Question: Color

RattyMouse · Jun 9, 2013

I have a question for the b & w crowd. If you shoot b & w, and print your own images, but do NOT print any color, do you still shoot color film? If yes, what kind (negative or transparency)?

I am just curious how prevalent color film use is for people who are really into developing and printing b & w film.

Thanks!

pgomena · Jun 9, 2013

I use an occasional roll or sheet of color film. I haven't darkroom printed my own color in nearly 20 years. I scan and print it with an inkjet printer. Most of my color images now are captured digitally. Pro labs are pretty much a thing of the past here, and mailing my film to a good lab is expensive. I try to support that lab if at all possible, but the expense and inconvenience of color film have pretty much finished it for me.

That said, color film comprises about 5% or less of my film usage. I process my own B&W film. I scan it and print digitally. That makes me primarily a hybrid-workflow photographer.

Ken Nadvornick · Jun 9, 2013

All of my color is transparency. For sharing I scan, same as for b&w prints, because the transparency itself is already the final output, just like a print.

In years past all of my transparency was Kodachrome. Now it's Fujifilm, of course. Provia 100 & 400 in 35mm and 6x6/6x7 (in that GF670 folder). I have a project in mind for 4x5 color, but it hasn't progressed yet to the point of making exposures.

I would love to have Astia back. Then again, I'd love even more to have Kodachrome back. Then again, I'd really, really love to have my youth back. Or at least some parts of it. But none of these things are going to come back. So Provia it is. Until at some point it too isn't.

I'm glad that b&w is my main interest.

Ken

jp498 · Jun 9, 2013

I shoot a few sheets of fuji instant color once in a while. It's it's medium and won't be around forever probably. I shoot some color negative film may 1 roll every 20 rolls of B&W. Portra 160 is what I consider most versatile with the big dynamic range like I enjoy in B&W. I have a lab process it and I scan it. I liked Kodachrome, but Portra has much more flexibility and is more forgiving. The rest of my color these days is with a Nikon d600.

lightwisps · Jun 9, 2013

When I shoot color it is always transperiencies and I just print my own Ilfochromes. Good and fun.

markbarendt · Jun 9, 2013

RattyMouse said:
...but do NOT print any color...

That qualifier seems a bit odd RattyMouse. What are you trying to figure out?

mooseontheloose · Jun 9, 2013

I still shoot colour, mostly slides (provia), which accounts for not more than 10% of my shooting. On rare occasions I might shoot some colour neg (portra). In both cases I can get them easily developed, but I don't make prints from them, just scan the ones I like.

StoneNYC · Jun 9, 2013

I'm about the same, 5% or 10% color shooter on film. Almost exclusively transparency Fuji film, I DID have an epic Kodachrome run, but now it's Fuji Provia100f and Velvia50 in 120 most of the time.

I don't like color negs, I keep trying to like them, but haven't been wow's yet, I do have some sitting waiting for me to process, so soon we shall see.

And yes I process all of my E6 an C41, the availability of chemistry and the cost is why I don't shoot more honestly.

~Stone | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

JBrunner · Jun 9, 2013

I shoot all my snaps on color neg and send them out, invariably to have them printed. Commercial tabletop are often but not always shot on 4x5 transparency, they wind up being scanned. I also shoot some 6x17 on chrome for grins, the best get printed.

Jeff Kubach · Jun 9, 2013

When I shoot color it is 35mm C-41. Have it develop at Costco.

Jeff

Ricardo Miranda · Jun 9, 2013

Off topic:
Desertratt: for your 110 camera there is now a B&W film on sale with Lomography. They call it Orca 100 ISO. Some say it is made by Orwo, some by Lucky.

M Stat · Jun 9, 2013

When Kodachrome was discontinued, I stopped using color unless it was required for a commercial assignment. Nowadays, since I only do photography for myself, I only use black and white film (TriX), no color and no digital.(period)

BradleyK · Jun 9, 2013

When Kodachrome was discontinued, I switched to the Ektachrome twins (E100G and E100VS), shooting the two stocks (35mm and 120) in about a 5:1 ratio. With the discontinuation of Ektachrome, I expect that, barring the reintroduction of Astia, I will be switching to Provia and Velvia for the bulk of my color work. That said, with the end of Kodachrome, I have begun shooting black and white in far greater quantities; at present, I would guess that the latter is now some 40 per cent of my work, an amount that will continue to grow as transparency options diminish...

andrew.roos · Jun 9, 2013

I develop and print B&W but don't shoot analog colour at present. I am however considering shooting and developing colour, probably transparencies.

Andrew

MattKing · Jun 9, 2013

My colour shooting varies, but I have stocked up on a fair quantity of 120 Ektachrome E100G.

I have some friends with a bunch of Ilfochrome materials and chemistry that we are trying to get reasonably calibrated. When that is up to snuff, I expect I will be printing a fair bit from the Ektachrome transparencies. I am also trying to be more diligent about mounting and projecting more of the slides. Otherwise, in the meantime, I scan them or have them scanned and have the labs print them (on RA4 paper) from the digital files.

I also shoot some C41 and have them scanned and print from the scans. I would like to get back to RA4 printing.

kevs · Jun 9, 2013

RattyMouse said:
I have a question for the b & w crowd. If you shoot b & w, and print your own images, but do NOT print any color, do you still shoot color film? If yes, what kind (negative or transparency)?

I am just curious how prevalent color film use is for people who are really into developing and printing b & w film.

Thanks!

Yes, I occasionally use colour film or both varieties for happy snaps, and for more serious work. I did print colour once (RA-4 and Ciba), but I never got the results I wanted and the chemistry was uneconomic because it didn't last very long. Also I don't like the surface of resin-coated or plastic papers. If a fibre-based colour paper were to be made available it might tempt me to try again...

Cheers,
kevs

Steve Smith · Jun 9, 2013

I'm not sure what this color you mention is. I do use colour film occasionally though.

Steve.

Neal · Jun 10, 2013

Dear RattyMouse,

About a third of the film I shoot is color and essentially 100% of that is negative film. For me, being able to optically print is half the fun and it is just much cheaper and easier to create a good image from negative film.

Neal Wydra

Terry Christian · Jun 10, 2013

I do the same proportion as Neal, about 1/3 color neg (no slide film for me). I develop all my own color and B/W film, and scan the color to be lab-printed.

David Brown · Jun 10, 2013

RattyMouse said:
I am just curious how prevalent color film use is for people who are really into developing and printing b & w film.

Thanks!

For many of us, our "color" work is not to be mentioned here ...

StoneNYC · Jun 10, 2013

David Brown said:
For many of us, our "color" work is not to be mentioned here ...

If you mean scanning transparency, well with the scarcity of Cibichrome, I think scanning and printing from scan is mentionable as it "represents the final print" also as someone mentioned, the final "print" IS the transparency, so any further work on it after you've developed the E-6 is just like scanning a print

~Stone | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

Noble · Jun 10, 2013

RattyMouse said:
I have a question for the b & w crowd. If you shoot b & w, and print your own images, but do NOT print any color, do you still shoot color film? If yes, what kind (negative or transparency)?

I am just curious how prevalent color film use is for people who are really into developing and printing b & w film.

Thanks!

I shoot some color. The problem with color is expense. Since I don't print my own color I have to get it scanned. Scanning is a bit of a pain. I would do it more but when you have to monkey around with the colors it becomes a real pain. I like to scan or get proof prints just for proofing. Even though I develop and print my own B&W I still scan all of it. It is easier and cheaper to proof. My scans may not be perfect but they are good enough for my purposes. The problem comes in with color. If the color balance/hue are slightly off it can be very distracting. Besides I've gotten good scans from NCPS. The problem though is they charge substantially more if you send them rolls that have already been developed. So that forces you to send your rolls to them to be developed. I don't get it. If their scanning was cheaper I would do a lot more business with them.

Anyway I shoot Ektar and Portra 160 and 400. I also shoot Provia and Velvia. That's pretty much covers the ever shrinking world of color. Well I suppose there is the Fuji C-41 stuff. Kodak hasn't given me a reason to use the Fuji stuff so I don't.

My unimportant rolls get developed at Walmart. They still return negatives for all medium format film. Walmart send out services gives you some crappy proof prints if you order them. Then you only have to scan the ones you really like.

RattyMouse · Jun 11, 2013

markbarendt said:
That qualifier seems a bit odd RattyMouse. What are you trying to figure out?

I'm sorry, I was not clear. I meant do not print themselves at home. Printing color yourself is more rare than monochrome I believe so want to understand what people do who are not up to printing their own color.

Thanks for all the replies.

Roger Cole · Jun 11, 2013

I printed color years ago but haven't in a long time. Probably 3/4s or more of my work is black and white, maybe closer to 85%. Of the color, I mainly shoot transparency in 35mm, for projection and "while I still can" and color neg in 120, for prints. I send it to Dwayne's, for now anyway.

Oddly enough, one reason I sometimes shoot color is a scarcity of time. I just don't have time to develop and print nearly all of my black and white. I have film I shot months ago that still needs to be developed, and negatives I shot a year or more ago I've yet to print. Just...not...enough...time. Having no running water in my improvised darkroom means a lot more set up and clean up time too so if I don't have at least 2-3 hours to devote to it, I don't bother. With color I just fill out the form, pop it all in the envelope, and drop by the Post Office kiosk next time I'm out.

Mark_S · Jun 11, 2013

Almost all of the film that I expose is B&W, which I process and print myself, at home.
I also shoot a little colour transparency film which I process at home, then, if I get something that I like, I send it out to be scanned, and I manipulate and print using non analog methods.

Question: Color

RattyMouse

pgomena

Ken Nadvornick

jp498

lightwisps

markbarendt

mooseontheloose

StoneNYC

JBrunner

Moderator

Jeff Kubach

Ricardo Miranda

M Stat

BradleyK

andrew.roos

MattKing

Moderator

kevs

Steve Smith

Neal

Terry Christian

David Brown

StoneNYC

Noble

RattyMouse

Roger Cole

Mark_S

Question: Color

Moderator

Moderator

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Privacy & Transparency