Activatedfx wrote:
Wow!! That's a lot of agitating!! Your arms must be sore... haha
I don't think I'll ever shoot C-41 again now that I've discovered Provia. I fell in love with the look shooting 35mm, then 6x6, but seeing 6x9 Provia chromes has sealed the deal for me.
That said, I do wish Kodak would release the new Ektachrome already!!! Arghh.
Haha! I will also be developing 18 sheets (4x5) of slide film tomorrow- including Provia! I can hardly wait.
Activatedfx wrote:
Wow!! That's a lot of agitating!! Your arms must be sore... haha
I don't think I'll ever shoot C-41 again now that I've discovered Provia. I fell in love with the look shooting 35mm, then 6x6, but seeing 6x9 Provia chromes has sealed the deal for me.
That said, I do wish Kodak would release the new Ektachrome already!!! Arghh.
Kodak Portra and Ektar films scan beautifully. If you are a hybrid shooter, you are ignoring some great films that are absolutely the best when it comes to scanning.
Fuji's 400H has some of the best color left in C41 films. Again, your loss to ignore this film.
rattymouse wrote:
Kodak Portra and Ektar films scan beautifully. If you are a hybrid shooter, you are ignoring some great films that are absolutely the best when it comes to scanning.
Fuji's 400H has some of the best color left in C41 films. Again, your loss to ignore this film.
Oh, I have shot plenty of Ektar and Portra. And also had terrible times with un-fixable color shifts and general weirdness. No thanks.
I'm not missing anything! I truly LOVE seeing the "positive" Provia slides on my lightbox. Euphoric comes to mind. Finding Provia was a (photo)life-changing moment for me.
Activatedfx wrote:
Oh, I have shot plenty of Ektar and Portra. And also had terrible times with un-fixable color shifts and general weirdness. No thanks.
I'm not missing anything! I truly LOVE seeing the "positive" Provia slides on my lightbox. Euphoric comes to mind. Finding Provia was a (photo)life-changing moment for me.
If the colors were unfixable, there's two potential problems, you have a poor lab, or your skills on the computer are not up to snuff. C41 films produce excellent colors.
You are right that slide films offer something that negative cannot. I have 6 x 7 slides from my cameras that look wonderful. I'd love to see in person some 4 x 5. Bigger is always better.
One of the reasons why I stopped shooting slide film is the constant need to adjust the color. Provia is a very cool film and always needs warming. I tired of that and so moved on to C41.
Rattymouse what film do you like to shoot? I like Portra 160,400 and Ektar 100. I'm thinking of shooting some slide film too but don't know how to correctly meter for it. Some are saying to just meter for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may.
rattymouse wrote:
If the colors were unfixable, there's two potential problems, you have a poor lab, or your skills on the computer are not up to snuff. C41 films produce excellent colors.
You are right that slide films offer something that negative cannot. I have 6 x 7 slides from my cameras that look wonderful. I'd love to see in person some 4 x 5. Bigger is always better.
One of the reasons why I stopped shooting slide film is the constant need to adjust the color. Provia is a very cool film and always needs warming. I tired of that and so moved on to C41.
I've been using Photoshop professionally since the first version in the late 80's, and I could probably teach a College level class in PSD, so I don't think it was my computer skills! haha :-)
MY experience with Portra/Ektar was extreme difficulty in getting the colors the way I wanted. Blue tinted shadows and magenta casts... The film was developed at one of the top labs in the US (Duggal). The only wild card is that I "scan" via an A7ii and lightbox, so that extra step (as opposed to lab scans) MAY be part of the problems I was experiencing. I'll readily admit that.
The thing is, I'm 100% happy with shooting Provia. I LOVE seeing those gorgeous positive chromes on a lightbox. Pure joy! And Provia scans perfectly with my A7/lightbox setup. Yes, I drop the blue channel a tiny bit and warm up the white balance a bit in post, but that's 99% easier than working with color negatives. (For ME).
What's wrong with being happy with my choice of film? I'm a motion graphic designer working on high-end 3D graphics for TV and film every day, and photography is my hobby - a time to relax and enjoy being creative without pleasing a client. The more fun and easier it is, the better!!
In general, I find my scans of slide film to be more accurate than those of color negative. I try to not mess with color as a general rule but sometimes it cannot be avoided. Usually my scans of slide film are good to go without any adjustment at all. Also, I used to really dislike Ektar due to what I found to be unpredictable color output in different light. I have found that it does best with a lot of light - preferably sunny days. I am starting to like it but don't shoot it very often. Portra 160 is quite good but a tad dull for me - good for low key scenes though. Portra 400 is my favorite all around color neg film - I love it. However, Activatedfx is 100% correct - there is nothing quite like viewing larger transparencies on a lightbox! Just amazing.
Kenj8246 wrote:
^ reminds me that I need to get back down to the Houston ship channel and waste some film. Thanks for posting.
Kenny
You're welcome. That shot was taken in Port Huron, Michigan from the Huron Lady II river cruise. When we were passing the end of the ship a worker was waving hello at us and I was too slow with the camera to take the shot!
Great work on these last few pages! Here are two different moods of Orkney, the first on Portra 160 and the second on Ektar 100. M6TTL, 28mm Elmarit Asph.
Thanks for posting.
A guy's gotta have something else to do when he retires....
