Color Film Suggestions for Classic Car Show?

Photic Visions · Jan 13, 2016

I'll be at the Arizona Concours d'Elegance later this month and I was planning to take along at least a couple rolls of color film to experiment with. I'm a b&w shooter so I don't have much experience with color film but from what I've read, Velvia and Ektar are known for their rich color saturation, which is exactly the look I want. I'll be photographing outdoors throughout the day, presumably in the full Phoenix sunshine. I have a polarizer filter in case I need to tame some reflections. The negatives will be scanned, so I don't really care about print vs. reversal. Which film would be the better bet? Does anyone have other suggestions?

Sirius Glass · Jan 13, 2016

I believe that since Ektar is a color negative film that it will have a larger exposure latitude than the slide film Velvia. Velvia will probably provide more color saturation, real or otherwise.

winger · Jan 13, 2016

I'd suggest Ektar because it has slightly wider latitude, imo. The color rendition is good, not too out there, while Velvia can be too much sometimes. You will need the polarizer, though it likely won't get rid of all the reflections at the same time.

I've been shooting car shows with B&W for awhile and it's fun - I plan on trying to handcolor some. Hope you have a great time - cool cars at the Concours d'Elegance.

HiHoSilver · Jan 13, 2016

You should have a wonderful time, Photic. My bet is that guys like Jim Galli have forgotten more than I'll ever know about shooting vehicles, but a few items, I've learned the hard way.
Don't be surprised if there are details you'd like to focus macro-close on.
Polarizer? Yup.
If you don't want unintended selfies - pay attention to your angles on reflective surfaces. (see attached - not impressive, but shows yours truly in the bumper).

Sirius Glass · Jan 13, 2016

Your reflection on the bumper makes it look like you would be the perfect shape to guard an ice hockey or soccer goal. Are you much wider than you are tall? Interested readers want to know.

MattKing · Jan 13, 2016

This was on Ektachrome 100G.

Poisson Du Jour · Jan 13, 2016

Velvia and Ektar are frequently spoken of in the same sentence and thought of as being very similar. They are not. Quite apart from one being a negative emulsion with a bit of latitude grace and the other being a positive (transparency) with a much narrower and at times temperamental latitude, you need to consider the conditions each film will handle well. I speak of a long time user of Velvia and it is my choice if/when I photograph classic/restored cars, even in very bright summer sunshine, using a polariser and careful composition to avoid an excess of shadows and spectrals. A classic car show here recently featured eye-catching green, orange, blue and red MG cars and these really did get the lions' share of photographers' attention for the furiously bright colours. I suggest if you have such means, to take two camera, one loaded with Ektar and the other with Velvia, and take both for a spin and examine the results. Just don't forget to pack along a polariser to reign in strong spectrals and watch out for your and others' intrusive reflections in things like chrome, mirrors and even paintwork!

HiHoSilver · Jan 13, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
Your reflection on the bumper makes it look like you would be the perfect shape to guard an ice hockey or soccer goal. Are you much wider than you are tall? Interested readers want to know.

Wider than I wish I was, Sirius. 'Definitely wide there. To go further off topic - Sirious, your knowledge - espec. w/ blads is something I pay attention to. I tried to find some of your images & found none. 'Seems a shame. 'Hope we get to see some that you're pleased with - or even mildly amused. I expect it'll be a treat.

Back to the orig question, I saw a post I prob can't locate to provide a link to, but it made my eyes rather wide. It was either LF or MF shot of a gawdy custom paint job at a car show. The significant part was that it looked stunning in its color, accutance & handling of subtle differences in light or color. I expected to see a big name film used - and it turned out to be Lomography Color 400. I've been happy w/ Ektar, but have to admit, I'll be trying some Lomo when the weather brings the hot rods out again.

Malinku · Jan 13, 2016

I also recommend ektar. I shots a some in my mamiya c33 last summer. It turned out great. I'll link to my pictures when I can.

GRHazelton · Jan 13, 2016

If your experience is primarily with BW, I'd suggest that, unless you have some time for experimentation, you use Ektar since as has been noted in prior posts, it has exposure latitude more like BW than does Velvia or other 'chrome films. I'd also suggest including a color chart or other known color reference in shots in the same lighting, so when you scan or print you'll know what color is what. Even such a simple target as sheet of white paper will at least let you set a white point in a scan. Sorry to talk in digital terms here! But back in the film only days the MacBeth color chart or some such was invaluable for accurate color rendition.

Might also be a good time to haul out the incident meter...

Some time ago I had fun shooting at the Pittsburgh Vintage Gran Prix. One of my favorite shots, made with my Pentax LX and a Vivitar 19mm was a rather distorted view of the left rear fender and bumper of a Hudson convertible, perhaps a 1954. My reflection as I shot in the chrome bumper added, I think, to the "fun" factor of the shot.

trythis · Jan 14, 2016

If you are just scanning it might be worth shooting some portra 160. Much wider latitude and great color rendition. Crank up the saturation when you scan and tadaaa its 160vc (which is discontinued now)

Ektar has an interesting watercolor or guache look to it when scanned in my experience..

Anyway sounds like you are experimenting so there is no wrong decision.

Sent with typotalk

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 14, 2016

Another vote for Ektar - it will have cleaner, more realistic (but still deeply saturated) color rendition than Portra.

While it isn't a car, this is Ektar:

Photic Visions · Jan 14, 2016

Thanks for the suggestions, people! I can see that Ektar is the more popular choice for what I want to do. I have an opportunity to attend a local car show this weekend where I can shoot a few rolls of each film for practice. I'll take meticulous notes on exposure settings and bracket the Velvia shots. Hopefully that will give me confidence to shoot Velvia at the concours. Otherwise, I'll just take the safer road and shoot Ektar and Delta.

Thanks also to everyone who confirmed the need for a polarizer.

wblynch · Jan 14, 2016

I can also recommend Portra 160 for car shows. I have had my most beautiful results with Portra 160 and Ektar.

I also enjoy Kodak Gold/Max 400 and 200 but not Fuji. Fuji for car shows sucks. It turns the metallics in blue and green cars to magenta and really can't handle golds and yellows. I like sparkles and Kodak does them better.

Portra 160:

Photic Visions · Jan 14, 2016

wblynch said:
I also enjoy Kodak Gold/Max 400 and 200 but not Fuji. Fuji for car shows sucks. It turns the metallics in blue and green cars to magenta and really can't handle golds and yellows. I like sparkles and Kodak does them better.

wblynch, are you referring to Fuji Velvia, or to Fuji's consumer films? Great photo BTW--I can clearly see what you mean about the metallic highlights.

I don't expect to see much in the way of metallics as I'll be photographing vintage motorcars that are as much as a century old. Most of the finishes will be varnish, enamel or acrylic, depending on era. Luster, however, tends to be deep, rich and seldom short of spectacular on these fine cars, as their owners coddle them with hand-applied carnauba waxes costing up to hundreds of dollars per bottle.

wblynch · Jan 14, 2016

Can't say about velvia, I use Ektachrome and Elitechrome from my freezer for slides

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