Polariod: contrast, film, digital.

[Quinten]

I am contemplating on buying a polariod back for my hasselblad but there are a few things I am not sure about.

First is the contrast of polariod compared to film. How are the colour polaroids compared to portra VC and NC? and in some extend to Ektachrome 100G. The same question goes for B&W how is it compared to films like TriX400 and Ilford FP4?

Currently I use a digital camera as the 'polariod check' (I've included the forbidden word because it's only a support tool for my film photography in this case so I hope we can handle this but the contrast seems to vary to the film on these checks without much consistancy. I hope anyone can tell me how I should see the contrast range of an averedge digital nikon to that of film. (manyly VC and NC.)

Many thanks,
Quinten

 

[gr82bart]

I too use my digicam (Nikon D2X!) as the Polaroid check for my Hassey. I haven't used my Polaroid back in a long while.

I would've never placed the Polaroid film/paper in the same league as print from Porta film. Hmm....maybe something I have overlooked.

Note that the exposure window is pretty small compared to the entire real estate of the film/paper, so, I've never thought of taking a 'real' pic with the Polaroid back on my Hassey.

Regards, Art.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

The tonality of Polaroid 669 isn't too far off from Portra 160 NC, but neg film has more latitude in general. You'll need to run some tests and do some calibration in any case to be able to rely on Polaroid or digital for that matter as a way of proofing for exposure and contrast. The way to do this might be to bracket a series of exposures on the neg film of your choice, taking notes, and then do the same with Polaroid, develop the film and run a contact sheet (not machine proofs, because they might adjust the print exposure for each frame), and compare the Polaroids to the contacts, and find the best match. When you've figured out the exposure difference between the neg film and the Polaroid, you might use a ND filter to match them, so you can shoot the proof and the real shot at the same aperture and shutter speed.

One thing to note is that Polaroid doesn't have great reciprocity characteristics, so it's a handy proofing medium for daylight and strobes, but it's not as easy to use for long exposures (though architectural photographers do use it for complicated interior shots involving mixed lighting and multiple exposures with different filtrations).

 

[Quinten]

maybe a test with a polaircamera from someone else is a whise thing to do I am mainly concidering it because the contrast on the digital camera is quite off many times and so contrast ratios on light are hard to judge, wich is the main reason I want to check. (hmm experience would make this obsolete right..