Finally got my 1st roll of Kodak Ektar: need suggestions

<p>Finally I got my first roll of Kodak Ektar film, after a long search (in Italy I had some difficulties to find this film)!<br>

I know that many of you use that film and that this is one of your favourites... Can you give me some suggestions? What is the dynamic range of this film, I mean, by how many stops can I open/close my lens from the 18% grey to still get details in the highlights/shadows?<br>

And what about scanning this film? I use Nikon's Super CoolScan 5000 ED with Nikon's software.<br>

Thank you for your help: I will post my results.</p>

<p>There have been many threads on dynamic range for Ektar. Check the archives. Regarding scanning.....I recommend SilverFast Ai Studio. They have an Ektar film profile. I have used it for Ektar, and am very happy with it. If you want to get serious about scanning, buy the SilverFast archive suite that also has HDR. That way, you need only scan once to generate a raw HDR scan....and then you can process the raw scan as many times as you want. Saves time overall.</p>

<p>Just so you know, the Nikon scanner you use will not capture the entire dynamic range that film has to offer...</p>

<p>I shoot Ektar 100 in medium format and scan it on a Nikon CS 9000.</p>

<p>I use the Nikon software and get excellent results - good enough to satisfy architects and art directors who are notoriously fussy.</p>

<p>I've never run any detailed tests, but having shot more than 100 rolls, I can confidently say that it will handle at least a +2 to -1 stop exposure variation and still deliver plenty of detail in both highlights and shadows.</p>

<p><em>Just so you know, the Nikon scanner you use will not capture the entire dynamic range that film has to offer...</em></p>

<p>A Nikon scanner can capture anything you put on color negative film. The DMax of the film never comes close to the DMax of the scanner. The dynamic range off the film is compressed compared to the dynamic range of capture - about 3:1.</p>

<p>The best exposure for negative film is right on - Ektar 100 is good for about 4 stops over mid range and 5 stops under with good detail. You can bend the exposure a couple of stops to accommodate shadows.</p>

<p>Edward, it was my understanding that most scanners cannot support the entire DR of film...can you point me to other links/urls regarding this, or if you can expound on this a bit more, it would be greatly appreciated? I'd like to educate myself on this issue better...please advise.....</p>

<p>Dan, I believe Edward is right and most scanners should have no trouble with the dynamic range of color negative film. It is color <em>slide </em>film which can be challenging. This seems to be a common misunderstanding of late.</p>

<p>Jeff, slide film has the narrowest DR of any film so how can it be a challange?</p>

<p>The dynamic range of film refers to the range of luminance in the subject which can be captured on the film. This is the horizontal axis of the characteristic curve. This produces a range of density on the film, represented by the vertical axis. It is this range of densities on the film which is read by the scanner.</p>

<p>The axes are logarithmic. if you measure the range (difference between the high and low points) on either axis and divide by the log of two (0.301), you can express that range in f/stops. The vertical axis is the measured density from the film. For Ektar, the maximum useable density (DMax) is about 2.7, where the DMax (maximum readable density) by the scanner is about 4.2. The units are the same - the higher the value, the greater the density.</p>

<p>Film manufacturers, including Kodak, publish technical data sheets which include characteric curves (exposure vs density) and MTF charts showing the resolution. I have attached an example of a characteristic curve for Ektar 100, which I marked up for another thread.</p>

<p>The DMax for Velvia and Tri-X approaches 4.0 in their useable ranges, and even higher with gross overexposure. However, the silver image in Tri-X is opaque to all wavelengths, whereas the dyes in Velvia (any E-6 film) are transparent to infrared. Don't use color film to view the sun, no matter how dark it looks to the eye.</p><div></div>

<p>Les' illustration shows that negative film is relatively tolerant to overexposure, compared to digital (and slide film) capture. Negative film gets darker and darker until the curve levels off, above the range shown in the characteristic curve. The tolerance of digital capture to under exposure is comparable to that of negative color film, and for medium format digital, much more tolerant.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>slide film has the narrowest DR of any film so how can it be a challenge?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Dan,<br /><br />I think you're confusing DR (Dynamic Range) with DMax.</p>

<p>Read Edwards post closely and it will become clear.</p>

 

<p>Edward, Greg, thanks for the information! I shall have to ponder this...</p>

<p>Thank you all for the interesting discussion and your suggestions! To get the entire DR of a film I sometimes used the trick of combining two scans with different scanner's analog value: maybe this can be useful for Ektar film...</p>

<p><em>To get the entire DR of a film I sometimes used the trick of combining two scans with different scanner's analog value: maybe this can be useful for Ektar film...</em></p>

<p>This process is not necessary with negative film, as is clearly illustrated in the characteristic curve. Set your LS-5000 scanner controls correctly, and you can easily capture everything on the film in one pass. Printing what the scanner captures is another matter, which can be handled by adjusting the curves and contrast in Photoshop.</p>

<p>While the DMax of reversal film is difficult to scan, it can be done in one pass. You can't extract shadow detail that simply isn't there due to the high contrast and limited dynamic range of slides.</p>

<p>Thank you Edward for your clear explanation: I will give it a try!<br>

Alberto.</p>