72mm, 75mm, 80mm, & 90mm center filter

[Old-N-Feeble]

You can't photoshop correct negative density gradation into something if it doesn't exist
on the film in the first place. You might be able to fake it to some degree, but a center
filter makes life a helluva lot easier to begin with. Otherwise, you're just playing that "latitude" bullshit game, and risking part of the image being on the wrong part of the
film curve. With color neg film this can easily lead to a color shift in the underexposed
portions, or with chrome, unrecoverable density. Actual experience will tell you when you
should apply a center filter, or how necessary it is to your personal work. But I wouldn't
dream of going onto a commercial architectural job without the proper one.

Yes... "cipping" is clipping whether analog or digital. Variances on the "curved" tonal scales require some delicate tweaking even if within tolerances... and those tolerances change between any given color film's layers... the curves of each layer change nonlinearly.

[Alan Gales]

I'm interested in picking up a wider lens.
Do any of these lenses: 72mm, 75mm, 80mm, & 90mm work better with a center filter?
I'm trying to figure out which size lens to buy. I don't have a specific purpose, I want something wider than my 150

Thanks for the help


I would first buy the lens in the focal length that I wanted. I would use the lens and then decide if I wanted a center filter for it. For example, it would be a bit silly to buy a 90mm which you didn't really like all that well just to keep from buying a center filter when you really wanted something a lot wider than 90mm.

r

[rpalm]

Thanks everyone for the advice.
I have been shooting B&W 4x5 and sometimes I do shift the lens.
I'm excited to try a wider lens than I have now, thanx for the help!

r

[rdenney]

You can't photoshop correct negative density gradation into something if it doesn't exist
on the film in the first place.

Absolutely. The narrower the film, the more the corners will drop into blackness if the center holds the highlights. I've shot a 47/5.6 Super Angulon right to its edges, and the falloff is enough to drop the bottom half of the film's range into unrestorable shadow. I can brighten the highlights, but the contrast balance will still be visible. As Drew says, with negative film, the result is color crossover in my experience. Black and white, when developed for maximum range, gets away with it better, but you can still drop stuff into the toe of the characteristic curve.

The shorter the lens, the more likely one is working at the edges of its coverage. And the closer to the edge, the greater the falloff. Super Angulons and lenses of similar design are about as good as it gets in an approximately symmetrical design--their apertures appear round (if they appear at all) even at the extremes of coverage. But the light is spread over more film because of the acute angle. Only a strong retrofocus design--not done in conventional view camera lenses--can correct that issue. The view camera lenses provide superb sharpness and lack of distortion in return.

I routinely use a center filter with my 65mm Super Angulon when using 4x5. But I do not use one on my 90 or 121, neither of which I usually use at their limits of coverage.

Rick "still hoping to find a dirt-cheap center filter for the 47 someday" Denney

[Old-N-Feeble]

Years ago a co-worker tried to convince me about a software product he found that could "interpolate" digital data that was never there. He claimed the thing could understand and "restore" the image of a bird perched on a limb even though only six pixels represented the bird.

Hey... if it ain't there... it ain't there. Just do the right thing whether that's digital or analog. Like a beautiful lady... everything between the toes and the shoulders is great. Everything beyond that is just a headache and a losing battle!!