Polarizers and Filers

beans · 19-12-2005 1:57pm #1

I am fairly new to the world of the 35mm SLR, and I've been having a few problems when it comes to indoor photography, using ISO400 film

In low-light scenarios, with much candle-light or low-bulb light for example, all my shots are taking on a very orange tone. I think this is due to the nature of the light being reflected from the subjects, but is there any filter you could suggest using for such shots in future?

I have read of certain filters being used for certain qualities of light, but from experience can anyone suggest rough guidelines?

Benster · 19-12-2005 3:25pm

Hi there,

I had this problem a while ago too. You're almost right, it's because the film you're using is not able to register the full spectrum of light coming in and records it as too warm. I'm not 100% sure of the physics of it, but it's to do with the wavelength of light from a tungsten light source.

You can do 2 things: either try to "cool the light down" with a blue filter (folks, am I right on this? It's been a while)

OR:

use a special film calibrated to record correct colour tones in tungsten light.

They both have their down-sides though - using a blue filter inside is going to cut the already small amount of light to an even smaller amount, so it's tripod time. And tungsten-calibrated film is hard to get and not cheap.

There's a bit more info here: http://www.photo.net/equipment/filters.html

Merrion · 19-12-2005 3:58pm

I'd actually suggest a flash gun. These have the same wavelengths (approx) as solar light so the colours will be correct....or (best of all) just go with black and white for indoor shots.

DotOrg · 19-12-2005 8:12pm

the colour of candles and bulbs is orange so you either:

- buy special tunsten balanced film (expensive and hard to find)
- use a filter or two (read www.geocities.com/cokinfiltersystem/color_corection.htm)
- accept the colour of the light and work with it
- use flash guns which are more like daylight coloured light
- switch to digital and never worry about colour casts again ;-)

beans · 19-12-2005 9:45pm

Thanks to all for the comments. I guess it's just a case of weighing up some of the more likely lights i'll be taking shots in, and finding ways around potential problems, with filters or otherwise

I'm quite fond of candid shots of people at their most relaxed and uninhibited, so you'll understand why the ability to take pleasant shots in candlelight etc appeals to me. Time to go learn some more about the cooling and warming effects of filters...

DotOrg's Link wrote:

The most common problem is when we shoot indoors with daylight balanced film and we get a dark orange cast to our pictures.

Polarizers and Filers

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