Ektar being Ektar ;-)

MattKing · Jan 20, 2012

DREW WILEY said:
Thanks Keith. But Reala was never offered in sheet format so there's no way for me to make a real
world darkroom comparison relative to serious printmaking requirements. Ektar is suprisingly well balanced per objective testing. It just doesn't create idealized skintones, which is exactly why typical neg films fail to deliver accurate analogous hues in nature. Between Ektar and Astia there's still a significant gulf in terms of both contrast range and saturation. Both have now been discontinued in large format sheets and supplies are dwindling. Figures. Astia was a niche market all along. I used it mainly as a chrome duplicating film. But Kodak barely got Ektar going and pulled the plug already. Blame whatever.

Drew:

Ektar in 4x5 and 8x10 is still showing on Kodak's website when I access it, and the 4x5 is even showing as available in the "Kodak Store": http://store.kodak.com/store/ekcons...parentCategoryID.40677700/categoryID.40678000

John Shriver · Jan 20, 2012

C-41 films will look flatter than E-6, because they compress down a wider scene brightness ratio. You have to decide what part of the dynamic range to throw out when printing to make them look more like E-6. I've been scanning 6 months worth of Portra 400, and quite a few shots required creative destruction, increasing contrast and losing some of the details.

jbl · Jan 20, 2012

I've sort of ended up their myself through trial and error and actually gotten happier with the results and the flexibility of the palette. In some ways, I like chromes more, but I like being able to do my own processing and E-6 scares me .

-jbl

PeteZ8 · Jan 21, 2012

What it has gained in saturation it has lost in contrast; I'm betting that is more a factor of your scan parameters than the film itself.

Roger Cole · Jan 21, 2012

jbl said:
I've sort of ended up their myself through trial and error and actually gotten happier with the results and the flexibility of the palette. In some ways, I like chromes more, but I like being able to do my own processing and E-6 scares me .

-jbl

E6 is not one bit harder than C41. I've done both in conventional tanks with a big tub of water for a tempering bath - PITA but not really difficult and the results were fine. And I've done both in my Jobo, which is neither a PITA nor difficult. Six step E6 has more steps but if you can do three steps you can do six. Three bath E6 is, well, only three baths, and I never had any problems with that either.

mts · Jan 21, 2012

The biggest problem I have with E-6 is storing all the bottles of chemistry. It's bad enough to store C-41 developer, stop, bleach, fix, and stabilizer. Add another stop, a second developer (light reversal) and keeping both C-41 and E-6 fills the sink with bottles.

EdSawyer · Jan 21, 2012

Ektar in 4x5 had better not be discontinued! I have heard nothing about that.

F/1.4 · Jan 22, 2012

Hmm, Ektar shouldn't be flat, and it shouldn't be nuclear like what the OP posted....

I've found Ektar to be an enhanced, yet very balanced film. People who dismiss Ektar or say it's flat are getting sub-par scans. And same with outrageous saturation.

Poisson Du Jour · Jan 22, 2012

That photo looks like it has had a mismatched profile placed, maybe the gawdy and ghastly Photopro, common with CMYK print processing (but not RGB).

Zygomorph · Jan 24, 2012

Wow, interesting places this thread has gone since I decided to take a break from it. :confused:

1) I am entirely in control of my scan process, from calibration, profiling, and color spaces, to my use of PhotoShop. Thaaaanx.
2) I don't think there's anything particularly unrealistic about my rendering of the scene. Blazing midday sun and neon colors. Yes it has lost in contrast what it gained in outrageous saturation. Whether it's TASTEFUL or GOOD is entirely up for grabs. HOWEVER,
3) Some of you are perhaps unaware of how, like, mean-spirited your commentary is.

The fate of civilization does not revolve around a single scanned frame of Ektar. Sorry! Back to Portra, which I have found to be much less controversial in its opinions on gay rights, abortion, or hydrofracking, scanned or not.

Tim Gray · Jan 24, 2012

DREW WILEY said:
From Kodak's own site it looks like they pulled the plug on sheets completely and aren't going to coat
any more.

Where'd you read that?

It does appear that Kodak is moving to special order on 8x10 film for most emulsions, but Ektar 4x5 still looks like a standard stock item.

keithwms · Jan 24, 2012

Zygomorph said:
Wow, interesting places this thread has gone since I decided to take a break from it. :confused:

1) I am entirely in control of my scan process, from calibration, profiling, and color spaces, to my use of PhotoShop. Thaaaanx.
2) I don't think there's anything particularly unrealistic about my rendering of the scene. Blazing midday sun and neon colors. Yes it has lost in contrast what it gained in outrageous saturation. Whether it's TASTEFUL or GOOD is entirely up for grabs. HOWEVER,
3) Some of you are perhaps unaware of how, like, mean-spirited your commentary is.

The fate of civilization does not revolve around a single scanned frame of Ektar. Sorry! Back to Portra, which I have found to be much less controversial in its opinions on gay rights, abortion, or hydrofracking, scanned or not.

LOL

Well said.

Ektar being Ektar ;-)

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