Portra 400 excessive Grain - What am I doing wrong?

[tezzasmall]

I've not read EVERY post on this thread, but overseas posters seem to be presuming that the weather here in the UK is similar to other countries, which it's NOT; and this counts even more so up in Scottieland!!! But ESPECIALLY during the darker months of the year, but also during odd days in the summer. We have a real mixed up weather system of late, which I'm sure is also shared around the rest of the world as well.

OP: Did you finally get your prints and negs returned to you and if so, how do the prints in the hand look to you compared to the scans you received (of which, personally, I thought looked okay...?)

Terry S

 

[removed account4]

Hi all,
I recently went on holiday and shot a roll of portra 400 through my Olympus 35 RC. I've got the scans back and I am not sure if the grain i'm seeing on this film is in line with what I have read about it. I have attached three pictures all shot at F2.8 125 shutter speed. The weather was fairly overcast but certainly not deserving of anything higher than a 400 ISO film. Any advice would be much appreciated. Should I have used a slower shutter speed or different focal length? Or is it a cause of something different altogether? Or am I imagining things? Thanks
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hi thomas

nice photographs!

i tend to rate every film 1/2 the iso stated on the box and i use the sunny 11 rule ...
so your film looks fine to me / it doesn't look over exposed too badly ...
you might enjoy this website
http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm
to help you get the hang of sunny 11 ( 16 ) it is pretty handy and will give you an idea if
your light meter is wonky or not. there is really no need to buy additional hand held spot meters
unless you don't have a meter / in your camera, or yours is broken, spend your $$ on film and getting it processed
instead, and if you become a good judge of light you wont' ever need a light meter ( i haven't really used a meter in probably close to 20 years ).
good luck !
john