Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
07-24-2008, 06:11 PM   #16
Veteran Member
jgredline's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LosAngeles, Ca.
Photos: Albums
Posts: 10,628
Nester, That first image is very nice...Love the film grain..

07-25-2008, 05:33 AM   #17
Junior Member




Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Underhill, VT USA
Posts: 41
Thanks Nesster & troyz for your answers. I will play around using and not using my Cokin filters and see what I get.

Jan
08-12-2008, 08:28 PM   #18
Veteran Member
troyz's Avatar

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 389
Original Poster
Okay, I finally got around to shooting a roll of BW400CN and getting scans from the local minilab. Some of the images look just right; with others, I wonder where all the contrast went!
I don't think I can blame the film.

I wonder how long before this building is replaced by more condos. . .
Attached Images
 
08-12-2008, 08:46 PM   #19
Veteran Member
jgredline's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LosAngeles, Ca.
Photos: Albums
Posts: 10,628
Troyz.
The image looks good. I like the composition and you nailed the clouds. I think the only thing that could have made it better imo is to have had a prop in the forefront. Perhaps an old shopping cart laying on its side or even a person in the distance..This is purely style though as I am more of a street shooter..

Please post up some more images and in particular those you are not happy with.

08-12-2008, 11:26 PM   #20
Pentaxian
titrisol's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: In the most populated state... state of denial
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,848
400Cn is not a very contrasty film to start with, and the scans most probably do not do justice to the negatives.
You may have to tweak the scans in GIMP or Photoshop and you can probably improve them a lot.
1. Make them grayscale
2. Go to Levels and then adjust the levels to cover only the range of tones that you have
3. Your picture should look a lot better now, go to curves and play with the shape of the curve from a straight line to an S or????

Good luck.

Decent tutorials in gimpguru.org

QuoteOriginally posted by troyz Quote
Okay, I finally got around to shooting a roll of BW400CN and getting scans from the local minilab. Some of the images look just right; with others, I wonder where all the contrast went!
I don't think I can blame the film.

I wonder how long before this building is replaced by more condos. . .
08-13-2008, 09:08 AM   #21
Veteran Member
troyz's Avatar

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 389
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by jgredline Quote
Troyz.
I think the only thing that could have made it better imo is to have had a prop in the forefront. . .

Please post up some more images and in particular those you are not happy with.
Awww shucks! I'll try to post a few more.

re levels adjustment and scan quality: The (noritsu minilab) scanner definitely didn't have the exposure/gain set optimally; as I recall, "black" was about 20 and "white" was about 210. I did the linear adjustment (titrisol's steps (1) and (2)) in the picture above and it certainly helped; I might try being more aggressive in manipulating the tone curve.

There were a few images where I was trying to isolate a subject that differed in hue from the background, but not much in brightness; there's not much I can do about that in retrospect.

Next time I think I'll use XP2 and re-scan the good ones myself. I have access to a Nikon 4000 scanner that I'm pretty sure would do better than the minilab.
08-13-2008, 05:59 PM   #22
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Lowell Goudge's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Toronto
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 17,868
I think the real question is,what do you intend to do in B&W.

My understanding of the 400Cn is that it is a C41 color preocess film. While this has advantages in that almost anyone can develop it, my own understanding is that you cant play with the ISO, like you could with Tri-X.

I shot Tri-X many years ago, including exposing it at 3200ISO, and shooting at F1.4 and 1/30 using only what ever light was available.

Processing time went from 6.5 minutes to 30, but I did that myself.

The shots were really interesting and grainy, but lots of fun to do. I do not believe you can do anything like that with 400 Cn.

someone please correct me if I am wrong.

08-13-2008, 08:03 PM   #23
Senior Member




Join Date: May 2008
Location: Irvine, So. Cal
Posts: 127
QuoteOriginally posted by lithos Quote
The prints/scans of XP2 will come out much, much more green than BW400CN. They don't with Kodak BW400CN, as the Kodak is still on a normal, orange film base.

All the minilabs automatically compensate for orange film base in negatives by having a perman green filter in them; the orange from the colour C41 films cancels this out.

Because there's no orange at all on XP2 - it's designed to be printed like a standard BW negative - the green light shines through unimpeded. It's really, really, green. A rather sickly green - the kind of green Bugs Bunny turned
Hi, one thing you can ask your lab tech is to place a piece of processed blank piece of 120 color film over the light diffuser. Light diffuser is the part between the light source and the negative carrier. It worked with non digital machines for printing.

It is not a dificcult process. If it works, great rewards.
08-14-2008, 07:55 AM   #24
Veteran Member
Clicker's Avatar

Join Date: May 2008
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,241
CN is C41 processed so if you trust your 1hr lab then the convenience is good if you have your old B&W lab stashed in the garage and like getting your hands on, then tri-x also there is better depth in tri-x +/-7 stops vs CN +/-3~5 stops to play with.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
bw400cn, lab, print, tri-x
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Kodak BW400CN question Jetsam1 Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 22 05-12-2010 08:13 PM
Misc B&W - Scans of Tri-X ve2vfd Post Your Photos! 7 12-23-2009 04:32 AM
Cityscape First Roll of Kodak BW400CN SCguy Post Your Photos! 1 09-26-2009 09:02 PM
Tri x B&W film jgredline Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 62 06-17-2008 08:36 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:59 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top