Most important filters

[E. von Hoegh]

Then forget the Softar.. that is only really useful for portraits of older women.

I've been using an Artar or an Eastman process lens for portraits. Perhaps you just explained something... (laughing smiley)

[BrianShaw]

Sure, there are other ways. I sometimes use a Fuji SF too.

[Ari]

Photoshop and third-party filter software.

[Lenny Eiger]

You don't need any filters.

+1 on Ari's comment....

Lenny

[Rayt]

I only use medium yellow, yellow green and orange for all formats and sometimes polarizer.

[chuck94022]

You don't need any filters.

+1 on Ari's comment....

Lenny

Assuming of course you are shooting color film, and don't need the shutter speed adjustments that ND filters allow.

[Doremus Scudder]

I shoot black-and-white only.

I carry two filter wallets with two identical sets of six filters each in two different sizes, 52mm and 67mm.

By far my most used filter is a polarizer.

Next in line is an orange filter, followed by yellow, green, red and blue (80B). The blue filter is to approximate ortho film. I have gels as well, but use mostly glass screw-in filters in the field.

A six-filter set is not all that expensive if you spend some time looking for what you want used (eBay is where I got most of mine). I like coated filters, so use B+W and Heliopan filters.

Many more than half of my shots are made without filters at all, maybe even 75% or more. However, when you need a filter, you need it, and they aren't so bulky or expensive to not carry with you.

Best,

Doremus

[MichelleAn]

Thank you all for the tips!
I'm jsut starting out in LF and you really helped me with your posts!

[Peter De Smidt]

With BW, the main point of colored filters is to separate tones. For instance, consider an apple tree, one with green leaves and red apples. In color, the apples will clearly stand out from the leaves of the tree, but in black and white they may end up being the same shade of gray. If one used a red filter on the camera, it would lighten the apples and darken the leaves. If one used a green filter on the camera, it would lighten the leaves and darken the apples. So, generally, with black and white film a colored filter will lighten objects of the same color and darken objects of complementary colors. This is why yellow, green, orange and red filters darken a blue sky, as they filter out some of the blue.

[Brian Ellis]

Are you printing digitally or in a darkroom? B&w or color? If you're printing digitally you don't need any of the traditional yellow, orange, etc. filters for b&w, you can do the same thing and better in Photoshop. A polarizing filter is still useful and I carry a couple graduated ND filters too. I would guess the same is true for color, i.e. you don't need the traditional color balancing filters, but I don't do enough color to really know.