lbloom - I have tried the pano kit with the Mamiya 7 - I think once you set it up it's reasonably easy to use, but it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to get it to work and rewind properly.
Zaitz - they block smugmug but not Flickr? Weird!
Edward - Astia is still available new in the US in 120, but 35mm is gone. Now that the Ektachromes are gone, my guess is that Fuji will probably discontinue 35mm slide film altogether within a couple years. While the slide film color palette is very unique (and hard to replicate) and resolution is very impressive, digital 35mm dynamic range is just too strong to ignore. Especially when Fuji (who probably understand color better than any digital camera manufacturer today) is now invested heavily in consumer cameras with film simulations, the writing is on the wall. Besides, slides are a lot more fun when they are 645 and greater!
Speaking of slide film, I shot a bit with Velvia 100 (non-F) on this trip and I think it will replace Velvia 50 for me. One more stop is meaningful when handholding, colors are practically the same, resolution and grain are very very close, and you can safely push it to "Velvia 400." Huzzah.
Totally agreed, Mike. Slide film is what brought back to shooting film. Color negative is very similar to digital, DR and all, plus the grain, so I would rather shoot digital if slide film is not available anymore.
As for Velvia 100, it is supposed to have the same resolution as the Velvia 50, but with finer grain (RMS 8 vs. 9), and does not suffer from reciprocity failure. The colors are almost identical, but perhaps slightly more neutral than the 50 with slightly less contrast, both are good things. I wonder why would anyone use Velvia 50, except for projection. The 100 is better for scanning.
I have some questions for you Mike! I have been hired by a pool company to do some promo work including a shoot of a new installation with light features. I will be doing a late afternoon and evening shoot (to capture the lights). I am interested in shooting some with the Mamiya 7 and 65mm lens and would like to use the combined negative process that you used on the first shot from Death Valley. What program did you use? I have CS3 and Lightroom. Also, the only slide film I have now is Velvia 50. What would you recommend? What about reciprocity failure? Any tips on that? THANKS!
Ryan - nice portraits and black and white - Kodak Gold isn't a bad film at all, though I think the sky on your canal shot would have looked a bit better with Portra 400.
Edward - not sure I follow your logic. Good C-41 can outperform digital 35mm in DR, as can B&W, which (like E-6) has a unique tonal range that Silver Efex Pro can emulate, but not duplicate. There are still reasons to shoot 35mm film (for me, if E-6 disappears in 135, it's Neopan 100-400 and TMY/Delta 3200).
Katie - tough for me to really say without seeing the location and understanding what/where the light deficiencies are. I have only really done this with slide film, but I can tell you that if I tried that DV shot with RVP it would have had issues - Velvia has reciprocity failure after only one second, and at ISO 100 it took about 4 seconds to get into the detail between the salt crystals. Using GNDs is always the best choice here, especially if you can look through the lens. If you want to experiment with this, though, you can download a plugin for LIghtroom called LR/Enfuse - donation is up to you, however the developer has some other cool plugins too. I think using a hard mask is the best approximation of what the process I'm a darkroom would be like. For paid work, I'd be a little hesitant to experiment, but I suppose a pool is a more patient subject than a person is.
corposant wrote:
Edward - not sure I follow your logic. Good C-41 can outperform digital 35mm in DR, as can B&W, which (like E-6) has a unique tonal range that Silver Efex Pro can emulate, but not duplicate. There are still reasons to shoot 35mm film (for me, if E-6 disappears in 135, it's Neopan 100-400 and TMY/Delta 3200).
Mike, yes, you are right and that's what I think too. B/W is a good reason to keep shooting film even if E-6 is gone. But my reasoning is that for color work, digital is better than negative film, at least for me. DR may be higher in film, but it is mostly on the overexposure side. I think Fuji advertizes that the Pro films can be shot -1 to +4, so basically you can only underexpose 1 stop but overexpose 4!!! That is exactly my experience as well. Current digital cameras have much more DR in the shadows these days. Add the not so nice grain of negative film, and digital starts to look like a good idea
However, nothing can replace slide film for me. It will be a sad day when it's gone.
The "experimental" portion would only be a small part of the gig (but I think I will save it for another time). I would never experiment with a paid shoot without a for sure way of getting the shot. That's just crazy. I think what I will do is a mixture of digital and MF film shots, probably using Portra, as that's what I have alot of. I think just using a slow shutter speed will get me there with ISO 400 film (assuming that the house behind the pool will have lights as well) - they want a night shot of the pool and water features lighted up.
I do want to try my slide film, though! I have only shot one roll of it, but realize that with the miniscule lattitude and reciprocity failure to boot, this will not be the best place to try it. I would like to do a shoot like yours with high contrast scenes and blend two exposures (HDRish if you will) with the Velvia. I might take it with me to Louisiana next week and do some swamp pictures!
corposant wrote:
Katie - tough for me to really say without seeing the location and understanding what/where the light deficiencies are. I have only really done this with slide film, but I can tell you that if I tried that DV shot with RVP it would have had issues - Velvia has reciprocity failure after only one second, and at ISO 100 it took about 4 seconds to get into the detail between the salt crystals. Using GNDs is always the best choice here, especially if you can look through the lens. If you want to experiment with this, though, you can download a plugin for LIghtroom called LR/Enfuse - donation is up to you, however the developer has some other cool plugins too. I think using a hard mask is the best approximation of what the process I'm a darkroom would be like. For paid work, I'd be a little hesitant to experiment, but I suppose a pool is a more patient subject than a person is. ...Show more →
KatieInTexas wrote:
I do want to try my slide film, though! I have only shot one roll of it, but realize that with the miniscule lattitude and reciprocity failure to boot, this will not be the best place to try it. I would like to do a shoot like yours with high contrast scenes and blend two exposures (HDRish if you will) with the Velvia. I might take it with me to Louisiana next week and do some swamp pictures!
Try Provia - very accurate colors and you can shoot for up to a minute or more with no color shifts. Astia is wonderful too, if you can find it. Both of these have way more DR than Velvia. E100G is also a good option (while you can find it).
Hmm, trying to post an image here, but it seems to be always expanding the image.
Image Width = 640 pixels
Image Height = 800 pixels
Expands it to like 100% ?
Dunno what's going on...
Quick one from this weekend, cheap scanner, I see lots of dust, etc, sigh...
I gotta learn all this scanner stuff now.
Especially the resolution stuff.
I scanned at 4800dpi, makes a HUGE file!
I definately don't understand it.
Not that good, but it's a start.
Sinar f2 4x5 - Sinaron S 180mm - f5.6 - Fuji Instant FP-100C45
www.cornbread.com/~buggz/4x5FujiInstant-01.jpg[
These are great atmospheric shots, Zalmy. I just got a free roll of HP5 and I am interesting in seeing how it shoots compared to my old standby, Neopan 400. I used some Ilford film in college, and some of my favorite in the next post...
I think what I will do is a mixture of digital and MF film shots, probably using Portra, as that's what I have alot of. I think just using a slow shutter speed will get me there with ISO 400 film (assuming that the house behind the pool will have lights as well) - they want a night shot of the pool and water features lighted up. 
)
