Filters for Black & White

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Black_and_White_Photography : One Thread

What filter systems have people found most useful - round glass vs gelatin vs resin. I do mostly outdoor photography and am concerned about buying filters for every lens size, but is using a filter haolder and changing it to different lenses more of a hassle? loower quality image?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 1997

Answers

I have always used good quality glass filters, I worry about the surface of resin filters scratching. All of my filters are 72mm, which is the largest size filter I need for my largest lens. I use step down rings to get me to the other size lenses that I use. If you have some really small lens requirements you may need to use two rings. The other advantage to using stepdown rings is that I only need two metal lens hoods for all of my lenses. I use the same filters for all my cameras, 35mm to large format. If you do decide to go this route, I urge you to spend a little more and get "good" filters, and then take care of them, they will last a very long time!

-- Anonymous, August 11, 1997

I've just switched to acrylic filters using the Lee filter system. I used glass filters for years abd they were fine but I found that I broke more glass filters than I've ever scratched acrylic ones. The acrylic ones are much lighter and easier to store in a backpack and if you're a klutz like me they're a lot safer. Case and point : I dropped my 77mm red filter (glass) while trying to set-up on an incline rock face in So Utah. It wasn't that precarious but the filter impacted and glass popped out of the ring and broke. I was 3 days into a 9 day trip! For the rest of the trip I had to borrow from others If I'd had my new acrylic I may have gotten a scatch but I'd have been a lot better off

-- Anonymous, November 10, 1997

Moderation questions? read the FAQ