Shooting colour movie film

[rxmd]

Since I'm bulk loading my film anyway I've been thinking whether I could shoot 35mm movie stock in a still camera for projects that require lots of film. If one buys short ends at 100' or so, prices should even be reasonable.

So here's the questions:

- Has anyone ever shot color movie stock, either reversal film or negative film, and can give some tips and advice?

- There are apparently a lot of different processes around. Ideally, I'd want to give the film to my next door minilab. Currently I use crossprocessed slide film a lot, so the movie stock should be either C-41 or E-6. (Kodak 5285 seems to be E-6, identical with E100 D, for example, but it seems difficult to get in 35mm.) But there aren't that many films that use those processes, are there? Are there other colour processes compatible with the two?

- Are there caveats when buying short ends? Is movie film generally more sensitive to storage conditions? Data sheets seem to emphasize storing it at low temperatures, or in the freezer if stored for extended amounts of time.

 

[ethics_gradient]

Kind of a coincidence, I was just given a bag of 59 rolls of what I'm pretty sure is movie film on 35mm spools by my boss yesterday. It's process ECN-2, which after some searching I've found out can seriously mess up C-41 chemistry. Here in the US, there are still a few places that process it but it's kind of expensive compared to regular C-41 film. Apparently you can do send-out through Costco or Walmart which is more reasonable. You might check on forums (often times store personnel aren't too knowledgeable) to see if there are any similar stores that offer the same kind of service in Germany.

Personally if I hadn't been given it for free I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[Tom A]

Many of the movie stock color emulsions have rem black backing. This is fine carbon powder on the back of the base. If you run this kind of film through a C41 processor - you will have a lot of explaining to do to the lab owner!!!!! It royally screws up the chemistry and coats everything with a sticky black goo!
If there is a movie processing close to you - you can ask if they can do short lenghts - or even long rolls by splicing the film into 50 or 100ft rolls.
I use bl/w moviestock extensively, mainly Kodak's XX - rated @ 250. Works fine as there is no rem black backing.
Check with Kodak's listing on what to run color stock through. The quality of some of these emulsions is very good - but usually require very tight exposure control.
You could of course take up "Do It Yourself" processing - it is not as difficult as it sounds - and movie stock emulsions are cheap.
With "short end" you should check that the first 6-7 feet are not fogged ( happens when they cut the exposed part) and in reality, buying fresh 400 ft cans is not that expensive and more secure.

 

[not_in_good_order]

If you figure out a way to do this, please post it. I'd love to be able to shoot 500T...

 

[JPresley]

Check the following short Flickr thread. Towards the end there is a mention of a place in the US that it is claimed will develop ECN-2 at a reasonable rate. I would love to try 500T too.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ecn2/discuss/72157621804680219/

One caution. I have not tried this place myself. If someone does and gets actual results with ECN-2 film I would like to see.

 

[heespharm]

the easiest way to do this is doing home c-41 processing... ecn-2 IS c-41 processing just with the added step of removing the remjet... it's no different from black and white processing...

now as for the remjet backing... I would use a presoak with some washing soda mixed in there... then process c-41 like normal... at the end of development use cotton sponges to wipe off the remjet backing... it comes off like buttah.....


I had 1000' of 500t vision 2 from kodak that was remainded film from the fast and furious 2... (because it said so on the can) I bought it locally for about 30 bucks off someone on craigslist..... it's a bit of hassel so I hvaen't done too much of it... but if you want to try a roll pm me and I'll send one out..

 

[yukio]

- Has anyone ever shot color movie stock, either reversal film or negative film, and can give some tips and advice?

Yes, I've shot about 200' of 5285. I believe it's the only viable option if you want to use a minilab, as it develops in regular e6. Just tell your lab that it's Ektachrome 100. It's definitely more difficult to get than the negative stocks. I had to hit up several short-end resellers before I found a place that had some. I guess the problem is not many projects use reversal film so there's not many leftovers to be had. PM me and I'll dig up potential sources for you.

Two things worth mentioning regarding the negative stocks. If you wait to remove the remjet at the end of processing, you run the risk of having pieces of it break loose and stick to the emulsion, ruining your images. Also, these stocks have different gamma curves and will appear flatter than what you are used to in still film.

 

[yukio]

Info and some examples

Info and some examples

For those who are interested, I dug out my notes and found that I ordered it from http://www.releasing.net/rawstock. You will most likely have to order it 400' at a time. At the time (almost a year ago now) it was .50/foot (= $200), but that's still less than half the price of the Ektachrome bulk film, so if you shoot alot of reversal it's worth it. Ask Vic nicely if he'll split it into 100' sections on 1" cores (which fit into my bulk loader nicely).

Here are some test shots rated at different speeds. These were all self-processed, so your mileage may vary depending on your lab.

@100:

Pushed one stop:

Pushed two stops (EI 320):