B&W Photos: Orange Filter vs No Filter

So while scrounging around the going out of business sale of a Wolf Camera store, I found a Quantarary orange filter. Arguably more relevant for film users, I wanted to try it out anyways to see how it performs. My main thought was that this could be useful for capturing cloud detail in a scene and preventing areas from being overexposed and blown out to where they are unrecoverable in Photoshop.

The filter itself was not of the highest quality, although for only 10 bucks, who can complain? While a nice filter would probably only cost $40, I just wasn't sure how worthwhile an investment it would be.

I attempted to take the same shot with and without the filter (I didn't feel like lugging my tripod around, so it's not exact). The only editing I performed was running a gradient filter in CS5 to convert the images to black and white.

First test shot:
Both shots were done in normal program mode

Orange Filter, f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/200 sec

No Filter, f/3.5, ISO 200, 1/320 sec

So one of the first things you notice is the greater detail in the clouds of the picture using the filter. There's also a loss of contrast with the filter, but I feel this helps give it a softer feel. There also seems to be some loss in quality, but I would attribute this to the poor quality of the glass rather than the effects of having a colored filter. 

Second Shot: 

Normal program mode

Orange Filter, f/2.5, ISO 200, 1/160 sec

No Filter, f/2.8 ISO 200, 1/200 sec

So the picture with no filter really has the detail blown out. Of course you could argue I should have fixed the exposure to gain more sky detail, but the main point of this experiment was to see how the camera handled the exposures with and without a filter. 

In the following picture, I set the mode to manual, f/4.0, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, and compared the results. 

No Filter

Orange Filter

I feel like both photos lost on this trial. Again, I love the sky details with the orange filter, but the orange filter blocks a significant amount of effective light compared to the image without a filter, so it is generally way too dark and details are lost. The second photo has too much contrast that doesn't really help give it the right feel. Perhaps combining the two image would provide better results..... Overall I do like the vintage feel that the orange filter provides. I need to test it on people next and continue to find situations it would be more appropriate for. 

While black and white really brings out a certain purity and essence, sometimes the color is what really speaks.

Happy Shooting!