Making color negative film more rewarding

[trondsi]

Hello there!
I know many people love using color negative films like Portra or Ektar. However, I could never get into it. I fell in love with slide film at an early stage.
Recently I have liked E6 even more as I have taught myself to process it at home (without a darkroom). I can see the images the same day, wohoo!
Anyway, slide film is sometimes difficult to expose properly, and I often have extremely contrasty subject matter.
My problem with color negative film is that I have to scan it in order to enjoy it, turning the whole process more digital (with slide film I only scan the photos I am really happy with). Do you guys have another way to assess/enjoy the results that does not involve expensive darkroom equipment? Is there maybe a fast way to make contact prints even if I have limited room?
Perhaps slide film is just my thing, but suggestions on how to enjoy color negatives more are welcome!

 

[albada]

You could contact-print C-41 negs onto black and white paper, which will give you a good idea of your good vs bad shots. 'Tis a pity that Kodak Panalure paper is no longer available -- it interpreted C-41 colors into the correct shades of gray.

You mentioned "expensive". If you let your friends, relatives, and coworkers know that you want an enlarger, you might get one for free. Also check craigslist. The remaining darkroom items don't cost much. To avoid costly plumbing and a sink, I use "Sterilite 1965" bins purchased from Amazon instead of trays, making it easy to carry water and chemicals to/from the bathroom without splashing.

Mark Overton

 

[koraks]

Do you guys have another way to assess/enjoy the results that does not involve expensive darkroom equipment?

I've done RA4 in trays a lot. All it takes is some chemistry, color paper, a color enlarger and for 35mm and somewhat a lesser extent 120 format those aren't too expensive. You can get some cut-sheet Fuji Crystal Archive type II paper or splurge on a roll or two of the more high-end Crystal Archive Supreme.

For me, printing is the most enjoyable phase of photography so I've done the exact opposite from what you did and ditched E6 altogether. I used to shoot slides mostly back in the days, but I got rid of all y remaining E6 film last year.

 

[pentaxuser]

So is it the cost and effort of making RA4 prints that is the problem and are you asking if there is a quick way to make RA4 colour contact prints without the need for chemicals, contact printer etc?

I don't know of a way but if you are unhappy with the look of what you see in the gallery which are scans ( at least sometimes) of RA4 prints and represent to a very accurate degree in most cases what the actual print looks like the maybe you need to stick with slides.

However I admit that I am a bit unsure of what it is that you would like to be able to do

pentaxuser

 

[runswithsizzers]

I usually lay the color negatives on a lightbox and photograph them with my Fuji X-T1. Then I invert the Fuji photo of the negatives to positive. (That step can be tricky if you want accurate colors.)

The computer can zoom in to enlarge the photo of the 35mm negatives (now positive) so I can evaluate which ones I want to work with.

 

[trondsi]

Thanks folks!

Yes, I was a bit vague here as I don’t really know what I’m looking for. I’m just finding E6 easier to enjoy, but I guess negative film makes sense when you actually have commissions or need to produce prints reliably. Runswithsizzers suggestion sort of makes sense, but I suppose contact printing also seemed like it might be a fairly quick option to get something to look at. I’ve never done it though, and I suppose there’s no way of making contact prints without a darkroom.

 

[DREW WILEY]

There's nothing quite like simply putting slides atop a light box, or in a traditional slide projector, to see what you've got. But many places which process film can provide you with a reasonably priced scan and viewing disc, or even a contact sheet of your color negative work, if you choose to go that direction. From there you can go to commercial snapshot prints from the same kind of lab. There's really no way to directly print slides in a home darkroom anymore without advanced skills. But learning to print color negatives onto RA4 paper is fairly easy if you set up a properly ventilated home darkroom using an enlarger with a colorhead.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I took slides for decades and enjoyed them. Back then getting color prints and large color prints made commercially was inexpensive and easy. With the coming of children and then need for more prints I changed to color prints. I never had exposure problems with slide film and shot a lot of tungsten film on available light night photography. The exposure latitude of slides is less than negatives, and now I prefer the color negative film for myself.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Or do like I did just an hour ago; print from an enlarged precision internegative. (4x5 chrome + mask to 8x10 interneg, to big Fuji Supergloss print.) That's really no trickier to learn than a Neanderthal teenager learning how to survive a cave bear attack using only a pointed stick. There will be far less scars and missing arms or legs if simply shooting color neg film to begin with.

 

[pentaxuser]

Or do like I did just an hour ago; print from an enlarged precision internegative. (4x5 chrome + mask to 8x10 interneg, to big Fuji Supergloss print.) That's really no trickier to learn than a Neanderthal teenager learning how to survive a cave bear attack using only a pointed stick. There will be far less scars and missing arms or legs if simply shooting color neg film to begin with.

Is this advice to trondsi, Drew? If it is, can I suggest to trondsi that before trying what you have suggested in your first sentence that he makes sure he can replicate what a Neanderthal teenager had to do with a pointed stick to survive a bear attack. Dry runs are always worthwhile

I have no idea where you live, trondsi, but if you don't have any attacking bears close by, then try annoying a nearby politician with a thin skin

pentaxuser