[LargeFormat] Confused Uncle Seeks Truth

[Brock Nanson]

Answers in line...

On Sun, 4 May 2003, rstein wrote:

> Dear Friends,
> 
>      Uncle Dick has been reading about soemthing called a Redhancer filter.
> Apparently this will boost up the red tones in a colour picture while
> leaving the other colours unaffected. A special glass, I believe.
> 
>      I am intrigued. I need guidance before I spend my own money. ( If I am
> spending someone else's money I can do it freehand - this is a principle
> very popular with the government....)
> 
>     1.    Does it really work?

In a word - yes.
 
>     2.     Does it work in red only or does it extend to orange and yellow?

I seem to recall it blocks a narrow band of colour (blue??) that 
effectively brightens the warm colours.  Red is especially good, but I 
seem to thing that orange and gold does see some improvement.

>     3.     How much of a boost is there?

Depending on the subject, it can be overpowering at times!  Most subjects 
are quite impressive.
 
>     4.     Is it an effect that is dependant upon the angle of the sun or
> rotation of the filter like a polarising filter?

It doesn't rotate, and I don't think the sun angle has any effect.  It 
functions simply by deleting a narrow wavelength from the spectrum.  
Plenty of good web sites should show up with Google to explain the 
science.
 
>     5.    Does it affect red tones in a negative and a transparency film
> equally?

I shoot only transparency for colour so can't say, but I'd expect you 
might see a subtle change to black and white film.
 
>     6.     Can your eye see these changes in the red tones when you look
> through the filter at the scene that you want to photograph?

Absolutely.  You need to program your eye to account for the various 
saturations of the films you use however!!
 
>     7.    Is there an exposure increase needed?

A very minor one... I don't usually even factor it in.
 
>     8.     Is there a similar filter that works on other colours? ie blue or
> green.

Don't know about that one!
 
>      I hope someone in the landscape line has had some experience with one
> of these and can report. Many thanks for the help.

I love mine.  I believe it's a Tiffen, but without digging through the 
gear I couldn't say for sure.  You do need to be somewhat careful in using 
it... if you aren't you'll wind up with some shots that are either 
overblown or just weird.  I find that blue skys gray out significantly.  I 
used it on some Lotus flowers on a holiday... they are quite pinkish.  The 
trannys came back absolutely fantastic... like cranking the saturation up 
in Photoshop, but very selectively.  It looks natural, just amazingly 
bright.  But I also used it on an old abandonned train in Lowanna NSW (old 
red brown flaking paint) and didn't like the results.  In this case, the 
effect was too much and the sky didn't look correct.  So I often use it 
for a frame if I think it might be beneficial, but also shoot one 
uncorrected 'just in case'.

For the price, it makes a nice addition to the filter pack.  Have a look 
at: http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/filters.html

-- 
Brock Nanson
Kamloops BC Canada