Ann Radnich (annr@scs.unr.edu) wrote:
>: I've been told that when shooting B&W film, you should use a
>: yellow K2 filter. Does anybody know what effect this filter has on >: the final product? I'm mostly using my camera for sports and other
>: photojournalistic endeavors. I don't know if this matters. (..)

I would ignore the advice you were given - you will just give up about
2/3 stop of film speed, with little or no visible difference in the photos (except what is caused by meter error due to the camera TTL meter's color response errors). The sample photos in photo books showing
what wonderous results are to be had using a medium yellow filter are
laughable if you try to duplicate those photos. Unless you live in an area where the air is VERY clear, most color filters will show (at best)
only the most subtle changes in B&W images when compared with images made without filters (assuming that exposures have been made correctly
on normal-contrast, normal color sensitivity films, with the correct
filter-factors applied). Exceptions to the above are the orange and
red filters (2, and 3 stop filters), which on reasonably clear days will
show noticeable darkening of blue skies. If you process standard films
for normal contrast and expose the film correctly, blue skies will
show as light grey in the photo, and clouds in the sky will show without using filters - the resulting images will have a natural, unexaggerated look to them.
Hope this helps.