I got my first roll of Ektachrome E100 back from the lab on Monday and just finished scanning it. I shot the roll at EI 800. For what it's worth, my lab told me they weren't familiar yet with Ektachrome E100, so they weren't sure what first developer time should be used. They said if I could give them a time less than 21'00" their machine could handle first developer times up to that time; they just didn't have a time dialed in yet for this film. I did a little research and found the Tetenal E-6 rapid kit gave a first developer time of between 6'15" and 6'45" for N development, with a +2'00" for a one-stop push and a +5'50" for a two stop push. I based my SWG (Scientific Wild Guess) on 30% more than the two stop time (a 12'00" first developer time) for a 3-stop push, which worked out to a 15'30" first developer time, so I instructed the lab to develop as such.
What I got back was definitely a bit overdeveloped for the exposure I gave it; I think next time if the lab doesn't have things dialed in for E100 yet for a 3-stop push, I'll have them do an FD time of 14'00". Here are three of the best exposed shots of Ektachrome E100 exposed at EI 800 with a FD time of 15'30". I've scaled these down so the short dimension of the image is 800px so I could upload them to Photrio, and I've blurred faces for privacy reasons.
The above scans are in full-auto mode out of my scanner. They look a bit different projected, but not horribly so.
Here are my first impressions. Contrast with a 3-stop push is a bit higher than shooting Provia 100F at EI 320 with a two stop push. I don't find the contrast any more objectionable than pushing Portra 400 three stops to EI3200. This looks a lot like Portra 400 pushed 3 stops. Would I shoot this outdoors at EI 800 and push 3? No way. Would I shoot this indoors at EI 800 and push 3 for available darkness photography? Yes, if the lighting was daylight balanced. No, if I had to filter tungsten light for this; I'd just use electronic flash and maybe shoot at EI 200 with a one-stop push. Grain is certainly not objectionable at EI 800; under a 10x loupe it's no worse than HP5+ at box speed (and I love HP5+).
The photos were lit as follows: The first photo above was shot using electronic flash, as the available light was likely 2700 K lighting (tungsten-balanced for sure). The second photo was backlit by daylight, but supplemented with the aforementioned 5000 K LED lights. I exposed for the foreground and let the light coming in the window wash out. The third photo was at night, and only lit by the 5000 K LED lights. Colors are shifted blue, at least in the highlights (like the dog's fur in the 2nd and 3rd photos) in all 3 photos. The couch is actually brown, but it looks a bit blue-shifted here. A light warming filter would likely help with this, but I'd lose a little speed. I'd do that if I only lost 1/3 stop, which would mean I'd be exposing at EI 640. If I were planning to shoot under electronic flash, I might only do a 1 or 2 stop push and shoot at EI 200 or 400. Then again, I might just do EI 800 again,since I've got another roll started at EI 800 in the camera already.
Come spring, when we have a bit more light, or a rare winter sunny day, I'd like to shoot some of this at box speed. I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with the results at box speed too.
Thanks, Emulsive, for the inspiration to try this at EI 800, something I probably wouldn't have done without your review, so I'd know what to expect. I hope my fellow Ektachrome users (and potential Ektachrome users) out there find this info useful.
What I got back was definitely a bit overdeveloped for the exposure I gave it; I think next time if the lab doesn't have things dialed in for E100 yet for a 3-stop push, I'll have them do an FD time of 14'00". Here are three of the best exposed shots of Ektachrome E100 exposed at EI 800 with a FD time of 15'30". I've scaled these down so the short dimension of the image is 800px so I could upload them to Photrio, and I've blurred faces for privacy reasons.
The above scans are in full-auto mode out of my scanner. They look a bit different projected, but not horribly so.
Here are my first impressions. Contrast with a 3-stop push is a bit higher than shooting Provia 100F at EI 320 with a two stop push. I don't find the contrast any more objectionable than pushing Portra 400 three stops to EI3200. This looks a lot like Portra 400 pushed 3 stops. Would I shoot this outdoors at EI 800 and push 3? No way. Would I shoot this indoors at EI 800 and push 3 for available darkness photography? Yes, if the lighting was daylight balanced. No, if I had to filter tungsten light for this; I'd just use electronic flash and maybe shoot at EI 200 with a one-stop push. Grain is certainly not objectionable at EI 800; under a 10x loupe it's no worse than HP5+ at box speed (and I love HP5+).
The photos were lit as follows: The first photo above was shot using electronic flash, as the available light was likely 2700 K lighting (tungsten-balanced for sure). The second photo was backlit by daylight, but supplemented with the aforementioned 5000 K LED lights. I exposed for the foreground and let the light coming in the window wash out. The third photo was at night, and only lit by the 5000 K LED lights. Colors are shifted blue, at least in the highlights (like the dog's fur in the 2nd and 3rd photos) in all 3 photos. The couch is actually brown, but it looks a bit blue-shifted here. A light warming filter would likely help with this, but I'd lose a little speed. I'd do that if I only lost 1/3 stop, which would mean I'd be exposing at EI 640. If I were planning to shoot under electronic flash, I might only do a 1 or 2 stop push and shoot at EI 200 or 400. Then again, I might just do EI 800 again,since I've got another roll started at EI 800 in the camera already.
Come spring, when we have a bit more light, or a rare winter sunny day, I'd like to shoot some of this at box speed. I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with the results at box speed too.
Thanks, Emulsive, for the inspiration to try this at EI 800, something I probably wouldn't have done without your review, so I'd know what to expect. I hope my fellow Ektachrome users (and potential Ektachrome users) out there find this info useful.
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