Filter for vignetting with a 50mm Canon f1:1.8 lens

[hatziteo]

How can I achieve a nice vignetting result using the 50mm 1:1.8 canon lens? could you suggest me some filter for this? I usually shoot 35mm in B&W

thanks in advance

[bill@lapetelabs.com]

Hi hatziteo, I just stumbled upon your post. I've used several UV filters stacked in front of the lens and a lens shade from a tele lens that will fit to create a vignette on the image!

[jeffreyg]

Bill,

On the rather rare occasions that I vignette I prefer to do it when printing since that offers more control plus you have a negative that you might change your mind about and less layers of glass. The same goes for diffusion. For that try two pieces of 1/4 inch thick glass with some baby oil in between. "Smusch" them around holding them under the enlarger lens til you get the effect you want.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

[hatziteo]

thank you both for the tips ;-)

[Galah]

Stacking filters and using an undersized lenshood will certainly produce vignetting, but it tends to be rather harsh, unpleasant, "hard" in nature. What could be used to provide a more subtle effect?

Perhaps something like a graduated neutral density filter with a large, oval, clear centre spot and a graduated increase in density from the centre outwards.

Is such a thing available? How could one manufacture one DIY?

Maybe smearing an UV filter with tinted petroleum jelly would work?

[brucemuir]

Try a nylon stocking over the lens with a hole cut in it although I agree with Galah that you have much more control at the printing stage.

[Galah]

Just to keep the thread going a little longer, I have been reading a photographic "how to" book, printed in the 1980's and, much to my surprise, in the chapter on filters, found several photographs illustrating the uses of a variety of -presumably- commercially available (at the time) vignetting lens filters, both circular and oval in effect.

I'd love to get some!

[hatziteo]

Try a nylon stocking over the lens with a hole cut in it although I agree with Galah that you have much more control at the printing stage.

I tried many things. Some of them worked, others didnt. So I ended up that its much easier to add a vignetting effect when printing using a mask, plus you can also keep the "original" picture. Anyway, its always fun experimenting

[moki]

Vignetting the print is much easier and you don't ruin a perfectly good picture if you don't like it afterwards... but if you want a negative with vignette, I recommend using a cheap UV-filter (aka protection filter), coloring it with black marker pen and then carefully rubbing away some of the paint in the middle. I had rather nice results with that, though I used a broken dark yellow filter for that Lomo-look. It's not very useful for wide angle lenses, smaller apertures and close focus though, because it looks really ugly when the dirty filter comes into focus.