sky.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), October 04, 2001.

Jonas: I concur with 81 series A through D depending on how much correction you need - for correcting blue. If you're under trees where there also some green, then the Skylight (which is pinker) may do better. To my taste the KR 1.5 filters are nearly indentical to 81a filters and I use them interchangeably (since Heliopan is the only filter brand sold around here in 39mm/60mm and other weird Leica sizes).

While we're on the subject, let me throw in a related question that isn't worth a thread of its own.

I recently came across the following 'warming' filter; 39mm, chrome mount, marked E. Leitz - 39mm - CF.

It is a very pale warming filter, slightly stronger and more yellow than an 81-series filter (but definitely NOT a yellow filter as might be used in B&W photography). It is also not intense enough to be a daylight/tungsten correction - and seems too far towards yellow to be a Kodachrome A/tungsten convertor.

Fairly clearly a pre-1970/probably pre-1960 filter of some kind. Does anyone know what it is? (I've tried the big red Leica collectors guide - millions of filters - none close to this.)

Seems like the CF might stand for Color Film or Color Flash or some such.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), October 04, 2001.



You can do a lot of warming with a skylight filter. A direct comparison with and without the skylight filter on an overcast day will reveal a very strong difference. When even more warming is needed, the Tiffen 812 acts like a heavy-duty skylight. There is the question, of course, of whether one wants to use a Tiffen filter on a Leica. I'm no filter snob, but I do have reservations about that.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), October 10, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ