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04-07-2015, 09:39 AM   #11011
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QuoteOriginally posted by skierd Quote
Portra probably isn't the best film for someone looking for super saturation and electric feel. Unlike digital where the sensor is whatever it is when you buy the camera and all can be fixed in post, choosing your film is critical to getting the image right.
I think what you mean is that color/contrast of any digital media - including scanned film, can be adjusted in post and only limited by your imagination. Wide latitude film - like Portra, allows capture of wide latitude (high contrast) scenes and therefore better control then DSLR capture in post.

04-07-2015, 10:03 AM - 1 Like   #11012
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04-07-2015, 11:00 AM   #11013
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QuoteOriginally posted by LesDMess Quote
I think what you mean is that color/contrast of any digital media - including scanned film, can be adjusted in post and only limited by your imagination. Wide latitude film - like Portra, allows capture of wide latitude (high contrast) scenes and therefore better control then DSLR capture in post.


No, I meant what I said. I shoot film because I want the look that the film I'm shooting gives me. Why would I change it to something completely different in post?
04-07-2015, 11:15 AM   #11014
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QuoteOriginally posted by skierd Quote
No, I meant what I said. I shoot film because I want the look that the film I'm shooting gives me. Why would I change it to something completely different in post?
Perfectly fine for you but doesn't restrict any others from doing post work.

04-07-2015, 11:44 AM - 1 Like   #11015
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QuoteOriginally posted by skierd Quote
No, I meant what I said. I shoot film because I want the look that the film I'm shooting gives me. Why would I change it to something completely different in post?
How do you know for certain what the look of a certain film should be?
I'm not trying to be argumentative, or question your judgment, I just know that there is an awful lot of misinformation out there regarding certain film looks and characteristics. Most of the commonly stated color characteristics of Ektar for example, are IMO the result of bad scanning.
Positive images from color negative films are like translations of Japanese to English, which are almost never perfect translations.
04-07-2015, 12:20 PM   #11016
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I agree with you on bad scanning having a major effect on how people view certain films. I think Ektar does just fine on white skin tones for example but that's been my experience. I know some people love Fuji superia for some reason, I can't stand it.

How the film reacts to light and scenes I guess is what I'm going after I guess. Grain, saturation, color palette, built in contrar, gamma, latitude and how that latitude expresses itself. Kinda how different black and white films and developers give you different results.

Negative film is itself by it's nature of being an in-between step is flexible and open to processing and developing in different ways but it's the underlying structure that supports that processing that varies.

Not looking for a Truth, just a truth that works for me. Choosing the film to get me closer to where I want to be in the end at the beginning maybe? Dunno, I feel having a hard time explaining it. I've gotten my own preferences from shooting different films and asking myself if what I got back is what I wanted or if it allowed me to get there. Portra doesn't tend to have the colors I want when I get it back from my lab. Ektar does. Superia doesnt. slides, I prefer Fuji.

And yes, if you want to spend the time digitally manipulating your film, be my guest. I'd rather start with a digital file if I'm doing that kind of work is all.
04-07-2015, 01:22 PM   #11017
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
I don't believe this one looks like instagram:
It looks like a very good film shot!

04-07-2015, 03:30 PM   #11018
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To get back to it, an old scan of even older negatives. Taken in Picadilly Circus, thanksgiving 2000 on a high school trip. Scanned after some obviously great storage in 2009-ish.

04-07-2015, 03:48 PM   #11019
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QuoteOriginally posted by skierd Quote
To get back to it, an old scan of even older negatives. Taken in Picadilly Circus, thanksgiving 2000 on a high school trip. Scanned after some obviously great storage in 2009-ish.
Cool photo. Too bad the negative got scratched up.
04-07-2015, 03:52 PM   #11020
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QuoteOriginally posted by LesDMess Quote
color/contrast of any digital media - including scanned film, can be adjusted in post and only limited by your imagination.
Within limits...

My experience with scanned film is that the latitude for modification is a little worse than with a digital capture JPEG and nowhere near what can be accomplished with a RAW capture*. This is even true with 16-bit TIFF output. For many films, scans are just simply "brittle" in PP where the usual approaches result in nasty artifact or amplification of grain and/or color cast. This is particularly true when attempting to increase contrast, sharpness, or color saturation. I figure it has something to do with the low-level heterogeneity of the scan and of the negative itself.

Having said that, I will step back one and qualify by saying that much depends on the film. Careful scan technique can help as well with difficult negatives. I am a fan of Ferrania Solaris 100/400 films. Their color rendition is a little exotic to start with and the negatives have distinct grain, but for some reason Ferrania takes very well to color and curve manipulation in post and the shoulder is very robust. I have more fun with the stuff. With Ektar, I generally get close to what I want on the base scan without the need to adjust much and can work the curves, but within limits. If underexposed, Ektar is very difficult to work with if shadow detail is required. If I need to pull the shadows up, a new scan is usually in order. If the magenta color cast is present, good luck on getting rid of it. Kodachrome slides...hmmmm...if they don't scan up well, there is very little you can do with them in PP and yes, both my scanners have tuned modes for K-64.


Steve

* I have never tried VueScan's RAW scan, nor the Coolscan's version of NEF.

Last edited by stevebrot; 04-07-2015 at 03:59 PM.
04-07-2015, 03:53 PM   #11021
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Speaking of color negative film... here's a scan from my first roll of Lomography Color 400.
Also, the first real roll of film through a Voigtlander Bessa R that my wife's grandfather gave me.


Voigtlander Bessa R
CV Color-Skopar 35/2.5
Lomography Color 400
Epson Scan
04-07-2015, 04:00 PM   #11022
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QuoteOriginally posted by alan_smithee_photos Quote
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Beautiful work, Alan, as always


Steve
04-07-2015, 04:00 PM   #11023
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Within limits...
Steve
Having scanned over 20,000 frames of various films with a great variety of devices - DSLRs, scanners, and captured tens of thousands more using a digicam I can attest to the fact that there are no guarantees of making something out of a "bad" initial capture - film or digital media. Of course there are much more I haven't done so that opinion is subject to change . . .
04-07-2015, 04:03 PM   #11024
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QuoteOriginally posted by skierd Quote
I prefer Fuji.
Well, please keep buying the stuff. Fuji seems bent on removing themselves from the photographic film business. Fuji is a shadow of its former self.


Steve
04-07-2015, 04:11 PM   #11025
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QuoteOriginally posted by LesDMess Quote
there are no guarantees of making something out of a "bad" initial capture
My experience has been that even a good scan of a good negative/slide with a decent scanner is harder to work with than a similar straight digital capture. Medium and large format are much easier due to the luxury of lower scan resolutions, but with 35mm things get ugly quickly. Of course, maybe I am just picky.

OTOH...for color work, I would much rather scan + PP than muddle with a C or R print in the darkroom.


Steve
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