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Archive 2012 · Film Comparison Website?

  
 
banpreso
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Film Comparison Website?


I'm relatively new to the film world. I'm wondering is there a website that shows samples of different films shooting at the same subject? I just want to get an idea on the color profile, contrast characteristic, and grain of most popular print films. I know most of this information was published before internet got popular... and now it's so hard to find!


Feb 25, 2012 at 02:21 AM
Zaitz
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Film Comparison Website?


These are some of the best I've seen:

http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/06/colour-film-comparison-pt-3/

http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/02/colour-film-comparison-pt-two/

http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2010/12/a-colour-film-comparison/

http://www.timparkin.co.uk/blog/velvia_astia_provia_pro160_digital

Ektar vs Velvia 100f
http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/06/ektar-100-and-velvia-100f-%e2%80%93-a-mini-comparison/

Velvia 50 vs Ektar:
http://benhorne.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/fuji-velvia-50-vs-kodak-ektar-100-round-one/

Velvia 50 vs 100:
http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/velvia50vs100/velvia50vs100.shtml

Velvia 50 vs Ektachrome:
http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/velvia50vskodak100vs/velvia50vskodak100vs.shtml

That should be enough for color .

For b&w I'd just search something like flickriver or flickr hivemind for particular films and get a feel for the general characteristics. That's what I did anyway....tens of thousands of photos. Ah, work's good for something.



Feb 25, 2012 at 02:49 AM
banpreso
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Film Comparison Website?


wow thank you so much!



Feb 25, 2012 at 04:20 AM
Makten
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Film Comparison Website?


There is a huge problem with such comparisons, because you have to consider ALL of the steps from exposure to final image. Two films with different caracteristics can be processed to very similar results, so the choice should be based on what style you want to express.

So, unfortunately, when someone else than you does the testing, you can't expect the results to be the same as if you did it yourself. It's a little bit like evaluating digital sensors by looking at in-camera processed JPEG:s. Open the RAW and you can get someting completely different.



Feb 25, 2012 at 06:40 AM
kosmoskatten
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Film Comparison Website?


Most of the links go to slide films, and not print films, or negative.

If you want natural contrast, Fuji Reala is hard to beat. A very fine grained film which is suitable if you have good lenses. It is 100 ISO only.

Most consumer grade films have higher contrast to compensate for crappy amateur lenses and dull weather. In harsh light the contrast with them good lenses might go over the top.

Kodak has (still available?) some fine emulsions, like Portra VC (vivid contrast) and NC (Natural Contrast), available in 160 and 400 speed. They are different and most people I am sure would prefer the VC over the NC. I would too, unless light is harsh.

It's been a while since I shot film other than the three above, but I prefer Fujicolor consumer grade negative films to the Kodak counterparts as a whole. The high speed Kodak ones are crap to print, I should know. I've printed thousands of them over the years and the emulsions got significantly worse over time. They seemed to sacrifice color fidelity to gain some latitude on the Kodak Gold high speed emulsions. They got harder to print and never looked as good as other emulsions.

None of the negative film emulsions are happy being underexposed and if you are ever unsure you should expose more. (Open up/longer exposure time.)

Developing is key and a crappy lab might even screw up the basic development of the film, so don't hand in all rolls at once if they are important to you. As a side note I should say don't hand in films after a long weekend. Most labs don't top up before the long weekends and don't rinse the machines well enough so crystals form and developing can be spotty in the first few days after a stand still. I have seen it over and over again.

If we had to shut down for a few days we topped up for evaporation loss and rinsed a lot. After a stand still we had to replenish and if we had some past best before date film we would chuck in 8-10 rolls of unexposed film to stir it up and pop the lid and rinse the film trenches. Chemical build up/residue on the squeegee rollers are one of the culprits of scratched films. They should be cleaned regularly and changed periodically.

This was common knowledge for the old timers but I think most that are working in labs nowadays don't even know what is happening inside the machines, how to go that extra mile and most have probably not even flipped through the manual. They just do as they are told.
If films come out scratched it is "never" their fault.

Do I sound harsh? Maybe, but it is also a matter-of-factly opinion based on discussions with people running photo labs both now and then. I have visited pro labs in most parts of the world that have a pro attitude and a very amateurish handling of negative film, machinery and chemicals. At one "pro" place in the US I watched a short guy walk past in the background with my 36 exp rolls in a tangle - dragging the ends on the ground going to the sleeving machine. He didn't have the brains to raise his arms above his head. When I pointed it out to the clerk the clerk said "I don't think the did that" and when I asked how he could say so if he was standing with the back to the guy he didn't know what to say. When examining the negatives the ends were dirty and scratched. I got a 10% discount. Wow.

So, find a clean lab and make sure the staff are tall, dedicated and professional.






Feb 25, 2012 at 08:25 AM
Zaitz
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Film Comparison Website?


The first 3 links have 5-7 negative films. There is no more VC or NC as they were discontinued and consolidated down to the one versions of each Portra 160 and 400. The new Portra 400 is second to none in latitude.

banpreso wrote:
wow thank you so much!

No problem. They should give you a great general idea. I use Velvia 50 and Portra 400. Velvia 50 when I don't care or dont want a lot of shadow detail. The color is fantastic. If I could only shoot one film though it'd be Portra 400. I'd love to just shoot that and convert it to b&w. But the cost for 8x10 is prohibitive.



Feb 25, 2012 at 08:03 PM
millsart
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Film Comparison Website?


While not totally accurate, there are a good number of software simulations of popular film stocks (including some processing variations) from the likes of Alienskin, DXO etc

Again, while not perfect, being able to see how an image of your choice should look with each click of the mouse could prove to be a pretty good way to at least get a general feeling for the overall characteristics of different film stocks.

I think most of these programs have free demo versions as well



Feb 25, 2012 at 11:16 PM
kosmoskatten
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Film Comparison Website?


Zaitz wrote:
The first 3 links have 5-7 negative films. There is no more VC or NC as they were discontinued and consolidated down to the one versions of each Portra 160 and 400. The new Portra 400 is second to none in latitude.

No problem. They should give you a great general idea. I use Velvia 50 and Portra 400. Velvia 50 when I don't care or dont want a lot of shadow detail. The color is fantastic. If I could only shoot one film though it'd be Portra 400. I'd love to just shoot that and convert it to b&w. But
...Show more

I see, good links then.

In a way it makes sense to shrink down the Portra line to a single version. I am glad it is still around.



Feb 26, 2012 at 04:38 AM
Zaitz
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Film Comparison Website?


kosmoskatten wrote:
I see, good links then.

In a way it makes sense to shrink down the Portra line to a single version. I am glad it is still around.

It definitely seems to make sense for them. I hope they are able to keep it around a lot longer. Fuji color negative isn't really an option in the U.S for large format.



Feb 26, 2012 at 04:43 AM





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