Abusing C-41 film

[ME Super]

I decided I wanted to do some available light shooting at Christmastime this year. Now if you know me from my posts around here, you know that I'm primarily a slide film shooter. I'd tried a roll of Delta 3200 a month or so ago to see how I liked it. It's nice, but a bit grainier than I wanted. Plus I decided that it might be a nice idea to do color, and if I decided I wanted B&W I could always do that on the computer. So I loaded up a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400, set the EI on my camera to 1600, and took some photos. Never mind that the film is daylight balanced, I shot under tungsten light. Not a 3200K tungsten light either, I used the typical household tungsten lights with a color temperature of 2700K. Did I mention that while this film had been in the freezer or refrigerator since purchase, it was now about 6 months expired.

Then I tried a new lab, The Darkroom, since my usual lab cannot push/pull C-41 (but can push/pull E-6 and B&W). The scans I got back from the lab today (negatives are in the mail) look pretty darn good! The grain is a lot finer than Delta 3200, and the color balance, while a little yellow, isn't bad at all.

I've decided to try Portra 400 pushed 3 stops to 3200 for my next trick. Under daylight balanced LED bulbs, so hopefully the color balance will be a little better. I have no problem attempting this, since a lot of folks on the internet say that pushing Portra 400 to 3200 will be usable.

I'll upload a couple of the pictures tonight when I get home from work.

 

[Photo Engineer]

You generally do not need to push C41 films!

It can take 1 - 2 stops over and under exposure with normal processing.

I have uploaded several examples of this.

PE

 

[macfred]

You generally do not need to push C41 films!

It can take 1 - 2 stops over and under exposure with normal processing ...

+ 1
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The Brothers Wright did the same with Kodak Portra 400 and FUJI Pro 400H : http://www.twinlenslife.com/2010/12/its-our-favorite-time-of-light-new.html
Another interesting comparison from the UK Film Lab : http://ukfilmlab.com/2014/04/24/film-stock-and-exposure-comparisons-kodak-portra-and-fuji/

 

[ME Super]

Hey, PE. Like I said, I abused it and it still turned out okay. It shows the resilience of C41 film. Had I used my usual E6, a push would've been necessary. And since I usually shoot E6, why not try it with C41. Experimentation can be fun.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Have fun.

 

[ME Super]

I did have fun. Here's one of the pictures from the roll. Shot under "2700K" fluorescent light at EI 1600, pushed 2 stops. He's my big dog. It turned out pretty well, I think.

 

[Rudeofus]

One film I would particularly recommend for the type of shooting you are after is Cinestill 800. While the "800" number should read as "500", because that's the real sensitivity of Vision 500T, it will turn out much more sensitive than Portra 400 for you because of its colour balance for tungsten light. As far as blue light is concerned, there is a two stop difference between daylight and tungsten light, so your Portra 400 acts like an ISO 100 film for tungsten light.

 

[ME Super]

You're right, but I've since switched some of the bulbs in my house from 2700K compact fluorescent to 5000K LED. This puts me more in line with the color temperature needed for Portra 400.

I was very surprised that consumer grade Kodak 400 would withstand the abuse of 2 stops underexposed (with a 2-stop push, which according to PE I didn't need to do), plus being shot under tungsten light.

 

[Photo Engineer]

There is more color shift, crossover and grain with a push process than with a normal process in your exposure range.

PE

 

[ME Super]

OK let me ask you this, PE. Does Portra 400 need a push if shot at 3200, or should I just run it through normal processing? I'm shooting it under daylight balanced LED bulbs, not Tungsten. I pushed the the Kodak Ultramax 400 2 stops when shooting it at 1600, partly because I was shooting it under 2700K light and figured the blue channel needed all the help it could get.

I also found the 400 pushed to 1600 to have less grain than Delta 3200 shot at box speed. I like the grain I saw with the 400 better than I did the Delta 3200.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Any color negative film can be exposed at 2 stops over or under without a push. You lose a tad, but not much in highlights and shadows at the extremes.

Color films are subject to crossover and etc.... with push. It gets worse the more you push.

BUT, a push is not a speed increase, it is a contrast increase and this is true for all films without exception.

So, push but expect worse grain and sharpness and bad color. And you are correct about grain in Delta 3200 vs the color neg. because the color film has a lot more knobs to turn to improve grain than the B&W film does.

See the example I posted here on a similar thread. Exposed from ISO 25 to ISO 800.

PE

 

[ME Super]

Thanks, PE. You're the man.

We made Christmas goodies last night. It was nice to be able to shoot pictures of the kids handheld without flash. And now I know what to tell the lab when I give them the film for processing.

Have a merry Christmas, PE.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Thank you, and you do the same.

PE

 

[ME Super]

I got scans from a roll of Portra 400 shot at 3200 and pushed 3 stops yesterday. I shot these under daylight (5000 K) LED bulbs, and the color is much better than daylight film shot under 2700 K tungsten. IDK if I'd shoot slide film under LED bulbs, as these look slightly green, but not bad at all.



The first one looks a tad underexposed. The second looks okay. Next time I'll try it at 1600 and no push. Or maybe Portra 800 at 3200 and no push.

 

[trythis]

I don't know why but underexposed film always looks better when the subject is close up. I have been testing some old and mistreated (kept warm) c41 film and the close ups look bright and sharp when the distance stuff looks terrible.

Its like reciprocity fAilure but based on distance.

This is with autoexposure.
Sent with typotalk

 

[Abutate]

Wondering if you managed to push/pull more rolls. Keep us upto date.