Red Filter Study in B&W - Comments Please

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/08/2004 11:05:44 PM · #1

I recently got a red lens filter because I've read how colored filters have interesting effects on B&W shots. I went out and took a few shots to see what would happen and this is one that I thought turned out pretty interesting.

I'm interested in hearing what others have to say. Thanks!

moodville

Nikon D100

01/08/2004 11:23:15 PM · #2

It looks fairly flat, not much contrast there. Was there any red in the original image? Normally using the channel mixer to get b&w instead of just a straight desat usually helps too.

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

01/08/2004 11:30:38 PM · #3

I got one of those for xmas, cbeller, tried it out and returned much the same result. I went back and exchanged it for an IR filter.

I imagine the reds work better on film cams.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

01/08/2004 11:36:40 PM · #4

I agree that it is quite flat, the result is not all that pleasing to me. It seems to me that the red filter is just going to greatly reduce the response of the blue and green channels, leaving a very red image. Since the red channel has the most noise on virtually all cams, this is not really a good thing!
I much prefer to use the channel mixer to get B+W images.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/08/2004 11:41:58 PM · #5

I went in and made selective color and contrast adjustments. Thanks for the comments so far.

Here's the adjusted version

zeuszen

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II

01/08/2004 11:44:44 PM · #6

You probably got as nearly much out of it as you can. After all, via that filter, there is only so much visual data left.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

01/08/2004 11:49:02 PM · #7

Originally posted by zeuszen:

You probably got as nearly much out of it as you can. After all, via that filter, there is only so much visual data left.

I'll have to take the same shot with no filter and make all the adjustments in PS and see what happens. The red filter was included in a group of filters I bought for $10 off Ebay, so no big deal if I don't use it. Something to mess around with though. :-)

faidoi

Pentax K10D

01/09/2004 01:52:55 AM · #8

What did the image look like straight out of the camera? I was at the Borders and I flipped through a book:The Photographer's Guide to Filters (Photographers Guide) that may be helpful.

I just purchase a $8.00 Warming Filter Tiffen 812 myself. It's suppose to be the next filter to buy after the Circular Polariser and the Neutral Density.

Message edited by author 2004-01-09 02:03:03.

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/09/2004 02:37:40 AM · #9

Originally posted by faidoi:

I just purchase a $8.00 Warming Filter Tiffen 812 myself. It's suppose to be the next filter to buy after the Circular Polariser and the Neutral Density.

Cool thing on PS CS...has the photo filter as an adjustment now, so legal, instead of as a layer. Has warming, cooling, and any color ya like. Works well also.

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

01/09/2004 02:41:31 AM · #10

You can do much the same thing as the red filter does in PS with the full color image by turning down the other color channels.

01/09/2004 06:48:40 AM · #11

I have not had good luck with red filters in digital photography. If your camera has a b/w mode, I would suggest using that mode while the red filter is applied. Red filters are used primarily in b/w photography to increase the contrast in the image. As you can see by your example, it has not had that effect on your photo.

01/09/2004 06:58:50 AM · #12

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

You can do much the same thing as the red filter does in PS with the full color image by turning down the other color channels.

You may be right, but I don't believe this is true. Desaturating any color set in a given digital image does not affect the contrast of the image. I have been unable to duplicate the film red filter effect (b/w film) on digital. I have tried a lot of different things.

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/09/2004 07:06:52 AM · #13

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

This works prety much the same in IR. The black and white mode vs color with IR filter can look different. Just from the little bit I have done

Message edited by author 2004-01-09 07:07:09.

01/09/2004 07:12:03 AM · #14

Originally posted by dacrazyrn:

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I have not had good luck with red filters in digital photography. If your camera has a b/w mode, I would suggest using that mode while the red filter is applied. Red filters are used primarily in b/w photography to increase the contrast in the image. As you can see by your example, it has not had that effect on your photo.

This works prety much the same in IR. The black and white mode vs color with IR filter can look different. Just from the little bit I have done

I have had decent luck with IR. It just required a little extra post processing with the images from my Sony...

01/09/2004 07:51:09 AM · #15

Originally posted by faidoi:

What did the image look like straight out of the camera? I was at the Borders and I flipped through a book:The Photographer's Guide to Filters (Photographers Guide) that may be helpful.

Here is the original out of the camera.

Thanks for the link too.

I'll have to try this again in B&W mode, like you suggested, Setz. I'm also going to look into an IR filter as well. I like the effect that you showed.

01/09/2004 07:52:59 AM · #16

As I think about this, I don't think b/w mode will make any difference.

01/09/2004 08:40:32 AM · #17

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

As I think about this, I don't think b/w mode will make any difference.

That makes sense, because the filter will affect the colors the same way, regardless, correct?

Originally posted by faidoi:

I was at the Borders and I flipped through a book:The Photographer's Guide to Filters (Photographers Guide) that may be helpful.

I just ordered this once I realized it was a Lee Frost book. I have his AtoZ book that I like a lot.

01/09/2004 08:42:58 AM · #18

yup.

ewall53

Nikon D100

01/09/2004 09:19:16 AM · #19

I desaturated first, adjusted the contrast, etc. then used a CS red warming filter. I'm not sure of the results you were looking for. I've not been able to view this site in a while. Hoping to be able to learn from all of you on a regular basis!null

Message edited by author 2004-01-09 09:20:44.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

01/09/2004 09:32:22 AM · #20

From what I can tell, a red filter is most often used to accentuate contrast in the sky, between clouds and blue sky.

It would seem in the example you showed, that the red filter just served to remove any contrast between the tree and house/ barn giving you a really flat shot - probably due to the similarities in the other colours in the grey barn and grey tree after filtering.

You can get a roughly similar effect to the various filters by adjusting the mix of red, green and blue while using the channel mixer in monochromatic mode - I've been able to effectively get the same results using filters and channel mixer with custom white balance in camera that I can get using film. It has meant that other than GND and polarising filters, I haven't bothered carrying any other filters with my digital camera - you plain don't need them.

01/09/2004 10:25:36 AM · #21

Originally posted by ewall53:

I like the results you got there, Elaine. I guess I need to upgrade from PS6 to CS so I can play with the new filters.

Gordon - I'll work on doing all the adjustments in PS and see what happens. I would much rather use PS than have to carry around filters. I'm still learning what all I can do with PS.