With the increasing dynamic range on digital cameras how close are we to being able to replicate the look of Portra or similar films in scenes with a wide dynamic range?
VSCO (Visual Supply Co) Film does a pretty good job of duplicating the Portra look. Their Portra 160 NC LR4 preset is one of my favorites. I found out about them from a wedding photog friend of mine.
I see less and less of a reason to still shoot film, and I really love film. I have the lower tray of the freezer filled with 120 portra and some delta...
IMO, I think the reason to still shoot film would be for the look of film per se; I'm seeing little to no dynamic range limitations from the new Nikon/exxmor sensors. And with some perseverance, the film look can be duplicated from digital...
Guari wrote:
I see less and less of a reason to still shoot film, and I really love film. I have the lower tray of the freezer filled with 120 portra and some delta...
IMO, I think the reason to still shoot film would be for the look of film per se; I'm seeing little to no dynamic range limitations from the new Nikon/exxmor sensors. And with some perseverance, the film look can be duplicated from digital...
my opinion of course..
I still have it in my mind to shoot my stock of B&W film, for the "look". I have some mixed ISO TMax in stock and some 3200 B&W. I have been shooting at a local jam session and I cannot beat the ease of just changing the ISO on the digital D300 bodies "on the fly". The light balance changes also as they use three different rooms, so that is another digital advantage. I am shooting at ISO 3200 or 1600 at around F4 and 1/125-1/60, depending. The musicians jump around a bit and I sometimes bring a speedlight in an umbrella on the side for more interesting lighting. If I took film with me, I would take ISO 3200 film and not know exactly what I am getting all night. Then, I would have to develop it and scan it. I can see why digital is so popular, even with a camera that does not give the best results at ISO 3200, like the D300. It is certainly better looking at ISO 1600.
The Sony NEX-7 was the first camera that really wowed me with its dynamic range -- seemed more film-like than anything I'd previously shot (including my D700, which is obviously a great camera with fantastic tonality).
The D600 is at least as good as the NEX-7 in that regard, with the additional benefits of a full frame sensor and a Nikon platform.
James R wrote:
VSCO (Visual Supply Co) Film does a pretty good job of duplicating the Portra look. Their Portra 160 NC LR4 preset is one of my favorites. I found out about them from a wedding photog friend of mine.
The DR on the D800 really impresses me .... has a film like feeling... feels more like shooting medium format than the D700 did. So in that regards... I have been shooting less and less film. I sold off my Mamiya AFD when I bought the D800. But I still like film... and have a fridge door full of film left over, as well as my F100. So I am not done with film, but certainly I am shooting less of it these days.
