stupid film question

[ElectroWNED]

I spontaneously hiked 4 hours up Mount Wittenberg in the Catskills hoping to take in the nice view from the top. I brought my XA and a roll of 200 color film (those leaves...), but in my excitement, forgot to switch from 400 to 200 ISO on the camera. Can Rite-Aid or Walgreens push-develop?

I was shooting that generic Fuji 200 film... is pushing this stuff going to make it look like crap?

 

[Pickett Wilson]

The latitude of negative film is wide enough that you should still get good prints with the film developed normally. Shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[Tim Gray]

Yeah I'd just go with it. They won't look as nice as if you had shot them at 200, but they will still most likely look very nice.

 

[ElectroWNED]

so Rite-Aid/Walgreens/etc... can push/pull?

 

[shadowfox]

Ask them, most likely they will say no.

Technically, they can, I imagine it's just a setting on the processor, but they may not be allowed to do it per store policies. Or they don't know how.

If you're lucky, the operator is competent *and* a film user him/herself and may do it for you just because they can relate, but to find someone like that would be an exception, not the norm.

 

[DonaldJ.]

they cant push/pull. you should be fine if they are developed normally. if you have them pushed it will probably make the end result worse then just underexposing them.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

It doesn't need to be developed differently than normal.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Think about the old box cameras that had one aperture and one shutter speed. You put some 125 speed film in there and shot away in all kinds of light. And they all came out pretty good. Negative film has a lot of latitude. In fact, many people rate film differently than is on the box on purpose. Just have them process as normal.

 

[ElectroWNED]

In fact, many people rate film differently than is on the box on purpose. Just have them process as normal.

I do this with black and white film (XP2, mostly), because of the bump in contrast, but I've never done it with color film, so I don't know what to expect.

I'll post a couple in the film comes out any good; it was an amazing view, underexposed or not.

 

[irq506]

Hey- Just leave it, the lab will process it the best way for optimal results even at your 'mistaken' ISO. Itll be fine, just take the negs to a po lab and hem scann them for you.. and you are golden!

 

[nikon_sam]

film is not stupid...😉

 

[jan normandale]

FWIW: some people photocopy the DX code from another film cannister and tape it over the original. It seems to work. However I'd agree with the others who suggest that one full stop won't be that big an exposure shift with C41 film.

 

[bolohead]

some people photocopy the DX code from another film cannister

The DX code won't matter. C-41 is C-41 and all speeds are processed in the same chemistry. It's only when you develop for a speed other than the rated speed that you change the dev times.

Like everyone else has stated, over exposing a stop won't really make a huge difference. That said, if you are really concerned, take it to a pro lab and ask them to push it a stop in the development. I do this at home with the Unicolor chemistry and just increase the dev time by 25% for 1 stop or 50% for 2 stops to compensate.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The DX code won't matter. C-41 is C-41 and all speeds are processed in the same chemistry. It's only when you develop for a speed other than the rated speed that you change the dev times.

Like everyone else has stated, over exposing a stop won't really make a huge difference. That said, if you are really concerned, take it to a pro lab and ask them to push it a stop in the development. I do this at home with the Unicolor chemistry and just increase the dev time by 25% for 1 stop or 50% for 2 stops to compensate.

These labs won't push process. The machines they use cannot do it. I worked in a lab using those fuji frontier systems and the film processor units usually supplied with them are basic models that do not allow changing the dev. time. There are minilab machines that can push film; Walgreens doesn't have them.

My opinion is a one stop underexposure is fatal. They're going to suck if the camera exposed correctly, but you might get lucky and the camera overexposed. Both XAs I have had overexposed a stop or so because the meters were off, and if yours does, you'll be ok.

 

[Mister E]

I've pushed color negative film once and the color shifts were atrocious. Like Chris said I find 1 stop underexposure with color negative to really give poor results. I'm not sure what you should do. On the other hand 1 or 2 stop overexposure with C-41 comes out reasonably well.

 

[Proteus617]

As the roll is important to you, why not do a test? Shoot another roll of Fuji 200 rated at 400, develop normally then decide.

 

[ElectroWNED]

good points raised in the last few posts...

I had a feeling underexposing is worse than over. What complicates things more is that the exposure itself was tricky, what with the sun setting, the clouds creeping in, and the leaves a dark shade of red.

I guess this just gives me a reason to return to the mountain (with the ISO correctly set from base-camp).