Portra 800: crazy reds

[sfcole]

<p>I just tried my first roll of Portra 800-2 in 120, and any reds in the photos are crazy saturated and totally over the top. I scanned with my Epson V500. Has anyone else noticed this? Does any artificial light cause this, or is it just a red-sensitive film?<br>

I'd post examples, but it's much more noticeable when printing. I don't think it's the printer, BTW--I don't notice the problem in other films like Fuji 800Z.<br>

thanks</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>What kind of Portra was it. NC is neutral and VC is vibrant. You might also look at the WB of your image. What do you use to scan?</p>

 

[larrydressler]

<p>Can you post an example? I found the 800 almost flat.</p>

[patrick_mont]

<p>I have never had any problem like this....Try to rescan it.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Yes the 160 Porta VC has wild reds.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3432115565_96c37dc286.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="499" /></p>

[timothygrayphoto]

<p><strong>@Larry:</strong> I've never seen Portra 160VC do this...wild indeed!</p>

 

[larrydressler]

<p>Timothy That is a bad example ..... I have a better one and it too is still wild.<br>

This is the exact color of the door.<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3432929440_53988c22b9.jpg" alt="" width="499" height="500" /></p>

<p> </p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>Here is a little something done with NC. Skin tones look more natural. This is what I like about the film.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterbcarter/sets/72157616780620040/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterbcarter/sets/72157616780620040/</a></p>

<p> </p>

[larrydressler]

<p>I though would like to see what he is talking about with the 800. I have a roll of Ektar 120 in a camera now so I want to put it next to my Porta NC and VC 160.</p>

[sfcole]

<p>Here's an example. The red of the gate is way saturated.</p><div></div>

[sfcole]

<p>BTW--I had to turn the yellow way down--the bull looked garrish. Could it be the influence of the lights? It was mostly in daylight, but maybe the film is sensitive to artificial lights.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>It is it is Daylight film... it has trouble with any light outside that range... and that red looks fine... :-)</p>

<p>How close was it to what your eye remembers?</p>

[andylynn]

<p>I think that red looks fine. Saturated, yes, but not oversaturated - unless the actual door is undersaturated :) Is your monitor calibrated? Any other examples?</p>

<p>I've got a V500 and I've seen examples of its software in default config going crazy on colors. I can run the same film on that and on my old Minolta film scanner and have the Minolta scan look fine and the Epson scan so saturated it goes out of gamut on my monitor.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>I think you have some serious color balance issues and the red's just a symptom. Here's a quick curves edit (I recommend shooting a graycard under midday sun to help set color balance).</p><div></div>

[larrydressler]

<p>thanks</p>

[heinz_anderle]

It appears to depends on the scanner software and the used negative film profile, as with VueScan with no dedicated profiles for most current films, reds in Ektar 100 are severely exaggerated (VueScan 8.3.45, Minolta 5400, generic negative film profile, crop at full resolution)<div></div>

[heinz_anderle]

And for comparison, Elite Chrome 100 extra color, ICC-profiled with a Kodak Q-60 E-3 IT8 slide:<div></div>

[benny_spinoza]

<p>I agree with Heinz.....when I used to use Vuescan on my Nikon 9000, sometimes the reds were too saturated. But now I use SilverFast, and they look very good.</p>

[samn]

<p>I'm not having any problems with Portra 400VC or Portra 800 scanned with a Coolscan V using Nikon Software. The VC is saturated and supposed to be. The 800 seems OK to me.</p><div></div>