Now that new Portras in- who's used them?

[braxus]

Now that people are getting the new Portra films in, who has already shot a roll or more? If so what are your results compared to the older films? Im perticularly interested in knowing how the 160 speed versions hold up.

 

[Lazybones]

I will be testing some this weekend, 160NC in 4x5 sheets. I'm sure it's good stuff, mostly just worried about changes in the reciprocity characteristics. I will report back with my findings, for what they're worth...

 

[Lazybones]

Ok. Results so far:

NEW Portra 160NC, 4x5 Sheets:

I shot a bracket from EI:160 to EI:80. Happily, EI:160 looks right on.
The film looks nice and sharp.

More to follow...

 

[Lazybones]

Here's more of my findings:

NEW Portra 160NC, 4x5 Sheets

Reciprocity Characteristics:

To 1 Sec: No Adjustment
4 Sec: + 0.5 Stop
15 Sec: +1 Stop
30 Sec: +1.5 Stops
1 Min: +2 Stops
2 Min: Not Recommended

The old stuff had much better reciprocity characteristics. Oh well. Time to shoot chrome for night stuff/long exposures, I guess.

 

[braxus]

How does the new grain look?

 

[Lazybones]

How does the new grain look?

It's hard to see what it looks like. In all seriousness, it is very fine grained, it seems finer than the previous gen 160NC. For being such a fine grained film, it looks really sharp to my eyes... Maybe it is just me, but it seems to have more "there" there, and just finer grain.

I'm off to the Palm Springs area tomorrow. I'll be bringing my field camera kit along, so maybe I'll burn some film on actual photographs, then we shall see.

 

[Woolliscroft]

Does anyone know how the resolution of the new 400 speed portras compares with Fuji Pro 400H?

David.

 

[Lazybones]

Does anyone know how the resolution of the new 400 speed portras compares with Fuji Pro 400H?

David.

I don't know that. Why worry? Try some.

 

[Lazybones]

Someone? ANYONE? Y'all have your "free film"?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Now that people are getting the new Portra films in, who has already shot a roll or more? If so what are your results compared to the older films? Im perticularly interested in knowing how the 160 speed versions hold up.

All are better films than the previous versions (sharper, finer grained and I prefer the colours), and all are better films than I am a colour photographer. Since getting 80 or so rolls before it came out, my wife Frances Schultz and I have shot maybe two or three dozen rolls in 120 and 35mm, 400 and 160, NC and VC, and it's our current 'high quality' neg film -- though we also like the (grainy, unsharp, low-saturation but romantic) Rollei Scanfilm.

But as others have said, why not try some? No-one can tell you what will suit your subjects and vision.

Cheers,

R.

 

[braxus]

But as others have said, why not try some?R.

I live in Canada and its very hard to get this new film where Im at. I got 2 rolls of free 120 film from Kodak, but I really need 35mm to test this film with my scanner and the lab I work at. I've tried to order some through my work, but they require a minimum 20 roll order to place one. I dont need that many rolls and there is no guarantee I'll get the new stuff. Other stores here still are going through old stock and their film sales are quote low. I'd try the new stuff if I could get my hands on some in 35mm. I resorted to bidding and winning an auction on Ebay (as much as I resent the idea) since this is the only way I can get stock of it. Im glad I only had to pay $2.50 plus shipping for those rolls. Also in Canada Kodak doesnt have the free film offer that all of you in the US applied for. I had to call Kodak to get the only free rolls I could and again that was 120.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I live in Canada and its very hard to get this new film where Im at. I got 2 rolls of free 120 film from Kodak, but I really need 35mm to test this film with my scanner and the lab I work at. I've tried to order some through my work, but they require a minimum 20 roll order to place one. I dont need that many rolls and there is no guarantee I'll get the new stuff. Other stores here still are going through old stock and their film sales are quote low. I'd try the new stuff if I could get my hands on some in 35mm. I resorted to bidding and winning an auction on Ebay (as much as I resent the idea) since this is the only way I can get stock of it. Im glad I only had to pay $2.50 plus shipping for those rolls. Also in Canada Kodak doesnt have the free film offer that all of you in the US applied for. I had to call Kodak to get the only free rolls I could and again that was 120.

Ouch! Fair enough. Can't someone in the US send you a roll? (I'd offer but mailing from France isn't realistic).

Cheers,

R.

 

[braxus]

I have a friend who allowed me to use his name and address for the free film special, but I applied half a week after it became open- so its doubtful he'll even get the film. Even so it might be some time before he's up here.

 

[braxus]

So anyone else use these new films that were free? It seems many have received them now and someone must of shot some. Im interested in hearing more about the 160 speed films. Especially compared to Reala.

 

[GeorgK]

@braxus:
Forget it. When you give something away for free, you're mainly attracting greedy people, who want their "FREE!FREE!FREE" stuff, just to throw it into the drawer or, even worse, into the bin. It would have been much wiser to offer some samples at a reduced price, so that the offer is targeted to people who are really interested in.
And what are you expecting from the new films? Their characteristics will be very close to the old Portras, but with finer grain. If you did not like the old ones, stay with Fuji, and if you liked them, buy a 5-pack as soon as they are available, and try it out yourself. What can you loose? The pictures will be perfectly usable. Anyway, user reports on the net usually are not worth the electricity that was used to put them online.

Regards
Georg

 

[reellis67]

What's the rush?

@braxus:
Forget it. When you give something away for free, you're mainly attracting greedy people, who want their "FREE!FREE!FREE" stuff, just to throw it into the drawer or, even worse, into the bin. It would have been much wiser to offer some samples at a reduced price, so that the offer is targeted to people who are really interested in...

I disagree with your generalization - not everyone has the opportunity to shoot a subject that would fit the intended use of these films whenever they feel like shooting, so why do you assume that %99 of the people here who got film binned it? I only got one roll of 120, my primary roll film size, and I'm keeping it for the right subject. Since I don't use 35mm that often it is going to take some time to finish a roll off and see what the results are like. Film and developing both cost money, and I intend to use this free film for specific purposes so that I know what it is capable of in the future rather than waste it on subjects that don't fit the medium.

- Randy

 

[braxus]

@braxus:
Forget it.
Georg

Sure. I can always just forget film all together and use my digital SLR. But my point is how the new films have changed compared to the old stuff. Just because Kodak says its the same with finer grain, doesn't necessarily mean other characteristics aren't different. I want to see how these new films compare against Fuji's Reala and Pro 160. Surely at least 1 person must of used one of these rolls by now. I can't believe everyone is just shoving them in the freezer.

And what are you expecting from the new films? Their characteristics will be very close to the old Portras, but with finer grain. Georg

We all know things change (such as color, saturation, or contrast as well as grain) that are not neccessarily expected. Testing is the only way to find out how exactly its changed. Im trying to find a good reason to dump using Fuji C41 films all together, but I want to know how they compare first. I prefer the color of Kodak films, but I like Fuji's fine grain better. Now I have the chance to see if Kodak has the replacement Im looking for. I just want to see whats changed. But as said Im having a hard time getting this film here, so Im buying off Ebay to get my samples. Im still waiting for the first rolls to arrive. If the film is what Im looking for, I will order more of the new stock (from whom ever I can get it from).

 

[zenrhino]

Someone? ANYONE? Y'all have your "free film"?

I got mine on Saturday. I'll have it all shot (1 roll each in 35 of NC160, VC160 and VC400 and 1 roll of 120 NC400, which incidentally is not at all what I'd asked for but hey, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth) and up to West Photo for processing by this weekend.

 

[Henning Serger]

Excellent results with the new Portras

Hallo,

I have recently talked to a photographer who has tested the new Portras. He has used the old Portras for years and therefore is able to compare.
He was very satisfied with the results and said that the new films are significantly better than the old ones (which he liked very much). The grain is finer (the difference is obvious), both in the 160 and the 400. Scanning results are better, too. And the films have a very nice colour reproduction with excellent skin tones.
He said the new films belong to the best films on the market.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[fparnold]

Anyone have any comments on the new film, grain and color-wise versus 400UC? I'm down to my last roll in 120, but it's pretty uniformly colored (brown) here at the moment to do a good test of a color film.

 

[copake_ham]

Anyone have any comments on the new film, grain and color-wise versus 400UC? I'm down to my last roll in 120, but it's pretty uniformly colored (brown) here at the moment to do a good test of a color film.

Not to mention that since you're in Binghamton, the alternate uniform color at this time of the year usually is white!

Up in Columbia County, when there's no snow at this time of the year [like now] we have a pallette of color: Grey, more Grey, Brown and more Brown!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Okay, I got my VC400-2 and NC400-2 tests back from Duggal (note the new edge marking to distinguish these films from the earlier Portras). Grain is excellent for a 400 ISO film for both of these.

These two attachments are VC400-2, 6x9cm using my Linhof Tech V 4x5" and a 6x9 Super Rollex back. I think I used the 150/4.5 Xenar for the macro and a 75/4.5 Grandagon-N for the landscape. These are both scans from the contact sheet (sorry for the schmutz under the scanner glass) on Endura.

With the VC400-2, I found it was easy to exceed the contrast range of Endura in contrasty light, so if you plan to print by projection and don't want to deal with contrast masks, then consider this a film for flat lighting conditions.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Here's a scan from the NC400-2. Here I was using the Linhof Super Rollex 6x9 back on a 4x5" sliding back on a 4x5 reducing back on my 8x10" Sinar P with a 12"/6.8 Gold Dot Dagor at f:8, 1/10 sec (how's that for overkill!). Natural light from a large window. The full image is from the contact sheet on Endura. The detail to show the grain is a 1000 dpi scan from the neg.

I think this is a definite improvement over the old Portra NC400, which I didn't shoot that much, but I like this better.

Can't wait to test out the 160 speed films. I've got one roll left of the old NC160 in 35mm, so I'm shooting it now for comparison.

 

[braxus]

I got my first rolls from Ebay here a couple days ago. I shot one roll of 160VC in 35mm today with our Christmas gathering. We were doing everything Christmas Eve day instead of the 25th due to others and their obligations. Since I work first thing in the morning on Boxing Day (I dread that whole idea), I'll hopefully do my roll with scans and come back here later.

 

[braxus]

I got my new roll of 160VC developed and scanned at the lab I work at. These were all scanned on a Noritsu 3011 machine at 3000x2000 tiff. To see the results (and duplicating the thread over again), look here at this thread:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00JHmQ