Color film that has a dreamy vintage look?

[Dwayneb9584]

Hello all,

So I have a shoot next month and I convinced the client that while shooting in digital I'd also like to shoot it with my rangefinder as it will suite the style and theme of the shoot. I wanted to know if anyone can recommend a film that can have sorta a dreamy hue to it. Something that looks like this. This photo was taken by Cory Hale. I also understand that the lens plays a major roll in this and read that if the lens is older, say 30 years old it can produce that look. Now I will be using my only lens which is a voigtlander 35mm f2.5 PII. This lens is pretty contrasty as you all may know. However, I've only shot it in B&W. So if any of you can help me out with this I'd appreciate it. Thanks much.

Dwayne

 

[Gumby]

Portra 160NC

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Thanks Gumby. That's pretty much exactly what I was aiming at. However, since my lens only stops down to f2.5 do they make any 400 speed film. I mean I could push it but I'd like to stay with it's ISO.

 

[dcsang]

That photo's a bit overexposed but the new portra (400) should work for you just as well.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[pachuco]

It looks as if he bumped the saturation down a bit as well. You can get this look with porta for sure, but also from drugstore film. Happy shooting!

 

[Gumby]

It looks as if he bumped the saturation down a bit as well. You can get this look with porta for sure, but also from drugstore film. Happy shooting!

Not from Kodak Gold you can't. It actually has really nice color.

 

[paulfish4570]

ferrania 400 is the ticket ...

 

[Gumby]

... do they make any 400 speed film. I mean I could push it but I'd like to stay with it's ISO.

Move quickly. Kodak recently discontinued the NC and VC options in Portra 400. The new Portra 400 might be too good for the look you want. I'll bet with not too much searching you can find some of the "old" Porta 400 NC.

 

[Gumby]

ferrania 400 is the ticket ...

Is that one of the "off brand" (meaning non-Kodak) drug store films?

 

[paulfish4570]

no, it is made in italy. it is no longer sold retail here in the usa, but left over stocks are available off ebay. it is still available in the EU, i believe. if i were a dyed-in-the-wool color guy, i'd shoot ferrania 100 and 400 ...

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Wow that ferrania 400 is like dead on Paul. I'm going to search on ebay for some.

 

[Gumby]

If you can't find that, it appears that Freestyle still has some 35mm Portra 400NC in stock.

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Thanks Gumby. It looks like B&H has Portra 400NC in stock so I can always drop by there and pick some up since it's local. I checked out Ebay and they have the Ferrania 400 here. Now I noticed this is a 36 exposure roll and other people are selling them without the box for cheaper but 24 exposures listed here. Was this film rebranded at all? The expiration date on this us July 2011. The 36 exposure roll is out of Hong Kong and I'm not going to go that route.

 

[Gumby]

...so I can always drop by there and pick some up since it's local.

Sure you can... as soon as the snow and ice thaws.

Weather here in LA is like summer, BTW. 🙂

I don't know much about that film, like not much at all. At one time I think it may have been sold under the 3M brand. But that may have been 20 years ago.

In terms of "the look" it appears like a viable option.

 

[Andy Kibber]

You might also consider consumer slide film. To me, nothing says vintage like E-6.

Whatever film you chose, I would shoot a few rolls of it before using it for a paying customer. You've got digital for back up but still.

 

[35photo]

Use a lens from the say the '30's or '40s you will get that dreamy look, yeah the NC is probably the way to go...

 

[furcafe]

If you can't buy, rent, or borrow an old single-coated (pre-1970s) or uncoated (pre-1940s) lens (1 advantage of using a Leica mount camera is that there's a huge amount of old glass out there), you might want to try to find & experiment w/some old &/or cheap single-coated or uncoated UV filters (add dust, vaseline, etc., to taste).

Or just mess around in post-processing (but you know that, already).

 

[nightfly]

For those of you who recommended Ferrania, I just got back my first roll of 100 speed and it is really grainy. Is this a characteristic of the film? It is definitely accentuated by underexposure but even on exposures where I nailed it, it seems really grainy. The color/tone is really nice. Seems to skew toward a warm yellowish tone.

 

[batterytypehah!]

I checked out Ebay and they have the Ferrania 400 here. (...) Was this film rebranded at all?

AgfaPhoto Vista 200 is repackaged Ferrania. Not the old Agfa Vista, but AgfaPhoto Vista, i.e. the stuff that the current holders of the name have been putting out since Agfa went belly-up. I have a couple of shots in my gallery with that film.

Other speeds, can't say for certain, but very likely. If it says "Made in EU" instead of "Made in Germany," that's a giveaway.

Ferrania was also behind some store brand films. I've used Western Family myself. Kruger's (spelling? we don't have any around here) was another.

That being said, personally this is the last film I'd use for portraits. For a paying gig, absolutely run some tests, and see if it isn't easier and safer to take a neutral film and get your look in post-processing.

 

[MIkhail]

You might also consider consumer slide film. To me, nothing says vintage like E-6.

Whatever film you chose, I would shoot a few rolls of it before using it for a paying customer. You've got digital for back up but still.

Which film would you consider a "consumer slide film" please?