Is Superia 1600 dead? Other options?

[boomguy57]

I love shooting Superia 1600, but Freestyle and B&H no longer carry it (the latter says it is "discontinued"). The grain and color of Superia 1600 are really nice and it's one of my favored films, and my only film I shoot at 1600 in color.

Amazon has it but only in single rolls and it is selling at $13-14/roll. Does anyone know if this is discontinued or not? It is still listed on the Fujifilm website as one of their films, so maybe it isn't discontinued? Anyone have any info on this?

Alternatively, has anyone pushed other color film to 1600 with good results? Portra, Pro 400H, even Superia 800? I use those three films for 80% (Ektar for the most of the rest) of my color work. I have pushed Portra to 800 with good results, but not sure if it can go to 1600; I haven't pushed the other two past their stated values.

If anyone has examples to post I'd love to see some!

I have pushed Tri-X to 1600 and that works, same with HP5+ so I'm not worried about BW in low light.

Thanks,

Trevor

 

[filmfan]

I have a friend who shoots Portra 400 @1600 on occasion and says it's better than Portra 800 @1600... that's all I got.

 

[boomguy57]

I have a friend who shoots Portra 400 @1600 on occasion and says it's better than Portra 800 @1600... that's all I got.

I've never shot Portra 800, I always just push it that far if I need it...

 

[brbo]

I tried Portra 400@1600 just recently for the first time. I develop C-41 at home so I pushed it 2 stops in developement, although I don't think I really helped in the areas that you need it most (the shadows). If you are scanning, push development is maybe not a requirement if the film is good at underexposure.

Some examples...

The following one wasn't exposed correctly, or should I say it would probably be ok if Portra was a true ISO1600 film, but as you see, shadows get really noisy if you try to bump them up...

This was really dark, no metering, I just set f2 and 1/15s and hoped for the best...

Anyone care to share some Superia 1600 examples in similar conditions?

 

[boomguy57]

The first two shots look much nicer...are all of the shots Portra pushed to 1600?

I tried Portra 400@1600 just recently for the first time. I develop C-41 at home so I pushed it 2 stops in developement, although I don't think I really helped in the areas that you need it most (the shadows). If you are scanning, push development is maybe not a requirement if the film is good at underexposure.

Some examples...

The following one wasn't exposed correctly, or should I say it would probably be ok if Portra was a true ISO1600 film, but as you see, shadows get really noisy if you try to bump them up...

This was really dark, no metering, I just set f2 and 1/15s and hoped for the best...

Anyone care to share some Superia 1600 examples in similar conditions?

 

[johannielscom]

At the moment I'm in Betlin and I saw some Superia 1600 and 800 for sale, branded Fujicolor only. Don't know the price Boomguy, but can go and have a look for you

 

[sevo]

Just about every dealer in Europe still seems to have it (and Fuji Pro 800 is still around in 135 as well), so that might be a US branch thing.

Colour negative can be pushed (and labs doing service for pros generally offer to do so), and have enough range for a stop underexposure. Indeed some sources suggested that Superia might be Pro800 with a more euphemistic/less professional sensitivity rating - it certainly gets less dull when shot at 800, so it will have a real sensitivity closer to 800.

 

[boomguy57]

At the moment I'm in Betlin and I saw some Superia 1600 and 800 for sale, branded Fujicolor only. Don't know the price Boomguy, but can go and have a look for you

how much did you see it for?

 

[boomguy57]

Interesting...I've never shot Pro 800Z. I have shot Superia 800 which is nice, and maybe 1600 is really just that?

Just about every dealer in Europe still seems to have it (and Fuji Pro 800 is still around in 135 as well), so that might be a US branch thing.

Colour negative can be pushed (and labs doing service for pros generally offer to do so), and have enough range for a stop underexposure. Indeed some sources suggested that Superia might be Pro800 with a more euphemistic/less professional sensitivity rating - it certainly gets less dull when shot at 800, so it will have a real sensitivity closer to 800.

 

[johannielscom]

how much did you see it for?

Not sure! I wasn't looking for it, just ran into it. I'll check for you later and shoot you a PM. Seems shipping isn't that bad from Germany, might be worth it.

 

[thegman]

I think Natura 1600 is basically the same thing as Superia 1600, that seems readily available on eBay, still a bit pricey though. If you don't mind slide film, the general consensus is that Provia 400X pushes well.

 

[sepiareverb]

Pro800Z is a lovely emulsion. Nice snappy color and pleasant, tho not too gritty grain.

 

[brbo]

The first two shots look much nicer...are all of the shots Portra pushed to 1600?

Yes, all are Portra 400@1600 (push2 developed).

First two are nicer because, well... more light landed on the film. Third one had a really deep shadow and the forth one was at least a stop underexposed at 1600. As I said, in my experience (or "experience" as I only did on film so far), pushing in development doesn't really do much for the shadows. Yes, bright portions of the frame are where you's expect them to be, but shadows are really thin.

 

[boomguy57]

Yeah, but I could push it to 1600 in a pinch. 800 yields good results but you lose a stop. I have a project coming up that requires low-light so perhaps I may need to invest in the Nokton 50/1.1 to help with light. Rather not acquire more gear, so I'll try pushing first.

Anyone else have examples?

Yes, all are Portra 400@1600 (push2 developed).

First two are nicer because, well... more light landed on the film. Third one had a really deep shadow and the forth one was at least a stop underexposed at 1600. As I said, in my experience (or "experience" as I only did on film so far), pushing in development doesn't really do much for the shadows. Yes, bright portions of the frame are where you's expect them to be, but shadows are really thin.

 

[magicianhisoka]

Back home where I'm from (Singapore), there's still Superia 1600 at about 8 USD a pop. The chap at the film store said it wasn't discontinued yet. We had that conversation earlier this year around March.