Best warming filter for Ektachrome

[George Mann]

I need a warming filter that is going transform this film stock as close as possible to the rendering of Kodachrome.

If it looks like Ektar, it may be too much.

Any suggestions and samples of this film with various filters?

 

[BrianShaw]

Hi George. I’m not sure if this is “best” but it’s what I’ve always used: Tiffen 812.

 

[George Mann]

Hi George. I’m not sure if this is “best” but it’s what I’ve always used: Tiffen 812.

Do you shoot it at box speed, and do you find that it adds warmth or just corrects the blue and green cast?

 

[MarkS]

Back in the day, Kodak offered a large variety of light-balancing filters that advertising photographers would use to improve Ektachrome's color rendition. This was important, as their deliverable was a perfect color transparency straight out of the camera. This of course required a perfect, and perfectly consistent, E-6 process.
There were several series of filters, -81A, 81B, etc., -82 series, etc. Some very subtle variations were available.
It's many years since I've used Ekatchrome (or any color transparency film) so can't offer any advice on which to try- but they are cheap on the used market and are worth a try.
I don't think you'll be able to make any E-6 film "look like Kodachrome" (a moot point now anyway) but I suspect that you can find something you like. Best of luck!

 

[BrianShaw]

Box speed.

It’s strong enough to actually add warmth. More than just light balancing.

They are very affordable and worth you trying.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Google for example images.

 

[George Mann]

OK. So I have decided that if I cannot replicate the color profile of Kodachrome by adding a filter to this rather cold and sterile film stock that maybe there is a filter that will provide a virtually identical clone of E100VS?

 

[brbo]

There is no such filter. VS is not only a bit warmer, it is also a lot higher in saturation.

 

[AZD]

I shot about a dozen rolls of slide film last year, mostly E100, and had a slide show at the end of the year. Sometime around March I began using a Tiffen 812 and it did help a lot. It makes E100 more neutral to my eyes.

However, nothing will make it look like Kodachrome. I have a few K64 slides from a while back and they have a certain presence that E100 doesn’t. It’s not warmth necessarily, but a different look all around, not available in a filter. If only…

E100 does many things well though. It responds convincingly to dramatic skies, skin tones are very nice, and anything blue will look BLUE.

That said, this year I stocked up on Provia when I could find it. It just works out a little better for my purposes.

 

[George Mann]

However, nothing will make it look like Kodachrome. I have a few K64 slides from a while back and they have a certain presence that E100 doesn’t. It’s not warmth necessarily, but a different look all around, not available in a filter. If only.

I have been telling people for years that Kodachrome captures the essence of a scene like no other.

I am not happy with any other color film. I want my Kodachrome back!

 

[MattKing]

The relatively deficient cyan response that Kodachrome presented means that you will have a hard time duplicating it .
Not a complaint - perhaps an appreciation!

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

The relatively deficient cyan response that Kodachrome presented means that you will have a hard time duplicating it

Cyan is a sort of (un)interesting color. Our eyes are very insensitive to it - how many shades of cyan can anyone name.

But, then, look around and there is sod-all cyan in nature. The only time it shows up in a major way is in swimming pools. I guess it is associated with water - Caribbean sea with the light just right, glacial lakes ...

If there is a color I had to sacrifice cyan would be it. Kodak probably came to the same conclusion, or maybe the hole in the spectral sensitivity is just a fluke.

 

[_T_]

The filter you pick sort of depends on what you plan to do with the images and is partly a matter of your taste.

There is a relatively small range of warming filters that all do more or less the same thing to different extents and it could be difficult for someone else to communicate the difference in effect even with images because it is dependent on the scene being captured.

Sometimes though you can find a color correction filter set that comes with a few different warming filters. Sometimes they don’t cost that much more than buying a single filter. Something like that would allow you to experiment yourself.

This is of course assuming the end product is going to be projection or viewing the slides on a light table.

If the end product is an optical print then you can simply warm up the print for free by changing the settings on the enlarger. No need for a filter in front of the taking lens.

But if there’s going to be any digital intermediary the cheapest and easiest way to get the same effect is with a digital adjustment in software.

Edit: I don’t do slides so I don’t know if it’s even possible to optically print positives in 2024

 

[MattKing]

If there is a color I had to sacrifice cyan would be it. Kodak probably came to the same conclusion, or maybe the hole in the spectral sensitivity is just a fluke.

There are posts here from PE where he explains why the very nature of Kodachrome made it impossible to deal effectively with the issue. IIRC, not so much an issue of sensitivity, but rather an issue respecting the formation of the dye images during processing. That is one of the reasons why the R&D resources moved over to E6 and, in particular, C41 and ECN.

 

[George Mann]

This is of course assuming the end product is going to be projection or viewing the slides on a light table.

I view my slides directly using sunlight. Will the 812 be suitable for this?

 

[George Mann]

There are posts here from PE where he explains why the very nature of Kodachrome made it impossible to deal effectively with the issue. IIRC, not so much an issue of sensitivity, but rather an issue respecting the formation of the dye images during processing. That is one of the reasons why the R&D resources moved over to E6 and, in particular, C41 and ECN.

In all the years I shot it, I never saw any deficiencies.

 

[MattKing]

In all the years I shot it, I never saw any deficiencies.

When the latest versions of Ektachrome came in, they were clearly more accurate wrt colour reproduction.
But my preference for Kodachrome remained - at least in most situations involving people.
I do love medium format slides though, and I'm very happy with modern Ektachrome.

 

[_T_]

I view my slides directly using sunlight. Will the 812 be suitable for this?

Any warming filter will help. I can’t tell you what you will find acceptable. You may find whatever I say too weak or strong for your taste.

But if you have photoshop and a scan of one of your images you can preview to some extent what the various filters will do to your images.

Under the layers panel in the adjustment layer menu at the bottom of the panel is an adjustment layer called “Photo Filter.” If you add an instance of this layer you will find the 3 main types of warming filters and you can see how they will affect your image.

 

[1957ExaktaVarexIIa]

I have been telling people for years that Kodachrome captures the essence of a scene like no other.

I am not happy with any other color film. I want my Kodachrome back!

Me too .
I think it's definitely true what you have written.
If I could get Kodachrome 25 again I would pay twice as much as I payed for my E100s plus developping costs.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Shoot at box speed with a Skylight 1A or UV filter.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

When I used to shoot slides for one of the publications I worked at, I would carry Nikon filters and would use the A2 for a medium strong warming, a L37c for most daylight scenes (a UV cut filter at 370nm) and the Nikon L1Bc, which as a "Skylight" filter seemed to me to slot right in between the L37c and the A2, and would render skin tones nicely.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I have been telling people for years that Kodachrome captures the essence of a scene like no other.

I am not happy with any other color film. I want my Kodachrome back!

Kodachrome 64 is a pretty film. Nicer and deeper blue skies and colors. Then it was blown out of the water when Velvia 50 came out with it's more saturated colors and easier processing than specialized Kodachrome. Unfortunately, Velvia 50 is no longer available either in large format but still in 120 and 35mm.

 

[1957ExaktaVarexIIa]

Sure, Velvia 50 is a very good film. In my opinion it works very well for architecture. But I think when photographing landscapes in the sun its colors are a little bit synthetic, a little bit excessive. And less warm than Kodachrome was. Velvia 50 seems to accentuate Green and Blue.
Kodachrome 25 (when underexposed about half a step) produced intense Green and Blue colours as well, but warmer colours, and Red got definitely better (intense and warm) than with Velvia 50, sorry to say.

It seems to me that Velvia 50 works well when sky gets cloudy. Its colours get less synthetic then. Personally I want to concentrate on those situations with Velvia and keep my Ektachrome for sunny days.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I never found Kodachrome "warm". But maybe that's because I mainly shot the 25 product, not the later inferior 64 version. And using a Tiffen 812 in conjunction with E100 would be way over the top in terms of warmth, unless you want that kind of look. Try something more gentle first, like a basic1B Hoya Skylight filter.

Cloning the former "X" or warm version of Ektachrome is fairly easy, however. Just use an 81A filter. A KR1.5 would also come close.

There is a parallel thread at the moment. Perhaps these should be combined.

 

[George Mann]

I never found Kodachrome "warm". But maybe that's because I mainly shot the 25 product, not the later inferior 64 version. And using a Tiffen 812 in conjunction with E100 would be way over the top in terms of warmth, unless you want that kind of look. Try something more gentle first, like a basic1B Hoya Skylight filter.

Cloning the former "X" or warm version of Ektachrome is fairly easy, however. Just use an 81A filter. A KR1.5 would also come close.

Neither the 1B nor the KR1.5 was enough for me, so I'm going for the 812 next, and I much preferred K64 over K25 as well.