Superia 400 - Can it ever look a bit like Pro 400H?

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Lilserenity

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Hiya,

This might seem a bit of a bizarre question. Let me set the context, when at home, I am lucky that I can get hold of Pro 400H and indeed most films from a shop just down the road. When I am not, virtually all I see is Fuji Superia and Kodak Gold/Ultramax (and some Ilford black and white -- which is cool.)

I don't mind Ultramax 400, it's grainy but does have punchy colour. However, I really really like the look of Pro 400H, but can't always get it so my go to is Superia 400; which I have seen a lot of medium format stuff look stunning in.

However, I really struggle with the 35mm Superia 400. (Usually labelled Superia 400 Xtra here in the UK) Mostly it ends up quite high contrast compared to the less punchy 400H, and skin complexions can be very peculiar.

I was wondering what settings people who get on with Superia 400 shoot at, I am currently trying a roll by purposely overexposing 1 stop in the hope that will control the shadows a little. This could be a lost cause, and if so, I'll have to just make sure I keep a stock of 400H handy.

Also, any examples?

Cheers,
Vicky
 
I have no solutions Vicky but I too have found Superia Xtra a bit wayward .
I have two boxes of it in the fridge so, like you, look foreward to some suggestions.
 
Superia can be hit or miss with caucasian skin tones. For color I now shoot a lot of Portra, some Provia, and a bit of Fuji 800Z. Film is so cheap on ebay nowadays that it's rarely worth it to skimp.
Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I've yet to figure out a consistent way to shoot Superia.
 
If home is Worthing why don't you order your Pro 400H from "mailshots" - price is way way cheaper than you'd get from a shop - order in the morning and delivery is next day by post. I use em always.
 
Are you scanning the negs?

Try scanning completely flat with no adjustment, then bring levels up to taste in Photoshop. The color and saturation won't be quite as muted/subtle as 400H, but it will be close.
 
Second Mongo Park's suggestion, order online. I'm in London so I can get most films walking into shops, but it's cheaper and easier to order online, plus while the shops round here have good selections, the online places have *great* selections. Buying reasonable amounts offsets the postage cost, and you can have practically any film you like.
 
Vicky: To echo jvan01's question, are you scanning these yourself?

I've tended to use Fuji Pro 400/800 principally for mixed-lighting conditions, and have had good luck in terms of skin tones, whereas in good outdoor light I go with the yellow-box stuff. Superia Xtra is usually only a notch down from the Pro emulsions, from my experience, but a proper scanning profile is key, not because scanning the stuff is hard, but it's rather easy to stray off the mark. If you can describe your scanning setup for this film, there might be an answer.


- Barrett
 
I shoot a lot of Superia as my cheap carry around film. I find that freshness makes a big difference, so much so that I have given up on getting the dirt cheap lots on Ebay in favor of B&H in the US. It's often cheap there anyway. Then I refrigerate it. This change made the film much more consistent for me.

I second the scan it flat and then play with the histogram advice.
 
Hi Vicky,
I have not shot with 400H, so I can't comment on any similarity to Superia. These were shot with Superia Xtra 400. One thing I know is this film hates being under-exposed, so I usually go + .5 or 1 full stop over and I get decent results.
-Matt


 
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Thanks for the feedback but it does look like if I really want that Pro 400H look, I need to use 400H!

As regards buying locally, it's locally I don't have a problem as my local shop as I say not only stocks just about every thing film and darkroom related going (except Kodak consumer, annoyingly!) but is also very well priced when you consider postage. It's when I am away from home and run out of supplies, and most shops like Jessops and Boots only stock Fuji and Kodak consumer.

So I aim to continue supporting my local stockist.

I will keep experimenting though and see if I can get a bit closer.

As regards calibration, today I purchased a Pantone Huey Pro to calibrate my screen which is a start in some way; I also don't select any film profiles in VueScan (which as I understand it are all out of date PhotoCD profiles anyway) as I tend to do my sharpening and cropping in Lightroom (and a little polishing up on colour balance at times.)

I think it's when I get results like the below example from 400H and then get results back from Superia 400, I get a bit disappointed sometimes. I'll keep you posted with my experiments. I am a committed Superia 200 user and maybe I'll just stick with that as my goto consumer film when I'm all out of my Portra and 400H away from home.


Example of Pro 400H (Derek Walker, Chief Architect of Milton Keynes Development Corporation 1970-76.)
 
Alright here goes

Alright here goes

So here are the results from my recent roll of Superia 400 Xtra (edgecode CH25, not CH7 which I have had before), and in a nutshell, the best roll of Superia 400 I have ever shot by the looks of it (well colour wise, you can judge for yourself on the actual pictures) - I intentionally overexposed 1 stop (effectively shooting it as ISO 200) and probably today +2 stops over in bright light as my OM2n was at time just bouncing above 1/1000th. It was a sunny day in Brighton today!

Here are some intial impressions (click on any to get Flickr page up.) All were shot on my Olympus OM2n and Zuiko 100mm f/2.8.









I have a lot more but I was pleasantly surprised by these, and no ruddy skin tones either, all in all, a very pleasing look. So, now the next problem, I bet I never find another roll of Superia 400 with edge code CH25 again 🙂

Vicky
 
hey Vicky,
recently I scanned old negatives of Kodak Gold 200, and I was really please with the subtle colour, especially the skin tones.
This film is cheap, available everywhere in the UK or almost. Otherwise, I agree with previous posts, Portra NC is very nice and maybe the receommended choice regardless unit price.
cheers,
 
Vicky, those Brighton shots are nice.

Re: Vuescan film profiles -- Somewhere on the web -- I've lost the URL -- is an explanation of how to generate Vuescan profiles for film. As I recall, it basically amounts to previewing/scanning a frame of unexposed film. I have no idea if this is a valid approach. However, I can testify that if I use the wrong profile, the results show it.

Actually, I've compared results using my own profiles to results just letting Vuescan's "Guide Me" mode. I see a difference in the files Vuescan generates, but once in Photoshop the post-processed results are the same.
 
I'm glad this thread is proving somewhat useful, I think the next issue is getting something that looks remotely like consistency!

As I say, the only reason I end up pickup up Superia 400 is when I am out of town and my supplies of 400H run out. In Worthing and Brighton I am very fortunate there are shops (though the ones in Brighton are expensive) where I can pick up just about anything off the shelf but away from home, different story, and I have just been let down by getting the look I want from 400H and then with Superia 400 usually very harsh shadows (blocked up), ruddy (red) skin tones and usually very untamed green. I have tried Kodak Gold 200 on a number of occassions but I only really use Gold 100 on occassion, just can't seem to get Gold 200 to work for me.

Anyway, I will keep trying.

As regards profiling, I'll have to look into that, I know you can't get IT8 targers for negative film but I just let VueScan do autolevels on the film I scan, anything else either leaves it far too cool (very strong blue or green casts) or too warm.

Vicky
 
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