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best color film for an "experimental" photographer


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hi guys,

i've never shot color film before, but this summer i'm taking a course at SVA in color photography. (i'm

still a junior in high school!)

my question is: what is the best color negative film for both vibrant, bright colors, but also more dulled

down and antique looking colors. thanks!

-francesca

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heh....no such animal as far as I'm concerned. Now, in the "family" of color films you can do this. I use Kodak's Portra. The have NC (normal color) negative film that is especially nice for skin tones and on the more muted side of color saturation.....and they have VC (vivid color) which beefs up the color saturation somewhat....and then they have UC (ultra color), eyepopping color. Of course, with the way film is going these days, they may have trimmed down that grouping....I don't know, still got stuff in the freezer from a year ago.
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If you want extremely exaggerated colors and high contrast, try cross-processed slide film. My recommendation: Kodak Ektachrome 100 Plus Professional (EPP) exposed at ISO 100 and developed in C-41 chemistry with a 1/3 push. Have your film processed in local pro lab.

 

What are antique looking colors? Can you link an example.

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I just shot some expired kodak max 100 as an experiment. It has an "old" feel to it.<br><br>

 

I bleach bypassed this one (expired kodak 100).<br>

<A href="Http://turborocco.com/c41/kylescot">Http://turborocco.com/c41/kylescot</a><br><br>

 

normally processed kodak 100<br>

<A href="Http://turborocco.com/c41/kylescot2">Http://turborocco.com/c41/kylescot2</a><br><br>

 

 

Wing

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If you are talking about color negative film (print film), 400UC is a good place to start for saturated colours. It's widely available, unlike the Portra films which are more accurate/subdued compared to UC.

 

If you want _really_ saturated colors, try Kodak E100VS and Fuji Velvia. They are much more saturated than print film but the skin color is compromised. They are quite wild sometimes. :-)

 

If you want an old-time look to photos, try Kodachrome 64. If you do your own processing, you can probably modify the processing of regular color negative film so that it looks faded. I don't know how to do this but I'm sure some contributors to the forum do.

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Fuji Reala has great detail and strong, saturated colors. Much better that Kodak print film, which subdues both color and detail to give flesh tones and portraits a soft look. But if you really want first class color, you need to shoot slide film. Kodak VS is the most forgiving and has a true, warm color palette.
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I thought reala gives pale colours. Maybe I'm just looking at different colors than you are! :-)

 

I recall that Steven Spielberg washed some color off the film in making the movie Saving Private Ryan. I don't recall the exact procedures but you can probably find it on the net. This would be one option to get old looking color.

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Dear Francesca,

 

Will you be scanning the negatives? If so, it is comparatively easy to get the effects you want in Photoshop. For fairly obvious reasons no one film can deliver both bright, saturated colours and dulled-down antique colours when exposed/processed/printed in a single way.

 

Cheers

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com -- a site aimed mainly at film photographers)

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  • 2 weeks later...

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