fuji superia question

[iridium7777]

shot my first roll with fuji superia 100 on my m6, and am fairly pleased....but!!

it seems the highlights are completely blown out. it does an amazing job rendering greens, but anything yellow it completely blows out.

i was wondering is this something that's known with the film or is my camera meter causing me to overexpose my pictures?

i don't think per-se that they're overexposed because the greens would look bad then? i can fix this in digital post processing somewhat, but still i loved the film and would like to get better at it. should i underexpose a little when using it then?

anyone have any experience with this?

 

[kshapero]

I assume you are using a rig that has center weighted metering. In your first photo, I would have metered first towards the ground. Hold thatsetting then recompose. That might avoid the blow out. My experience with Fuji is that when highlights blow I aslo get the green. The second shot looks good to me. If you want to lower the green in that one you might underexpose a half stop or so.

 

[wlewisiii]

Hmm. I'd wonder first about processing. Does your processor use a Fuji Frontier machine? If not, I'd look for one that does. The Superia line are wonderful films so it's worth making sure that it's being processed correctly.

William

 

[nobbylon]

hi, I use superia 100 and 200 most of the time, find it really nice and scans well. topshot looks like a lot of back light from shooting into sun judging by the shadows so maybe just a stop or so compensation would have cured it. I like the colours in the bottom shot as they are. best j

 

[kshapero]

Hmm. I'd wonder first about processing. Does your processor use a Fuji Frontier machine? If not, I'd look for one that does. The Superia line are wonderful films so it's worth making sure that it's being processed correctly.

William

I forgot to mention this, also. look for the above.

 

[KoNickon]

With the first picture I'd almost say it was metered for the shady portion only, and let the highlights take care of themselves. But Superia can handle a lot of overexposure, so maybe it's the printing process instead. (I think he told me he uses a Walgreens that has a Frontier, so maybe it's acting up some?)

 

[iridium7777]

true and true. i'm pretty sure i focused on the darker area, because i wanted to show details in it, i guess i didn't realize it would blow up so.

and whatever the walgreens uses, i just saw "fuji" on the machine, not sure which one. then again, it is east hartford so maybe it's not the best of things😀

with regards to the second one, i think i fixed it somewhat with ps, the actual yellow was almost completely blown out, perhaps i just need to learn how to focus better with my m6. i should have focused on the flower, but to be honest i don't remember what i did now, i'll run the next roll through and take some notes as i do it.

With the first picture I'd almost say it was metered for the shady portion only, and let the highlights take care of themselves. But Superia can handle a lot of overexposure, so maybe it's the printing process instead. (I think he told me he uses a Walgreens that has a Frontier, so maybe it's acting up some?)

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

true and true. i'm pretty sure i focused on the darker area, because i wanted to show details in it, i guess i didn't realize it would blow up so.

And you have just discovered the reason why Adams & Archer invented the zone system 😀

Well, that said I also find it a little surprising that the yellows are so blown out. Like all color negatives Superia handles overexposure fairly well, but next time you should still try to do some rudimentary "zoning" in order to see how much difference there is between the shadows and the highlights, and adjust exposure accordingly. The shadows will have a fair amount of detail even when underexposed a bit, again thanks to the wide latitude of negative film.

I do not own and never have owned an M6, so I do not remember what kind of exposure meter display it has, but utilizing the zone system is possible with a center weighted meter as well; you do not necessarily need a spot meter. However, with a 3 LED over-correct-under display it is rather difficult. 🙁

 

[SimonPG]

Firstly it was an awful time of day to shoot - terribly harsh sun from above and a real challenge.

Secondly, yes you did over expose it - like someone else said it would have been better to meter from the ground, hold the setting and recompose in such conditions.

The highlights have blown out badly - it was a challenge even with that negative film's latitude.

I shoot dozens and dozens of rolls of Superia 100 and 400 a year and find it develops reliably and prints and scans very well. BUT I always have it done at my local Fuji Frontier lab by pros who care and always hand colour correct prints.

Typically Superia has reliable colour. So if prints look off at all - go back and have them reprinted correctly. If anything I find Fuji film is cooler than Kodak film. But your images are too "cool" I'm sorry to say.

Finally, a tip - always develop a relationship with your chosen lab; make sure you expect top quality etc. Discuss the issues with them and let them know you will be a regular - these labs are doing it very tough these days and are keen to retain customers - if they know you will be back often, they will make a greater effort.