Filters---8, or 12? or 15?

[John Kasaian]

So I'm slowly putting together a filter kit for B&W 8x10 based on 67mm which will cover most of my lenses, replacing my worn out Lee rubber band based system. 67mm Filters ain't cheap so being a bottom feeder, I'm buying used filters so I'm limited by whats available on the used market. While I would like B+W or Heliopan, I've never had a complaint with Tiffen, Hoya Vivitar or Singh-ray so they're my preference over the used unknowns. So far I've collected a Yellow Green (Green#11) Orange (#21) and a Blue (#80B for foggy landscapes---hey it only cost me $4) but I still lack a Yellow filter, so I'm wondering which one to be on the look out for ---#15, #12, or #8? Which would be the most useful? I'm guessing #15 should be out of the race as it is close to the #21 I already have. Some have told me that haze being so bad because of pollution, a #12 is preferable to Ansel's fave #8.
What say you experts?

[Jac@stafford.net]

John, I have no idea if they would work with your lenses, but I have all of Linhof's filters from IR to polarizers and their filter holder/lens shades. All together it was economical compared to matching conventional filters. I am set for life.
.

[neil poulsen]

Ansel Adams also spoke well of 12. Between 8 and 12, the latter is my preference. Depending on the circumstances, it can render quite a dark sky.

Added later, I use HP 5 film.

[John Kasaian]

Thanks!

[Lachlan 717]

15 for me; too little effect (skies) with anything less.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi!

What follows might not be very helpful in the field, but I have re-plotted transmission curves for useful Wratten filters.
See the attached pdf chart
wratten-3-29.pdf

In the series:
3 4 8 9 12 15 16 21 22 23A 24 25 26 29
all filter curves exhibit exactly the same shape, it is a simple "step-shaped" curve, cutting wavelengths shorter than a certain limit, only the cut-off wavelength gradually moves from 460 nm (in the blue region, for #3 = light yellow) to 620 nm (in the red region, for #29, deep red).

Hence, which # you need depends on the subject

I mainly use #8, medium yellow and an orange which is probably #21 or #22.

#25 is the red separation filter for analogue photogravure or tricolor photography with B&W film.

Not kidding, several of those filters are probably unavailable, or useless, today ... however IMHO it is interesting to consider them as part of the same family, namely the "single step" curve, from "blue-cutting" filters to "blue and green" cutting filters.

I have taken the data from this document available on the 'net
http://www.karmalimbo.com/aro/pics/f...%20filters.pdf

The first page of this document has a very short description of each filter and its use.

originally published in
CRC Handbook Chemistry & Physics 74th/1993/94 / Inc., CRC Press (ISBN 0849304741)
Transmission of Wratten® Filters
Compiled by Allie C. Peed, Jr. for The Eastmann Kodak Company

[John Kasaian]

Wow! Thank you, Emmanuel!
With my Lee polyester filters I did pretty well with a #8 and a #21 for most of my landscapes.

[cowanw]

Number 12 for me, which should be a minus blue, less than 500 nm, at a 1.5 factor.
Still you really have to try them. they just move up stepwise like soldiers and you pick what you like.
Here is a wee graph of the yellows in the bottom left corner of the main advert.
https://www.fotoimpex.de/shopen/came...eter-24mm.html

Ah, Emmanuel did it better!

[Doremus Scudder]

A #12 filter will likely be harder to find than a #8 filter. #15 is billed as "deep yellow" but is really and orange (G in the Hoya designation) filter. I find it a bit too strong when I want yellow filtration, but just right when I need something intermediate between yellow and red. FWIW, my stripped-down filter kit is: #8, #11 (yellow-green), #15, #25, 80A (which I use like I would a #44 filter to achieve ortho effects on panchromatic film) and a polarizer.

Best,

Doremus

[Mark Sampson]

Choice of these filters is driven by 1) personal taste and 2) the atmosphere where you are shooting. Where I live, at low altitudes in the humid East, the yellow filters have less effect than in the dry West. So I've used all of the filters mentioned.
But my taste in pictures doesn't call for really dark skies very often.
I generally use a #8 or #9 (gel). My favorite is the lighter #6; the 12 and 15 over-correct for my taste. That's in upstate NY (humid, often gray) and on Cape Cod. There when the day is right the skies can be so deep blue no filter is required, and I have sometimes struggled to print over-filtered negatives. When in Arizona and New Mexico, a #8 filter has worked the best.
You live in California, near the Sierra, so I imagine high altitudes and dry air. And I don't know how you like your pictures; still I think a plain old yellow #8 will serve you very well.