Portra 400 blah

[Wayne]

I pushed some Portra 400 1 stop and didn't find it blah, yet. In fact I liked it. Encouraging.

 

[pentaxuser]

I pushed some Portra 400 1 stop and didn't find it blah, yet. In fact I liked it. Encouraging.

So a nice ending and just as well given today's announcement on Fuji Pro400H

pentaxuser

 

[Wayne]

So a nice ending and just as well given today's announcement on Fuji Pro400H

pentaxuser

I don't know why most of the images I found online looked milky. My sample size is only one roll and mine were pushed but mine don't look that way at all even in a crappy snapshot I uploaded. Most likely mine were some of the only actual prints too. Maybe Portra scans soft and weak...

 

[pentaxuser]

I don't know why most of the images I found online looked milky. ..

There is clearly a lot you cannot trust from online searches. Unfortunately recognising flaky information be that pics or statement can be difficult The best advice I can give is always to ask what the source of that evidence is. If the online source makes what have even a hint of a trite statement and cannot or doesn't back it up with evidence then draw your own conclusions about that statement's reliability.

pentaxuser

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

So a nice ending and just as well given today's announcement on Fuji Pro400H

pentaxuser

If losing Pro 400H means Instax pack film, sign me up.

Portra's rendering, like Kodachrome before it, won't be appreciated until it's gone.

 

[Wayne]

There is clearly a lot you cannot trust from online searches. Unfortunately recognising flaky information be that pics or statement can be difficult The best advice I can give is always to ask what the source of that evidence is. If the online source makes what have even a hint of a trite statement and cannot or doesn't back it up with evidence then draw your own conclusions about that statement's reliability.
pentaxuser

Oh I'm very skeptical of statements...I think either it scans that way, or everyone online must be trying for that look, or pushing one stop makes that big of a difference.

 

[YoIaMoNwater]

Yea not a big fan of Portra 400 either unless shooting it + 1 at night. You should try pushing Ultramax +2, the reds get pretty cool. Also, not sure why people are saying skin tone on Ektar looks bad, either you are underexposing it or doing something wrong. I've pushed Ektar + 2 with great skin tone and contrasy colors.

Ultramax +2

 

[Wayne]

I've only shot a handful of portraits with Ektar and I found them unsatisfying to print and unflatteringly red-faced so I don't see any reason to try again. There's no Ultramax in 120 or 4x5 which is what I shoot.

 

[George Mann]

But no film ever invented is perfectly color neutral.

ColorPlus is essentially color neutral. If it had the grain structure of Ektar, and good scanability, it would be ideal.

 

[brbo]

I don't know why most of the images I found online looked milky. My sample size is only one roll and mine were pushed but mine don't look that way at all even in a crappy snapshot I uploaded. Most likely mine were some of the only actual prints too. Maybe Portra scans soft and weak...

Can you point us to your uploaded examples of your prints?

Yea not a big fan of Portra 400 either unless shooting it + 1 at night. You should try pushing Ultramax +2, the reds get pretty cool. Also, not sure why people are saying skin tone on Ektar looks bad, either you are underexposing it or doing something wrong. I've pushed Ektar + 2 with great skin tone and contrasy colors.

Maybe you made a simple mistake, but just to clarify, do you suggest the cure for underexposed Ektar is... more underexposure? Or do you mean that you shoot Ektar at box speed and push process for 2 stops (4:15m)? What does that, in your opinion, get you? Do you find that push2 Ektar is easier to print? If you scan, does it gives you something that further digital manipulation can't?

 

[brbo]

ColorPlus is essentially color neutral. If it had the grain structure of Ektar, and good scanability, it would be ideal.

You just described Portra 160.

 

[Anon Ymous]

You just described Portra 160.

I think not. ColorPlus 200 and Portra 160 are quite different, not just grain-wise. Their colour palette is IMHO quite different, with Portra being more neutral. ColorPlus has a warm bias, with yellows and browns being more pronounced.

 

[Wayne]

Can you point us to your uploaded examples of your prints?

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/pushing-portra-400.173479/

 

[George Mann]

You just described Portra 160.

I think not. ColorPlus 200 and Portra 160 are quite different, not just grain-wise. Their colour palette is IMHO quite different, with Portra being more neutral. ColorPlus has a warm bias, with yellows and browns being more pronounced.

Portra 160 is desaturated, making it less than neutral.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'll quote Dirty Harry : "A man's got to learn his limitations". That applies to every film ever invented, or ever to be invented. If you want to do eloquent work, you need to recognize not only what a particular film does well, but what it can't do.

 

[brbo]

I think not. ColorPlus 200 and Portra 160 are quite different, not just grain-wise. Their colour palette is IMHO quite different, with Portra being more neutral. ColorPlus has a warm bias, with yellows and browns being more pronounced.

He was after a film that has small grain, scans well and is neutral. Which of those parameters does Portra not meet?

But I do see what you mean, Portra is definitely not like ColorPlus and you summed up its character quite well. So, you probably meant to disagree with George Mann and not me...

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/pushing-portra-400.173479/

Thanks.

 

[Anon Ymous]

@brbo Ah, yes, I had a brainfart moment...

 

[YoIaMoNwater]

Maybe you made a simple mistake, but just to clarify, do you suggest the cure for underexposed Ektar is... more underexposure? Or do you mean that you shoot Ektar at box speed and push process for 2 stops (4:15m)? What does that, in your opinion, get you? Do you find that push2 Ektar is easier to print? If you scan, does it gives you something that further digital manipulation can't?

I mean they were shot at iso 400 and push processed 2 stops. This makes the colors pop even more. I don't do prints myself but these were scanned and with minor adjustments to the levels.

Ektar +2

 

[khh]

I quite like Portra 400. I haven't had the pleasure of printing it in the darkroom yet (working on getting RA-4 up and running), but it scans very well and can be pushed whichever direction you'd like. But with any film I've evaluated, there's no substitute for shooting a roll yourself. Comparisons and online pictures can give you a sense, but when I do it myself I always end up with some differences, or I end up liking a different rendition with the subjects I photograph.