Fun With Filters!

[Guest dpforum1968]

Howdy All,

 

I was wondering if I could get some feedback on what filters many of you like to use in various situations to give you that particular look.

 

I don't use filters much, mainly I use a rotating polarizer to blue up the sky when needed.

 

What filters do you guys like to use and when?

 

DC

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Ditto, polariser. Lives on my camera - every last bit of contrast I can get with the omnipresent overcast here is worth having.

 

Also promist style mist filters. Shot with video, then grade the shadows down so that the obvious flare is minimised in dark areas - really helps with hilights, but it is obviously a specific look which isn't always right.

 

Phil

[Michael Nash]

Color correction and ND filters are essential for any photography, and the next basic filter set would be diffusion to control sharpness between focal lengths. Everybody has their favorites for different applications.

 

But for more "creative" work, I like ND grads a lot. It's fun to find ways to subtly control the frame while hiding or disguising the grad line. I've got some blue and pink grads as well, but the artificial color can be harder to disguise.

 

For me the fun is in trying to blend filters into a look as seemlessly and invisibly as possible, so that you just notice a good image and not a filter. Especially when you're switching filters between shots.

[David Mullen ASC]

For shooting HD, I consider the Pola and the ND grad to be essential. I also carry an ND.3 since the camera's internal ND filters cut light in two-stop jumps.

 

Otherwise, I usually carry something to soften close-ups, like a Soft-FX 1/2 and 1.

 

Diopters for shooting inserts.

 

Optical flat to protect the camera when something explodes near the lens, blood splatter, etc.

 

And of course, the ND's and 85's, etc. for film shoots.

[Tony Brown]

I carry Pola's Grads ND's Blenders 81ef's and a few light nets for the ladies... Also Pro mist and Fogs but very rarely use them.

 

I've owned my own filters for several years now as I got fed up with the inconsistant quality coming from renting. Best thing I ever did.

 

I like the Blenders a lot.

[sophia olsson]

Does anybody know about a good site where they describe the different filters, or maybe even have pictures of the difference? That would be great because I need to know what is out there and then do some tests.

 

Thank you!

/Lisa

[Patrick Neary]

Hi- Gerald Hirschfeld wrote a good book on filters for film & video, full of examples and even ideas for home-crafting your own!

[Christian Appelt]

"Image Control: Motion Picture and Video Camera Filters and Lab Techniques"

by Gerald Hirschfeld, Julia Tucker

 

Out of print, but sometimes used on eBay...

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

http://www.camerafilters.co.uk/

 

Carey Duffy is the very nice guy who runs South London Filter; it's possibly the most comprehensive side-by-side filter comparison I've ever come across.

 

Phil

[Michael Nash]

I like the Blenders a lot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Okay, that's a new one on me. What's a Blender?

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Very long grads.

 

Tony, what size filters do you own?

 

Phil

[J Costantini]

Why should I use a diffusion filter to control sharpness between focal lengths?

 

And what exactly do the SOFT-FX filters do?

Won´t they make the close-up look too soft comparing to the wider shots? What should I do to avoid it?

 

What about the diopter? is that the one used to put an especific area of the frame in focus?

 

Thanks

[DavidSloan]

From my limited experience I like choclate as a warming filter, I LOVE the blue/grey for a bleaker winter look, black promist, and the obvious ones like NDs and Polas.

 

I've heard a lot of negative about Fog filters...people consider them very cheesy. What are your guys take on them?

 

@Nillo: Soft-FX do what they imply-they soften the image. People like to diffuse CUs because it is a more complimetary look to an actor then shooting raw with a sharp lens. You've been watching films all your life...how many times have you been jarred by a soft CU compared to a sharp master shot? Unless it's an old B&W when they cut from a sharp master to a frontly lit, netted CU, of Dietriech's face @ 2 stops over exposed, you shouldn't feel much of a change. :lol:

 

You are correct about the diopter.

[J Costantini]

yes

I can only remember of one time when I felt the difference.

In "The Terminal" for the Catharine Zeta Jones´ CUs.

Watching on the big screen, of course.

 

Thanks.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

They are cheesy, but I find them very helpful in dealing with hilights in video - especially if you then crush blacks later, which drags the whole contrast up as a side-effect, minimising the visibility of the effect elsewhere.

 

Phil

[David Mullen ASC]

Soft-FX is a diffusion filter with less of a hazy, glowing (halated) look than ProMists. Sometimes when shooting a close-up, the details in the face are too obvious so some mild diffusion shouldn't be too jarring compared to the wide shots. However, since ProMists impart a "look", it's hard to use them just for close-ups (Black ProMists maybe). Soft-FX, Classic Softs, Diffusion-FX, etc. are subtle enough in the lighter grades that you can go unfiltered in the wider shots and not see a jump in black levels, etc. compared to ProMists.

 

Fog Filters predated ProMists and were used in the 1970's to make colors more pastel and soften contrast (originally they were designed to simulate fog.) Geoffrey Unsworth's work of the time used them heavily (Bridge Too Far, Superman, Lucky Lady, Murder on the Orient Express, etc.) When high-speed film stock came out in the 1980's, Fog Filters tended to exaggerate the graininess. ProMists were a little better in this regard.

 

One of the earlier creative uses of Fog Filters was in the climax to "Black Narcissus", the dawn sequence. They were also used for most of John Huston's "Moulin Rouge" and for parts of "Vertigo".

[Guest fstop]

I'm really REALLY loving black promists for DSR 500- I have shot with 1 and a half-2 in front of the lens and it gives everything that wonderful John Hora look. I just LOVE the splashy results you get on highlights and anything white- You can go more Jackson Pollock with the bigger lights!

 

Also, 1.5-2 black promists with the addition of ultra sheer womens tights behind the lens can make ANYONE look gorgeous without compromisng any contrast.

 

Not for everyone's tastes but certainly the stuff I can relate to the most! :D

[Tim Tyler]

Does anybody know about a good site where they describe the different filters, or maybe even have pictures of the difference? That would be great because I need to know what is out there and then do some tests.

 

Try this: http://www.posteffects.com/usersguide/tiffen/tiffen0.htm

[Michael Nash]

What about the diopter? is that the one used to put an especific area of the frame in focus?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You're partly right. A diopter is a lens element that adjusts the focus (you adjust the diopter in the viewfinder to focus the image for each opertor's eye).

 

Diopters can cover the whole lens, AKA "close focus" diopters to let you focus close on small inserts like David suggests. There are also "split field" diopters, which are essentially close focus diopters cut in half. These are what you use when you want part of the frame focused close but the rest of the image focused farther away. You see them most often with anamorphic photography since it's harder to force a "focus split" with those lenses. But you could use them with any format if you like.

[Greg Gross]

Polarizer is an absolute must and one filter you should always have with

you. I see someone taught you well. Take some time and real slowly watch

what a polarizer will do in between the dark blue sky setting. I often use grad-

uated neutral density filters. If the sky is much brighter than the landscape, a

graduated neutral density filter can cut down on the contrast range in the frame

for a more even exposure. It can darken a washed out sky, you can hold the

filter out in front of the camera,and look through it to see the result you will get.

These filters are available in different dgrees of gradation. The delineation be-

tween the dark and light areas of the filter is very gradual. For example you

want to use a graduated filter with a gradual change on a landscape scene and

a graduated with an abrupt change on a seascape in which the horizon line is in

the frame. To turn a gray sky to a blue one,there are graduated blue filters.

from light blue to dark blue. Orange,red,and other color graduated filters are

also available to add color to a gray sky. I use these filters shooting with a PD-

170 in mini-dv format. Recently on a two week shoot at the atlantic ocean, the

graduated neutral density filters proved their worth to me.

 

Greg Gross,Professional Photographer

Student Cinematographer

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

Polarizer is an absolute must and one filter you should always have with

you. I see someone taught you well. Take some time and real slowly watch

what a polarizer will do in between the dark blue sky setting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Some people hate (I don't hate, but not a fan of it) when you pola the sky (to an extreme) all the time, because it's definitley a 'look.' You also have to watch out because you can create some big changes in sky color that won't look to good in the edited shot. I find polas useful for toning down specular bounce from landscapes. I'm not saying you're guilty of anything Greg, I just wanted to point that out to less experienced users.

[Michael Nash]

You also have to watch out because you can create some big changes in sky color that won't look to good in the edited shot. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This is the reason I rarely use polarizers. It often creates inconsistent quality of light and color between the various angles in a sequence. For individual shots they can be great, but for general purpose shooting they become more of a hinderance to keep fine-tuning with each shot.

[Greg Gross]

Yes gentlemen,point well taken concerning use of polarizer filter. My favorite

use is seeing through water and creating warmth(warming polarizer filter act-

ually two filters in one). Have you ever been out there though wishing you had

a polarizing filter but did'nt have one? I think one must take time to adjust the

circular polarizer and look at its effect. I know there is always not a lot of time

to do that and other methods exist. I was on a shoot once where the DP absol-

utely had to have a polarizing filter(forgot to bring one),crewmember ended up

driving 50 miles to photo supply store to get one. Actually we could have done

without it and in the long run it was not all that valuable to the shoot. Still I do

not want to be caught without one. Warming polarizers combine a polarizing

filter with a warming filter. If you like deeper shades of yellow and red you

might want to try one where called for. I think the bottom line is that you have

to be well aware of the effects that any filter can have in the frame,scene. The

posts on this subject here have been great!

 

Greg Gross,Professional Photographer

Student Cinematographer

[Michael Nash]

Have you ever been out there though wishing you had

a polarizing filter but did'nt have one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

No, because I always carry one in my kit. ;) Even though I don't like to do entire scenes with them, they are indispensible for those times you need them (or simply want them to make the shot look better).

 

I can add another "fun" thing to do with filters, and that is to combine them with digital adjustment of the image in video cameras. The combination of filters and digital controls can create a look that's much more organic than either method used alone. I've taken Ultracon filters and combined them with chroma desaturation and lowered black levels in camera to create a more convincing bleach-bypass look than either just a filter or just DSP could have given me.

 

It's basically the same idea as matching up filters with films stocks and processing techniques to create an overall look. It's usually not the filter than makes a shot stand out; it's how it's used.

[J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR]

No, because I always carry one in my kit. ;)  Even though I don't like to do entire scenes with them, they are indispensible for those times you need them (or simply want them to make the shot look better).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Same ethic here. I'm not using one on a documentary that is mostly outdoors around an artists house. I'm not using one because I want more of 16mm/70's 'handmade' feel. I also have the luxury of shooting against the sky when it has the tone I want, but that's just the nature of this film. I probably would have used one to bring a sky exposure down by now if I was pressed for time.