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Agfa Scala- Should I be exposing +1 stop


davebecker

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I like this film for specific projects (people,weather) but

regardless of which camera body I use, it appears dull with poor

contrast; a bit underexposed. Once I scan on my Nikon scanner and

make some basic contrast adjustments in Photoshop, it looks great. Do

most of you who shoot Scala expose it at its rated 200 speed?

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I shoot Scala at its rated 200 speed, but with careful metering. In my experience, Scala looks rather dull with low-contrast light, such as outside on an overcast day. On the other hand it can render high-contrast subject beautifully. You need to remember two things with Scala: First, obviously, it's a black-and-white film, therefore you must be conscious of the tones while ignoring the colours of things. (This is difficult for me as I mostly shoot in colour.) Second, remember that it is a slide film, and as such it does not tolerate overexposure well. I found that it's best to spot-meter the brightest part of your subject and set it as Zone 6, that is, open up 1 stop from the meter reading. With a contrasty scene this will result in pretty bright, but not overexposed, highlights while the shadows will go dark for a nice "artistic" look. Spot-metering is key here; shooting with +1 compensation using a center-weighted or matrix pattern will often result in overexposure. It would be a good idea to bracket your exposure with a couple of scenes to decide what speed rating works best for you.
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I've only been using it for about 1 year, and enjoy its results. However, have wasted alot of film by over/under exposing - seems like B&W slide film by its very nature shows up bad exposures. Best results have been metering off grey scale card, or using spot meter & exposing for highlights while practicing contrast control for the shadows.
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I use Scala time to time and noticed that film doesn't change contrast much when pushed/pulled. On the other hand, once I made few photos under florescent light and got extrimely contrast images.

 

Until now I didn't use any but UV filter with Scala. Few days ago I've bought orange and yellow-green filter and made few test shots. I should see results within a week.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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