Green cast on Portra 160

Chris Douglas · Jan 2, 2014

Hello all. I did some RA-4 printing last weekend, and experienced a color shift on the 120 Portra 160. My gold 200 printed fine using my old filter pack but I had to reduce magenta 15 points to remove the green cast on the Portra. I don't have a lot of experience, but I don't remember needing a different pack for different kinds of film. The shots were indoors with flash, so I can't blame time of day, open sky or whatever. Anybody experience this before? Thanks.

Chris

Wayne · Jan 2, 2014

I don't have a lot of experience with RA4 printing and I've only printed Ektar, but I would expect different films to need slightly different color packs.You probably need a cc filter to correct for indoor lighting. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in. I never shoot with flash.

Rudeofus · Jan 2, 2014

If you shoot with flash, your color temperature should be the same throughout your shots, at least in the fore ground. My C41/RA4 developing/printing is VERY amateurish, but I definitely do need different enlarger filter settings for different film stock. In fact I've always wondered how people could claim some color cast on their color negatives.

polyglot · Jan 2, 2014

Different films need different filters, so needing to adjust is to be expected. 15M is a big change, but you do whatever you need to make it work.

Did it look good once you set the proper filtering? If so, all good.

Perhaps what you meant was "magenta cast on Gold 200"

Photo Engineer · Jan 2, 2014

I've printed Portra and Ektar with the same color pack. I've also printed Gold with the same pack but not recently.

Not sure what the problem is.

PE

CatLABS · Jan 2, 2014

different films - different filtration. no problem here. 15m is notihng. The standard difference between Fuji Superia 100 may it rest in peace and NC160 may it also rest in peace was almost 30M and 20Y (or more perhaps). Between Superia 100 and NPH the numbers were even more far apart. Over time you will have a better starting point concept for each film you use.
Or, you can just get a color analyzer and not worry about all that nonsense of Standard printing time/color filtration starting points etc...

BMbikerider · Jan 3, 2014

The base colour can be responsible for very odd colour casts. About a year ago I used a number of rolls of Ektar and noticed that the filtration I used was way off the base settings that I have used for ages. Because the negatives were always only viewed in the darkroom under artificial light it wasn't until I went into daylight to check them again, did I notice that the base was a most definite brown and not the orange colour I was used to.

The next 3-4 rolls were the same but with a new pack of film the base went back to what I call a standard colour.

CatLABS · Jan 3, 2014

brownish mask = film not bleached enough...

Photo Engineer · Jan 3, 2014

Guys, all color films are balanced for daylight if it is a daylight film. If the base color of a negative film changes, the overall balance is changed to allow the same (or nearly the same) filter pack to be used. This is done so that the people who print the film don't go crazy resetting the system with every film.

Now, there is a slope setting on automatic printers, but this has nothing to do with color balance. It has more to do with over-under exposures and overall density which is related to film contrast as the paper sees it.

So, if there is a cast, either the lighting or the process is off.

I should add that maybe the film was bad!

PE

Truzi · Jan 3, 2014

Hope I'm not hijacking here, but I've a question. I have some expired 35mm Polaroid OneFilm that I play with (I use fresh film for important things). I'd asked the minilab to NOT correct in the prints, and there was a slight magenta hue. The next roll I used an FLD filter (again, no correction) and the prints turned out decent. I had bracketed and taken shots with and without the filter, so I know they listened when I asked for no correction.

I will be printing my own color later this year. I know "proper" negatives will make the learning curve easier, and that it's better to not have to adjust the filter pack much. However, the more I read, the more I realize I'll be adjusting anyway. These will basically be snapshots.

Should I really care about a slight hue, provided it is not from poor processing?

RPC · Jan 3, 2014

Even if you asked for no correction on the prints, you are likely getting some automatic correction from the printing equipment if not from the operators on optical prints. If it is scanned, the scanner will perform some correction. An optical print with no filtration in the enlarger or printer at all would have a deep reddish cast.

polyglot · Jan 3, 2014

Kodak published reference negatives (a portrait of some woman, as I recall) and for a good lab, "no corrections" means "print using the same settings as the reference negative".

brucemuir · Jan 3, 2014

Photo Engineer said:
I should add that maybe the film was bad!

PE

I had a green cast with 400H once and attributed it to one of the emulsion layers going bad from poor storage/age.

Chris Douglas · Jan 5, 2014

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. I'm going to try some new paper and see if that could be the problem. The paper I was using has been in the paper safe for some time...maybe the top few sheets were color shifted from age. Also, I may not have had my temperature controls dialed in just right and the 120 portra was the first roll I was printing. I have installed a new thermostat to control chem temp better.
Best regards,
Chris

Green cast on Portra 160

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