New Fuji NPH-new user question

[peter_kim2]

I decided to try out the new NPH, Ive never really used a

professional film before now but I am somewhat disappointed. To my

eye they seemed really bluish and maybe pinkish. I took it to Penn

Camera in DC which is kind of a semi-pro shop. I think they use

Noritsu printers and Kodak Royal Paper.

 

So I took the film to MotoPhoto a 1 hour place which has a Fuji

Frontier and they printed on Kodak Royal Paper as well and they

looked much better, and confirming my suspicion the printer said

that the film was really blue and she had to add a lot of yellow and

some magenta. (I have no idea what this means!) But the pictures

still dont look all that great.

 

Does anyone have an similair experiences? Maybe I am doing something

wrong? I would love to hear from Scott Eaton on this as he always

seems to be so knowledgeable about Fuji Films.

[peter_witkop]

Well what your printer meant by adding yellow to correct blue is that yellow and blue are opposites, they cancel each other, so she compensated for a blue shift by adding yellow, and apparently some green shift (magenta is the opposite of green). Just FYI Red, Green, and Blue are the opposites of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow respectively, each canceling it's opposite. That is kind of interesting result though, in my rather limited experience with NPH the color balance hasn't been too off, but I haven't done any real testing with it either. Were you by chance shooting in shade? The light in open shade is quit cool (around 6500k), which will readily explain a blue shift, and is ussually corrected with an 81B filter. Hope that's of some help

 

Pete

[keithdunlop]

Well, I'm not Scott, but I can tell you that two things that may help; 1) shoot NPH at 250, and 2) DO NOT take it to any one-hour lab, or camera store that sends it out to one. It should be processed at a professional quality lab. Find out where your local wedding shooters go and take it there.

[peter_kim2]

Hi Peter well I shot mostly in sunlight. Most in outside sunny conditions and partly sunny conditions (no grey or shady areas) and also some inside by a big picture window, none of the shots were really in any shade.

 

Keith, Actually I shot the NPH at 320 on a Canon Elan 7e with 50mm 1.8 and 85mm 1.8 using regluar evaluative metering...Also I got it developed and printed at a place called Penn Camera which is a pro lab in the Washington DC area. But like I said I was dissappointed with the shots so I went to a 1 hour Motophoto and those shots were better but still not great.

[jordan2240]

Peter,

 

I've shot a lot of NPH, old and some new, and have occasionally noticed that some greens appear bluish, but never noticed an overall blue tint. Scott hasn't been on the board since he got banned a couple of weeks ago, so you may not hear from him. However, he has often stated that NPH looks best on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, but does ok on Kodak. He prefers Kodak Portra UC, especially from Kodak labs. My lab uses Agfa Prestige, and the Prestige/NPH combination gets a thumbs up from some as well. On a side note, I recently decided that my photography was not worthy of professional film, and it was silly for me to continue filling shoeboxes with prints from the expensive stuff. So I started shooting Fuji Superia Xtra 400 ($1.89 at B&H)for general purpose shots, and have been very happy with the switch. Perhaps the results won't be as consistent, but I'll be able to waste film guilt free.

 

Bill

[frank_b._baiamonte]

My personal observations on NPH:

 

I've had well over 150 rolls of NPH processed on a Fuji Frontier at my local Long's Drugs one-hour service. I shoot all my NPH at 320, even the new version. I have used close to 40 rolls of the new version. They use Fuji Crystal Arhcive paper. The results have been great on enlargements up to 8x12. As a side note, I can see a difference between NPH and Superia 400 (which also looks great printed on a Frontier).

 

Hope this helps.

[gary_watson]

Bad processing and the wrong paper strike me as the problems, Peter. The "new"(i.e., current)NPH doesn't appear to me to need the 1/3-2/3s of a stop overexposure that the "old" version did, though some still think it's necessary for extra density. NPH looks far better on Crystal Archive. Was your exposure correct? NPH can look very dull if underexposed and/or sloppily processed. Try a pro lab with a reputation for its quality C41 work before you draw any conclusions.

[phule]

"Scott hasn't been on the board since he got banned a couple of weeks ago"

 

He wasn't banned. He was just put in the corner for a little time out. And he's been posting for a while now: See the C41 B&W thread, where he posted on the 21st.

[r.t. dowling]

In response to what Keith wrote:

 

I shoot NPH at 400 and get it processed at a Ritz Camera 1-hour lab. The results have been consistently and amazingly good. I have absolutely no complaints.

[bill_tuthill]

Ctein, who publishes in Photo Techniques magazine, was able to get

excellent color on Supra paper (similar to Royal) from new NPH,

according to his Sep/Oct 2003 review. NPH is perhaps the nicest

material for a Frontier loaded with Crystal Archive (Reala seems

a bit oversaturated to me) so maybe you should just find a new lab.

It is also possible that you prefer the bright, inaccurate colors

of amateur film.

 

As for color balance, old NPH was dead neutral. New NPH is more

cyan/blue on my auto-balancing color wheel, but so are most modern

high-speed films (Supra 400 and NPZ much more so).

[duy_khuong_van]

I have to disagree with Penn Camera (DC: E Street downtown?) being a semi-pro...more like a retail chain with a minilab. It was probably the processing.

 

I've had great results with NPH with a minilab near L'Enfant Plaza called Photos Plus. It's across the street from the Dept of Education.

 

If you want other labs with Frontiers and Crystal Archive, try 1) a pro lab named Asman Photo (www.asmanphoto.com) on Penn. Ave in SE DC. It's a few minutes walking from the Eastern Market Metro; or 2) go to the National Geographic Digital Lab(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/labs/). You can get a 10x15 Frontier contact sheet of your next NPH roll.

[gareth_harper]

I rate it a 320 asa and mostly get it processed at my nearest pro lab. I then scan and print it. I've had really good results with this film.

[brittney_mcchristy]

I havent ever noticed a cool or blueish tone with NPH unless I was in conditions like morning shade. This and NPS are my 'standard' films and for me the skin colors are amazing. I get it developed at my fav Ritz on a Frontier with Crystal Archive in a matte finish.

 

Here is an example shot that isnt very special but it happens to be on my computer and taken with NPH:<br>

<img src="http--www.photo.net-photodb-image-displayphoto_id=1787214&size=lg"><br><div></div>