Finding out whether a filter is medium or light yellow

[Marc Roessler]

Ok this may be a trivial question, but I haven't been able to answer it even after searching

for quite some time in books and on the web...

 

I have yellow filter that came with an Arri ST camera. Unfortunately it is not labeled.

According to the Arri ST catalogue, there were light yellow and medium yellow filters available.

How do I find out which one I got? I compared it with a Cokin 001 filter, which is equivalent to

a Medium Yellow #8. The Cokin seems slightly warmer and more dense, the Arri seems to be

slightly more to the greenish side, but only very slight. So, is it light or medium?

What about the greenish hue? Could it be that the filter (dyed in the mass, solid glass) has aged?

Unfortunately I haven't got a light yellow at hand, so I can't compare..

 

Are the medium yellow filters of different manufacturers comparable at all?

Is there a "pseudo standard" like "equivalent to #8", or did every manufacturer roll his own

"medium yellow", so no two are alike? Are there any hard standards on this?

 

Greetings,

Marc

[Chris Keth]

Those B&W contrast filters are all a bit different. They all perform essentially the same despite the little differences. I would find the closest match you can and use that filter factor and not worry too much.

[David Auner aac]

I have yellow filter that came with an Arri ST camera. Unfortunately it is not labeled.

According to the Arri ST catalogue, there were light yellow and medium yellow filters available. How do I find out which one I got?

 

Take a light meter and measure the light loss. That should help you when looking the filter up in a book. Maybe Arri lists the filter factor?

 

Cheers, David

[Marc Roessler]

In daylight, the Cokin loses about 2/3 to 1 stop, the Arri about 1/3 to 1/2 stop (depends against

what you measure, of course). Nothing said about filter factor in the catalogue I got..

anyone here happens to be familiar with the Arri ST filters?

 

I attached a picture showing both filters. The filter factor is a bit exaggerated by the filter

sitting flat against the white paper, so here the difference in color and density is quite visible.

Are those two really equivalent? Left: Arri yellow filter (medium/light?). Right: Cokin 001 equivalent

to medium yellow #8 (no, it is not an orange filter.. shows how far colors can be off

with some digital cameras..)

 

Greetings,

Marc

Edited January 19, 2008 by Marc Roessler