Portra 400 test

[Tim Gray]

Thought you guys might be interested. I finally got my scans back of an exposure test I did of the new Portra 400 in 35mm. The scans are big (4k x 6x) and I also compared some fresh 400NC and 400VC. The new stuff looks good. You can see the scans here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgray1/collections/72157625883911861/

I didn't do any push processing. Just over/under/proper exposure. I shot in daylight and in 3200 K, with and without a partial correction filter. It's not the most scientific test, but it might give you some useful information.

On a side note, the development and scanning was done at Precision Camera with the RFF special. I'm really happy with the results. Some of the test shots had a funny green cast to them (probably the scanner operator was bored of scanning 100 frames of the same subject matter). However, the other 7 rolls I got done all look fantastic. As does the new Portra 400. Definitely worth taking them up on their offer.

 

[Ranchu]

Intense. Thank you for this, Tim. It's past my bedtime, but I'll be studying them tomorrow!

🙂

 

[Paddy C]

Thanks very much for taking the time, effort, and money to do this.

I would be comfortable using this at 1 stop under and up to 3 stops over (though I probably wouldn't go more than 2).

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Thanks for sharing, Tim!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Tim Gray]

My short condensed thoughts on it: Lovers of 400NC will like this film I think. Those who used 400VC might be sad that 400VC is gone. Those of us who could never decided which one they liked more, but leaned towards 400NC will like this film too 😀

A bit more saturation than 400NC, less than 400VC, a wee bit finer grained, and supposedly easier to scan. Though I've not scanned it yet myself.

 

[bwcolor]

Hammering a Nail with the Head of a Screwdriver

Hammering a Nail with the Head of a Screwdriver

I love film for B&W and low ISO color where I want really vibrant color..ie Velvia 50/100, Ektar 100 and others that I have shot. I've now shot a number of rolls of the New Portra 400 in 120 and purchased 35mm and honestly, if I were a carpenter, I think that I would be hammering nails with the handle of a large screwdriver. Higher ISO is the playground of digital and what digital does best when compared to film. I'm shooting this new film and it is probably the best 400 ISO film ever made, but I know that I would be smarter shooting digital, at least when shooting 35mm format. Something that I haven't done in a while. Shooting medium format with this film might still trump any digital camera that I can afford.

 

[Phantomas]

Gahd! How, how, how do you get proper colors from negative scans?? I understand it's from a lab, but people still manage it somehow...

Inability to manage colors of negative scans is the biggest reason I stay away from it and stick to B&W. Especially Portra. Just the other day I spent hours experimenting (on Canonscan 8800), scans through native software - green cast, scans through Silverfast - purpl/magenta cast; options on, options off, different tweaks, all look weird and to be honest by this time I'm simply lost what the actual color should look like.

I know it's down to own skills to manage colors, but does it really require such an expertise?? I don't know, I'm frustrated, I hope to burn through all my color negatives ASAP and never buy them again.

Sorry to rant and hijack, but your perfect color scans were a painful reminder 🙁

 

[Tim Gray]

I just let the lab take care of it. They did a good job on the normal pictures. I might have made some slightly different choices in color balance, but letting them do it for saves me a bunch of time. NCPS offers similar service, and I understand Richard Photo Lab does an even better job.

 

[bwcolor]

Gahd! How, how, how do you get proper colors from negative scans?? I understand it's from a lab, but people still manage it somehow...

Inability to manage colors of negative scans is the biggest reason I stay away from it and stick to B&W. Especially Portra. Just the other day I spent hours experimenting (on Canonscan 8800), scans through native software - green cast, scans through Silverfast - purpl/magenta cast; options on, options off, different tweaks, all look weird and to be honest by this time I'm simply lost what the actual color should look like.

I know it's down to own skills to manage colors, but does it really require such an expertise?? I don't know, I'm frustrated, I hope to burn through all my color negatives ASAP and never buy them again.

Sorry to rant and hijack, but your perfect color scans were a painful reminder 🙁

First, calibrate your monitor/printer for a color managed workflow. I've not done so with my scanners.

Next, purchase VueScan.

As per many threads here. Lock exposure and color base prior to scanning. Use white balance feature, or do so after scan.

Seems to work just fine. No complication. No real issues.