Color film: meh

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So I'm six or seven months into the intense reintroduction to photography in my life, and I'm gradually coming to realize two things:

1) For black and white photography, I generally prefer film.
2) For color photography, I almost always prefer my DSLR or little Sigma.

There are exceptions, of course--the DP1 is actually great at B&W, but it will never have the "look" of Tri-X or Neopan 1600, my films of choice, and isn't so hot at high ISO. And of course nothing quite looks like Kodachrome or Velvia for color.

But, by and large, I am tired of either having to wait a couple of weeks to get back my slide film and then wrestling with my less-than-perfect exposures; and I am tired of getting my C41 film back from the local lab with scratches on it, or a green cast.

I'm finding that, in Lightroom, scans of my B&W films (which of course I can develop myself, at home, without spending four dollars on gas to get to the lab and back) have plenty of information in the shadows and highlights to allow all the pushing and pulling I need to do. And the same is true of my digital color photos, which contains huge amounts of information (esp. since I got the Pentax K20D--its new sensor is really terrific).

Has anyone else come to this conclusion? I'm feeling as though, once I've shot through my current stock of Reala and UC400, I'll probably not bother shooting color much anymore, except for K64 and Velvia on special occasions.
 
I completely agree - after my colour C41 is gone, it's digital all the way.... Unless it's something special and then it will be Provia100F and 400X - I love seeing projected slides.
 
mabelsound said:
But, by and large, I am tired of either having to wait a couple of weeks to get back my slide film and then wrestling with my less-than-perfect exposures; and I am tired of getting my C41 film back from the local lab with scratches on it, or a green cast.
Click to expand...

Wow, where do you live? Here in Toronto there are several places where I can drop slide film off in the morning, sometimes late in the morning, and get it back the same afternoon. The same goes for C41 if I don't want prints, and there are at least a few places that'll get the film and prints back the same day. Got scratches only once; I didn't go back there. Since there isn't a DRF available that I can afford, I'll stick with film. I love it anyway: my screen name does indicate my bias, there's the choice of look, and I don't have to deal so much with organizing my hard drive. It also helps that when I shoot, only a few frames on a roll are worth scanning. With reference to another thread, the mistakes help this amateur learn. I can't immediately delete and forget the unfortunate images. In addition, I seem to make better colour photos than b/w, though I'm working on the b/w.
 
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I live kind of in the middle of nowhere. Nearest E6 lab is two hours away...and it's true, they do get it back to me within 5 days. The weeks comment was referring to the Kodachrome.

C41 I get fast, but the processing is so-so...maybe someday I'll try that at home, too.
 
I think I'm in the same camp - adore B&W film; process my own and scan on a Nikon5000.
If I want colour though; it's digital all the way.

Main reason is, sadly, there never were any really good high ISO colour films.
Fuji Press (1600) was the highest I used and it was only "ok".
The best was Fuji NPZ (800) - but I don't really see 800 as being a fast film.

Cheers,
Dave
 
Dave, have you tried Fuji Natura 1600? I got some from Dirk at Megaperls because it's not available in North America. I think it's better than 1600 Superia, and commentary on the net supports that. I'll bring a couple of my unfortunate shots to the meeting on the 16th, since that's the only kind I've taken with it so far. You can at least see the kind of grain and the colour. I'll save the story on the shots for the 16th - it's way better than the shots.
 
Which stores do good slide processing in Toronto? That is what I wish to find out, being a newcomer to Toronto. Please advise.

Tin
 
Tin,

Downtown Camera on Queen St. E used to provide good E6 processing but even they are now going to (or already have) stop.

West Camera on Queen St. W used to do it to; heck, I haven't been there in so long I don't know if they still do it.

Right now, it's looking like Toronto Image Works ( http://www.torontoimageworks.com/photo/film.html ) is about the only place I know of in the downtown core that does their own E6.

Dave
 
B&W no contest for me: film. Color digital, I'm different from most, I only use my digital for junk stuff. There are so many fantastic color films, and it seems each has a slightly different character and purpose. I feel like a kid in a candy store. Add that to being able to use goofy or old lens that add a different life/feel to the photos, I'm more that happy with film.

Here is Fuji Superia 100 though my cheapo Japanese folder, fifty years old.

2699267033_e7e9df630a.jpg


and a different feel from an old Ektachrome slide using a Pentax Spotmatic:

2488253694_7ab61c2c43.jpg
 
I think that what one's preference is depends on how much they enjoy futzing with colors in an image editor. I really love doing this, esp. in Lightroom...I find I can get any kind of color balance I want there, and it's fun for me. Color films are so reliably themselves, though....if you want that look, there it is.
 
The biggest problem with color film is that you get overexposure and under exposure in the same negative. With color film you must really shoot for the best light condition and color combination. That requires patience and an eye for colors.

I don't have an eye for color so I stick to b&w.
 
The ironic thing with me is that I'm red/green color poor...I am often flying by the seat of my pants, not really knowing if what I'm seeing is what's really there. With digital I can more or less trust that I'm getting a neutral image, at least with the K20D, and I figure out what's what by playing with the Lightroom sliders.

Hey, if Beethoven could compose without hearing... ;-)
 
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