New C 41 user!

[lynettemax]

I generally shoot B&W but today i figured I would buy some color. So I bought my first roll of C 41. I didn't realize that there are so many choices. I went into the store thinking... "I'll just get a roll of Portra." Then the teller gives me choices.. saturated, neutral.

My question for everyone is what type of film has the smallest grain when it comes to color and what style is the most vivid when it comes to color.

Thanks!

 

[hrst]

Ektar 100 is your choice if you are after smallest grain and vivid color.

 

[DanielStone]

lynette,

will you be printing analog(wet process, optical enlargements), or scanning? If its the latter, actually, in both cases you can increase the color, but with a digital post, its easier.

Ektar's a nice film, but I've been finding Portra to be a little nicer on skintones, but this is my opinion. NC version is absolutely terrific, and the VC has that bit of "kick" that's sometimes needed, with little boost of contrast to boot.

cheers!

-Dan

 

[Athiril]

I've found out of the C-41 films that Pro 160S/NS has the best grain structure in my personal experience, finer than Reala.

IMHO, scanning, or printing, it's always best to start with a product that is as close to what you want as possible in the first step in the chain

Astia gives vivid colour cross-processed in C-41.

Vivid colour... Pro 160C/NC, Porta 160VC, Porta 400V in the pro line, Reala... it can give both natural colour, nice skin and saturated colour for landscapes too.. it is quite good.

400H has higher contrast and colour than Portra 400NC, but I think it may be less than 400VC, so it may be a good balanced choice between the two.

Ektar has punchier colour, so thats a recommendation for general purpose stuff, and Superia range is generally punchy in colour too

 

[lynettemax]

lynette,

will you be printing analog(wet process, optical enlargements), or scanning?

I will be printing analog. My school is having us do that before we scan anything. I have already worked in the darkroom with bumping up saturation and things like that but, it was with a roll of film that was given to me so I have only worked with C 41 after the film choosing process.

 

[nickandre]

I will be printing analog. My school is having us do that before we scan anything. I have already worked in the darkroom with bumping up saturation and things like that but, it was with a roll of film that was given to me so I have only worked with C 41 after the film choosing process.

You have a very nice school. If you print Ektar optically, especially at large sizes, you might never look back. Have fun.