Overexpose Kodak C41 CN?

[Stu W]

I've been using C41 Kodak B&W film the last couple of weeks, and it seems to me that it likes being overexposed by 1 stop. I've been shooting wide open available light mostly, and overexposing seems to minimize the grain. Is this typical? Thanks. Stu

 

[richard_l]

Most C41 ISO400 films work better for me when overexposed up to one stop. I think rating them at 400 is a bit optimistic on the part of the manufacturers.

 

[peterc]

The Kodak and Ilford C41 B&W films are made to handle and ISO range of about 50 to 800, so rating at 200 or a little higher would probably be optimal. I found Ilford's offering worked better at to published 400 while the Kodak was somewhat disappointing at 400.

Peter

 

[Nikon Bob]

Short answer is yes. I shoot my Kodak C41 B&W at 200 and drop it to 100 when using a yellow filter. I think you will find that even colour C41 will improve with slight overexposure too. We do not get much Iford around here.

Bob

 

[Stu W]

It seems unanimous. Thanks guys. Stu

 

[Photon-hunter]

HI!!

I just received a few rolls of Kodak C-41 BCN I shot yesterday and must say the results are being disapinting...I was actually shooting with yellow filter and was wondering...

When you say you overexpose by a stop do you mean you pull the film and then develop accordingly or you overexpose the film and the process normally (as if it was a 400 film)??

Thanks for your kind replies...
Erik.

 

[ray_g]

I overexpose and have the lab develop normally for XP2 and TCN. Haven't tried the newer BCN.

 

[kaiyen]

Erik,
I assume that you either metered through the filter or, if not, added a stop of exposure when using the yellow filter, right? Otherwise you just exposed at 800.

allan

 

[Photon-hunter]

HI Kaiyen,

Yeah, metered through the filter, though curiously the meter of my M-7 doesnt seem to change to much ..the reading with the filter is nearly exact to the one without...Shooting with a medium yellow B+W filter, and i though the filter needs a stop od compensation. On the other hand, the negs dont seem underexposed but look quite bad and require an awfull lot of PS to come back to life...

 

[OldNick]

I've been told that meters and film have different color sensitivities, hence metering through the filter is not a good way to go. I use an off-camera meter, and adjust the film speed to account for the filter factor. I've used this method successfully with Kodak C41 B&W films.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Without a yellow filter I treat it as 200 and with the filter 100. I set my handheld meter for those speeds accordingly. I do not tell the lab anything and they just process it normally. I have no idea why, as you say, your M7 meter does not seem like it compensates for the yellow filter. I think it should as you can see the meter needle swing on my Nikon FE2 when I am adjusting a polarizer. Maybe an M7 owner can chime in here with some answers my lowly M4 has no meter.

Bob

 

[Bertram2]

I've been using C41 Kodak B&W film the last couple of weeks, and it seems to me that it likes being overexposed by 1 stop. I've been shooting wide open available light mostly, and overexposing seems to minimize the grain. Is this typical? Thanks. Stu

In general one can use it well @ISO , opens the shadows a bit.
But be care ful with highlights on reflecting surfaces like leaves in bright sun. overexposing can blow them out, very ugly then !

For bright sunlight and nightshots I prefer silver based film, for all the rest the I prefer creamy tonality and grainless look of C41. Scans easier too !

bertram

 

[ch1]

Short answer is yes. I shoot my Kodak C41 B&W at 200 and drop it to 100 when using a yellow filter. I think you will find that even colour C41 will improve with slight overexposure too. We do not get much Iford around here.

Bob

This confirms my observation over the weekend when I was shoot T-Max 400 on a bright sunny day with new snow cover. I was using my F3 (yes, curse me out for playing with a SLR) on Auto (apeture priority) and switched b/w using the yellow filter and not.

On same shots - sure enough - with the filter the speed dropped one step down.

Thanks, Bob, for helping me figure this one out.

Regards,
George

 

[Bertram2]

In general one can use it well @ISO , opens the shadows a bit.

bertram

@ ISO 200 was meant, sorry ! 🙄

bertram

 

[Doug]

The meters seem to usually have more red sensitivity than the films, so they suggest an exposure in yellow/orange light that results in a little underexposure. I've noticed this with Tri-X shot in incandescent light. Putting a yellow or orange filter on in daylight would similarly result in a bit of underexposure if using TTL metering.

Ilford XP2 has better red-sensitivity than Tri-X, and even without any filter a blue sky will show some tone where it wouldn't with Tri-X, so the filter factor in practice is a bit different for different films according to their relative red sensitivity.