jupiter 8/12 and colour slides?

[Florian1234]

After shooting a test roll of Kodak Elitechrome 100 with my Leica M4 and Jupiter-8 lens, I got some varying results. On one day the colours were quite pleasing:

On the other day they were rather lifeless and pale:

or this one here:

Now I ask myself how this lens would render either Ectachrome 100 or Fuji Velvia 100. But those films are rather expensive.

Do you have some hints? I already looked for examples with more European people in the pics over at flickr, but only found some from Asia and of course there were those pics from Congo by RFF fellow amoz here: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61862

But I fear that my older lenses don't render the colours like a more modern lens.

Any comments are welcome. Thanks in advance.

*edito: or is it my scanner?*

 

[ferider]

Your lenses (except for flare) and your scanner are good.

Try to expose less, for example expose on the sky, not on the ground for the Baustelle.

Shots like the Bicyle will always be tricky due to high dynamic range.

Roland.

 

[David Murphy]

Your results look OK. A couple of simple steps can give you really nice bright, saturated colors with slide film:

1) shoot in bright Sun, about two hours after Sunrise or before Sunset and avoid backlighting

2) Use a linear polarizing filter (with the appropriate exposure compensation). If you don't want to use a polarizer, at least use a UV filter if you include a lot of sky in the shot.

A slight technical under exposure (say 0.25 stops) sometimes improves the colors. Any E6 film is capable of fantastic results.

 

[spiderfrank]

I have good colours with Jupiter-8 and Provia 100F

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/spiderfrank/Iseo-012_web.jpg

 

[spiderfrank]

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l209/spiderfrank/stefania015_2_web1.jpg

ps: and I don't see anything wrong with your colours

 

[dee]

Older lenses, in my opinion , have a less saturated - and , to me , more natural colour rendition , but slight underexposure does work with my Leica M8 , and with the J8 on my Kiev 4 .Evening shots create more colour saturation and overhead overcast days tend to flatten the image ... there is nothing wrong with your Jupiter 8 .

 

[timmyd18]

The other thing is that I'm not sure that the colors are really different in the shots you've posted... they're just very different shots (ie the first one is somewhat of a portrait of the wheat and the lens looks wide open and there isn't much depth of field.) The other ones have an extremely high depth of field and it does make things look a little flatter

i'd say that you did a fantastic job with the first and third shots, by the way

 

[Florian1234]

Today I got back and scanned the roll of Elitechrome I waited for (shot at Berlin-Ostbahnhof's rummage-market). And - what can I say - I love the results (there was a setting on my Epson V500 scanner's software that I did not switch on the last time - in my initial posting which makes the colours more like the film's natural saturation and tonality). And the J-12 handles those situations very good IMHO.

Makes me want to try out Velvia or Sensia, but they are pricey (8 to 9 € overhere).

Here are the results:

For more and larger view visit my Flickr photostream.

 

[nzeeman]

can you put a link to your flickr stream in your signature. i have it tagged at my comp, but it will be easier for others to go to your stream...

 

[Florian1234]

can you put a link to your flickr stream in your signature. i have it tagged at my comp, but it will be easier for others to go to your stream...

Thanks for the hint. Done 😀

 

[Florian1234]

What about contrast in my latest colour shots (the ones posted above from that fleamarket) ?

 

[nzeeman]

i like those shots, but i liked first shots better (both color and contrast). second batch looks a bit washed out, but that is also because of very tricky light and those tents. on the other hand maybe i am not a best person to comment this because i dont have any experience with color photos.

 

[payasam]

Your results are perfectly acceptable. As has been said, slight under-exposure works well with slide film; and older lenses tend to give low saturation.

 

[oftheherd]

It seems to me your Jupiter 12 shots are a little better, more saturated at least. Lighting and exposure may have something to do with it. Or, it could be the focal length. I did find your first photo with the Jupiter 8 interesting in that it sure shows your plane of focus well.

 

[S.H.]

Hello,

I shot a roll of Sensia 100 with my M3/J8 combo for the 14th of july, and it seems to me that the colors are a little 'flat'. My J8 is old (1955), so it is probably single coated only. And Sensia 100 doesn't give very saturated colors, but it is the cheaper slide film available for me (3.10€/roll) 🙄.

Here are some examples (there is a little magenta cast from the scan I think):

 

[Florian1234]

Hello,

I shot a roll of Sensia 100 with my M3/J8 combo for the 14th of july, and it seems to me that the colors are a little 'flat'. My J8 is old (1955), so it is probably single coated only. And Sensia 100 doesn't give very saturated colors, but it is the cheaper slide film available for me (3.10€/roll) 🙄.

Here are some examples (there is a little magenta cast from the scan I think):

Indeed, they look a bit flat.

My J8 is - judged from the serial-no - from 1963 and has a blueish coating. However, the J12 is a black one from 1979 and looks like the coating is more solid (just from the plain view of the front lens).

 

[Highway 61]

Nothing wrong with these photos, your lenses are performing fine yet they suffer from flare which is quite common on some lenses of that vintage. Flare will wash out contrast and colours saturation, and won't come in when you face the sun or light source only. A white shirt or a white sky in front of the lens will cause a vintage lens to flare.

If you want more contrasty and saturated slides, use a modern lens.

Fuji Velvia or Provia slide film can be bought online (eBay or online shops) for about 50% cheaper than what you'd pay for them at your local shops.

 

[S.H.]

Thanks, I didn't know that old lenses could flare so easily (I knew about not having the sun in the frame, that's all). It confirms what I think :
old lenses => B/W
coated/new lenses => color slides
With digital one could 'cheat' a little more easily with colors and tones perhaps...

BTW, it seems that my '61 Summilux doesn't as much suffer from flare, but it is a more advanced design.