My Noctilux Diary

That Ectar looks quite nice. How do you find it scans compared to other films? I'm used to using Fuji Pro400H and 800Z but find they are quite sensitive to scanning in that the grain gets really magnified compared to slide film scans.
 
That new Ektar100 is a very fine-grain film, also colors are not so difficult to scan as compared to some other films. I use a Epson V700 for all my work and this film was easy to scan.
 
That new Ektar100 is a very fine-grain film, also colors are not so difficult to scan as compared to some other films. I use a Epson V700 for all my work and this film was easy to scan.

Thanks for replying. I like the look of the Ektar but not the slow (ish) speed. The colours look very good and I hear that it is easier to scan with better grain characteristics than most colour neg film. My colour neg scans always disappoint compared to the clean scans I get from trannie. I've always assumed it was the orange mask that made things difficult. Is the orange base of the Ektar lighter than other films?
 
The orange mask is the same as with color print films, I think ... (I couldn't see any difference though :) ) I have one Ektar 100 developed myself using the Naniwa Colorkit-N (which I have some experience with) and the results looked awful. I was told then that this film has to be developed by Kodak. The difference is large !
 
The Noct ROCKS w/Film.....DIVINE!!

the Nocti's better with film.... shhhhhhhhhhh! my camera might here us :eek:

if i don't get stuck on jury duty, i might be in the city mid-May. i promise to bring my boy so you can check him out on your precious (i think he'll really go for the skin you chose.
 
The orange mask is the same as with color print films, I think ... (I couldn't see any difference though :) ) I have one Ektar 100 developed myself using the Naniwa Colorkit-N (which I have some experience with) and the results looked awful. I was told then that this film has to be developed by Kodak. The difference is large !


The Ektar 100 should be developed like any other C-41 film. 1Hr labs can do it - or you should be able to do it at home. Maybe you made a mistake during your development?
 
The Ektar 100 should be developed like any other C-41 film. 1Hr labs can do it - or you should be able to do it at home. Maybe you made a mistake during your development?

I asked the stuff where I usually drop my films (Yodobashi camera) and the staff told me that the new Ektar100 can only be developed by Kodak.

It could be that something went wrong during my own development but the difference in quality was huge ...
 
@ maddoc - the Ektar shots really have a distinct look of its own! I won't say it's good for everything, but for your three shots they look superb, more elegant than if you'd used any other film I guess.

@ cam - Recently I browsed through my photos again, mostly those taken by the same lens on R-D1s v.s. on film bodies, and I'm not sure if I have found some new ideas. Maybe I've been wrong on how to use a lens on the R-D1s all the time.

When I got a more concrete conclusion, I'll definitely share with you guys here.

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From my limited experience, the RDP3 slide is less natural than the Kodaks. Yet sometimes it's great to create some surreal atmosphere.

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The following shot shows the narrow dynamic range of the slide film: you either sacrifice the shadow to keep the highlight from clipping, or go the other way round.

In this shot I chose to save the highlight, and the result is "dead black" in the shadow areas, and a overall under-exposed shot. Yet by keeping the highlight from blowing, I'm allowed to play with the curve and bring up most of the middle area. The dead shadows, on the other hand, create an interesting effect.

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loving them all, thank you!

i'm just suffering from the beginning pangs of using this lovely beast. i'm sure you remember back to page one?
 
I said it here before and I'll say it again. I waited over a year for a Nocti after pre paying in full and I got tired of waiting. I bought a Mamiya 7ii and two lenses, plus V700 and got some (a lot) of cash back. Although I absolutely love the Mamiya and have made a body of work with it that I wouldn't trade for the world I will always wish I had of waited that little bit longer and got the Leica lens I've always wished for.

As for the Ektar, I thought C41 was a standardized chemical process. I know with some Fuji film for a while they didn't process well in the same tank as Kodak films because of some chemical the Kodak films.
 
i'm just suffering from the beginning pangs of using this lovely beast. i'm sure you remember back to page one?
I just went back to page 1 after reading your reply. Then page 2 & 3 & 4.

Ok. I really didn't know how to use this lens back then.... :eek:

My 0.02 is that:

- keep taking shots you think you bought this lens for
- bore yourself with them
- then you'll forget it's a Noctilux and really start to use it
- after a while, you just know what to do whenever you hold it in your hand.

I'm glad that I survive the "testing phase" and am really living with this lens. People loving my shots or not, I'm still shooting with it. Happily.

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The funny thing is that, this afternoon some members of a local photography forum had a gathering; I'm one of them.

I brought the Noctilux. All the M6 users tried it on their cameras, and their first reactions were just the same:

"How much more should I turn to get it focused?"

"Just turn it," I said. "Just turn it."
 
LOL! yes, and turn and turn and turn...

my BF grabbed my cam at dinner and was disgusted that he couldn't get anything in focus. i tried to explain that it was kind of a delicate lens and you really had to learn it. as a non-RF type of guy, he swept aside my comments and just got very cranky :p

and, no, back then you didn't know and neither do i -- yet. i am boring myself ****ing crazy trying to get through my teething pains. i'm even using it during the day, stopped down a bit, but still trying to focus perfectly. forget the heaviness, it is just too long for my liking during the day for the street. but it beats testing on pots and pans and whatnot.

a query since you use this on both film and the Epson.... is the mount kind of loose on the R-D1? mine seems to be and i don't know if this is because of the weight, the design, or if it's something i should have looked at.... the idea that this might come off my camera is petrifying!
 
maddoc, fantastic shot!
I love this one, too!

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Got another roll of Noctilux + Agfa APX400. Some shots here:



[Losing My Head]

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[Among the Faces]

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[Paintery]

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Whenever my friend sees a shot like this
He would just say
"Why not just paint?"

Well, I can't paint...



[Walking the Pet...No?]

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[Four Feet Away]

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[Hollow]

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Siluro, deepwhite: Thank you ! :)

@ deepwhite: Your photo [Among the faces] I like a lot. Was it taken a little stopped down, say ~ @ f/1.4 or so ?

Cheers,

Gabor
 
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