Color Neg Film

[crabby]

Just wondering if there are any color negative film shooters on the forum. I'll admit I don't get a chance to shoot and develop b&w too often.

In MF cameras I shoot ISO 160 or 400 Fujicolor. I have it developed by my pro lab.

My 35mm cameras are usually loaded with ISO 100 color neg film. If the images are important I send the film to my pro lab. Otherwise the cheapest mail-order labs (York, Clark) are OK. Quality of local drugstore 1-hour labs is awful.

 

[Akki14]

I shoot colour occasionally. There's a whole forum of colour shooters too (though admittedly some of them mostly shoot transparency films). I develop all of my medium format colour film at home now. I got some bargains off of ebay and the cost of sending it off even for dev only seemed to negate the whole point of getting cheap film. I've used Fuji Pro400H, Kodak Portra 400NC and Kodak Portra 160NC. For 35mm I tend to go for cheaper films and have them sent off for prints because it's easier. I've not been too pleased with one of the local 1hour labs after I warned them the negatives I was going to give them were unusually spaced so they'd have to be handcut. They assured me they handcut all negs. I got my negs back with one of the frames cut in half. Gee thanks, cut in half BY HAND.

 

[Andy K]

The last four uploads to my gallery were shot on colour neg, Kodak VR 200 and VR 400.

 

[Jerry Basierbe]

I sure do.

Jerry

 

[jd callow]

I shoot colour neg film.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Me too.

When I have eight roll exposed, I will start my own processing.

Steve

 

[Sanjay Sen]

I occasionally shoot color neg, mostly Fuji Superia 100 (35mm & MF) and Fuji Superia 400 (35mm). I just got a box of the new Portra 160VC in 4x5 to try out. For processing I use a local pro lab.

IMHO, the best color neg shooter on this forum is none other than JD Callow. I have a few of his prints of New Orleans and classic cars. They are fantastic!


Best Wishes,
Sanjay

 

[Fotogeorge]

Just wondering if there are any color negative film shooters on the forum. I'll admit I don't get a chance to shoot and develop b&w too often.

In MF cameras I shoot ISO 160 or 400 Fujicolor. I have it developed by my pro lab.

My 35mm cameras are usually loaded with ISO 100 color neg film. If the images are important I send the film to my pro lab. Otherwise the cheapest mail-order labs (York, Clark) are OK. Quality of local drugstore 1-hour labs is awful.

I take my color negative film (35 & 120) to WALMART. Walmart sends the 120 film to Fijifilm lab, with a 1-week turnaround for $2.38/roll. I only get the film processed and uncut. Walmart does the 35mm in house and in an hr for $1.90/roll. SUPER-WALMART does a great job. Finding the film is harder, because I can't find any locally; I need to order online. I can only find consumer-grade 35 mm film in the local stores. I prefer Fujifilm 160. I still have a lot of film in the freezer that is several years old. I'm slowly clearing my stash.

 

[Bandicoot]

I do. I use transparency more, and B&W, but I like colour negative for two things:

Times when I want to reduce contrast/extend the tonal range beyond what transparency can handle. For this it is most often Kodak Portra 160NC, in sizes up to 4x5. Usually for flower and garden work, I also use this film for portraits. And;

For teaching. I can go down to the local minilab, wherever I am, at lunchtime and have a set of prints to show the same day. Of course Polaroid and digital both help here, but neither is the same as film so all three have their place. This is usually 160NC in a 35mm SLR, and Ultra 200 or 400 in something small, often a Ricoh GR1v. Ultra 200 is usually in the 35mm camera that is with me anytime I'm not carrying anything else - ie. when I'm not expecting to be making any pictures, but you never know...

Sometimes 400VC in 220 rolls goes into a 6x9 rangefinder for travel too.



Peter

 

[keithwms]

I do colour neg and chromes, the latter especially for output via polaroid /fuji lifts and/or transfers and when shooting smaller format e.g. MF rangefinder. I don't have the setup for ilfos or RA4, so apart from polaroid route, the colour stuff goes to lightjet

 

[Robert Brummitt]

I use color neg, transparency and Black and white. My favorite Color neg is Fuji neg film over Kodak. I find the amberbacking easier to work with.

 

[Shypii90]

Bad quality processing

Quality of local drugstore 1-hour labs is awful.

Amen to that! I just took my first film (Kodak Ultra ISO 400) with my new camera (Minolta X-700) for developing at one, and OK the negatives came out processed well but the prints are a sure DISASTER. Black blotches everywhere, scratches and even white fingerprint lines not printed through (i don't even know how that's possible) are present. This doesn't put me off taking films to be developed at labs, it just puts me off taking them to those local drugstore type shops. Even though this one was a photography shop :/

 

[nicolai]

I do, too. (I have a lab process it, though.)

 

[edebill]

Another for the color neg shooters. I'm shooting 4x5. So far I've been on Fuji Pro 160S, but am thinking about trying Portra for my next box.

I process at home with a Jobo and have been quite happy with the results.

 

[tim elder]

color negative

I shoot almost only color negative film, in 35mm and 120, with the occasional roll of Tri-X or Delta 3200. I pretty much only use Kodak film - I used the Ultra 400 in for several years but started using the new 400VC when it came out and really love it. I use the 400VC in 35 and 120, as well as the NC version from time to time. My negatives are processed by Coloredge in New York and I print RA-4 at a rental darkroom.

Tim

 

[dmr]

I shoot almost exclusively color, most of it C41 negative.

I've been using Walgreens mostly for processing for the past couple of years, but lately the two shops who were very consistent have become consistently inconsistent. The last time I made the mistake of using Walmart they did a very rancid job.

They have a new Costco opening here this month. After the novelty wears off, I'm planning to go introduce myself to their photo manager and get a feeling of what I can expect. I've heard mostly good things about Costco's DO/CD processing for C41.

 

[Lee L]

I shoot a lot of C-41 film. I've been using Fuji Pro 160S lately for critical work, but just shot my first test roll of the new Portra 160NC (just walked in from getting that run), and have a 160VC to try. I'll have to mail order the 400 and 800 Portras to try because the local pro stockhouse won't sell the 160 or 400 in 35mm other than in pro packs and they are out of stock on the 800. They are telling me that Kodak now has a minimum weight for any orders, not sure if that's for a discount, or just to order at all. The local pro shop seems to be pretty angry about this, and is bad-mouthing Kodak over it in front of customers.

I use Costco for processing and printing 4x6, plus larger sizes when needed. I can do my own color printing, but haven't printed larger or custom for a while. My Costco is well run and all 3 of their staffers are friendly, helpful, and take good care of the film. They have a color management profile on Dry Creek if you're into that stuff. When I recently asked the main employee of the local shop that printed for the better wedding and studio portrait pros (and closed last spring) where I should go for good printing, he said Costco if I didn't want to mail order.

The operator is the most important component of a lab. The Costco staff is stable. The lab I used before that lost their good operator and turned to garbage almost overnight.

Lee

 

[PatTrent]

Yes, I shoot color neg in 35mm and medium format. Kodak and Fuji, about half and half each. I have the lab develop and return the film uncut.

I use mostly B&W film, but depending on the time of year and the subject matter, I might shoot up to 45% with color film.

 

[KingJon]

I shoot color about half the time both in 35mm and medium format. I use Fuji Superia 100 in my Bronica. In 35 mm I'm partial to Kodak Gold 100 and Fuji Press 400.
Jon

 

[Mike Wilde]

colour film - yep

a little bit film obsessed.

I shoot 35mm and 120. Both I bulk load from long reels to keep things cheap.

I process c-41 in a stainless tank, held in a fish tank heater warmed old cooler filled with water, which also tempers the chemistry.

I mix the c-41 from scratch, and that leads to the cheaps too, once you are well stocked. Almost all the dry chems last for years.

I print my own colour - the use of a colorstar analyser and a roller transport processor makes it easier, but I started about 20 plus years ago with acetate filters, a gralab 300 timer on a beselar 23C condenser enlarger, and processed in tubes.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

They are telling me that Kodak now has a minimum weight for any orders, not sure if that's for a discount, or just to order at all. The local pro shop seems to be pretty angry about this, and is bad-mouthing Kodak over it in front of customers.



Lee

I think Kodak has a minimum weight to get free shipping to the retailer. Your retailer may be grousing over having to absorb the shipping costs, thus not wanting to order unless he can meet the weight requirements for free shipping. The minimum packaging for 35mm Kodak ships would be a brick of 20 rolls, and for 120 would a brick of 5 pro-packs, or individudally boxed a brick of 20 rolls of 120. That is the minimum quantity he can order it in. Of course if he just orders one "brick" he will have to pay shipping.

 

[copake_ham]

For years I was almost exclusively a transparencies shooter - as I enjoyed projecting the pics.

But nowadays I shoot more color neg than slides as I scan everything and view on a monitor.

 

[Lee L]

I think Kodak has a minimum weight to get free shipping to the retailer. Your retailer may be grousing over having to absorb the shipping costs, thus not wanting to order unless he can meet the weight requirements for free shipping. The minimum packaging for 35mm Kodak ships would be a brick of 20 rolls, and for 120 would a brick of 5 pro-packs, or individudally boxed a brick of 20 rolls of 120. That is the minimum quantity he can order it in. Of course if he just orders one "brick" he will have to pay shipping.

The dealer is saying the minimum required order is in the range of several hundreds of pounds (I seem to recall something like 400 lbs or more). It sounded like it might be something like a reasonably full pallet. I don't know the details, and it appears to be something new in the last few weeks. This is a major downtown pro shop in Cleveland, OH with multiple branches in the suburbs for hobbyists. The dealer is saying that they will make fewer (and larger) orders, and may run out of stock on some things while waiting to get a minimum order together. They may be using this to try and move people to Fuji, or to annoy Kodak into dropping new minimum requirements. Perhaps their film sales have dropped to the point that they no longer typically meet the minimum free shipping order on their standard ordering schedule. But it seems unlikely to me that they would have dropped that far given the size of their operation. And the dealer is saying it is a new minimum order policy introduced by Kodak.

Lee

 

[Woolliscroft]

I use a lot of col neg, because of its latitude. Mostly, it's Protra NC.

David.

 

[gr82bart]

Sometimes, usually with my Toy Cameras to allow the latitude of the film to balance the short comings of the Toy Camera.

I mostly shoot transparencies otherwise.

Regards, Art.