Orange Filter Question

[sparky30]

Pardon my ifnorance.. I am new to underwater photography.. (Just got my housing today.. Haven't tried it yet) But what does an orange filter do? I know the water will filter out of some of the colors.. The deeper you go the more bland things get.. How does an orange filter fit into this?

 

[Dee]

I don't use filters but I would guess that orange to add some of the red hues that you lose at depth but it doesn't look natural.

If you have a good strobe, it will light the scene showing the natural colors. Remember thought that no matter how strong your strobe is, it's not going to cover past 3-4 ft away.

 

[raxafarian]

the orange filter restores some of the reds and yellows (these are the first colors to go, as you descend), hence the orange filter (red + yellow = orange).

Mine is still in the box, so I can't comment on how they work.

 

[Bacchus]

Dee once bubbled...
I don't use filters but I would guess that orange to add some of the red hues that you lose at depth but it doesn't look natural.

Normally I would never disagree with you Dee, but I dove with two guys that used orange filters and either no flash or just their internal and got very natural shots, at depths that surprised me. As soon as I can find the disk I brought back from FP with a set from one of the guys I will post a couple for you. I have to think that for the diver without a good external strobe (or maybe even with one..who knows) that the orange filter would be a wise investment.

 

[Bacchus]

Bacchus once bubbled...


Normally I would never disagree with you Dee, but I dove with two guys that used orange filters and either no flash or just their internal and got very natural shots, at depths that surprised me.

OK, I stand half corrected....I found the disk and went back to look at some of the photos. They're not as "realistic" color wise as I thought, but considering the fact that Oliver didn't have any flash at all and these two shotes were taken at 60-80 feet the filter must have worked in some way! They do have somewhat of a yellow tint though

 

[Dee]

Please....disagree with me anytime you think you should!

You could be right to a degree. The only pictures I've seen taken with an orange filter are those that someone has been posting here on the board. If they haven't been worked on with PhotoShop or something similiar, to me they are too bright with exaggerated colors. I much prefer the colors in the shark pic you posted. Yes, a tinge of yellow but believeable. If that's at 60-80ft, it must have been a very bright sunny day! The second picture is too garrish. I've had that same species of clown fish in my aquarium and they do not have blue stripes and lemon yellow fins.

The only filters I have any experience with underwater is my dive mask. It's a Sea Vision with light red lenses. Yes, it does replace some of the reds/oranges/yellows at depths deeper than 30ft. But below about 50ft, they add nothing at all. I ass-u-me camera filters would be very similiar.

If someone had no strobe at all, the filter could help to a degree, but I wouldn't expect outstanding color replacement.

 

[Crispy]

The Orange filter will help more with color negative (print) film but probably would be more difficult to accurately use with color positive (slide) film. For the beginer who is testing their techniques and running their Gold 100 down to the local pharmacy for 1-hour processing, the added orange hue, will help with processing. Many printers can only-or- will only, correct for a certain amount of excess blue. The orange filter will reduce some of the excess blue on the original negative which will in turn reduce the need to remove it during printing.

So don't discount the orange filter just yet. If nothing else it will help you gain a certain degree of contrast if you try B&W film, which is generally a poor choice for U/W and Hot Air Ballon Pics.

Hope this helps.

-Crispy

 

[normaldiver]

Has anyone used Kodak Underwater processing? I used it a couple of times. The first time I was very happy with it and the second time I was disappointed.

 

[clive francis]

Bacchus once bubbled...


OK, I stand half corrected....I found the disk and went back to look at some of the photos. They're not as "realistic" color wise as I thought, but considering the fact that Oliver didn't have any flash at all and these two shotes were taken at 60-80 feet the filter must have worked in some way! They do have somewhat of a yellow tint though

from the way that shark was looking at the camera/diver, I'm surprised there was a tint of brown in the water

 

[Finesse]

BUT....on a most recent trip... the video that one of the DM's shot was taken using a filter ...... and that came out real nice !!!! Of course the conditions will make a difference …. the better the visibility the more effective and the better the results you will see…well that goes without saying for any type of photography with or without strobes / filters etc. The video footage was taken in 65-75 ' with well over 150' visibility. When you play it back on the TV it looks like your looking into an aquarium .... no smoke and mirrors ...just a filter

I'm surprised there was a tint of brown in the water

.......That is an Awesome shot!!!