There are lots of features of Portra 160 I really like. The base has a plastic memory, and lays flat. The colors look natural with a bit of that warm slightly over saturated Velvia magic. The previous landscape wasn't the best use, and the vibrant tomatoes in these shots are a bit over the top. I could de-saturate, but that lowers the density. It seems to be aimed solely for portraits - hence the name. That puts it into a niche that will be less useful to me.
James Markus wrote:
There are lots of features of Portra 160 I really like. The base has a plastic memory, and lays flat. The colors look natural with a bit of that warm slightly over saturated Velvia magic. The previous landscape wasn't the best use, and the vibrant tomatoes in these shots are a bit over the top. I could de-saturate, but that lowers the density. It seems to be aimed solely for portraits - hence the name. That puts it into a niche that will be less useful to me.
Tina Kino wrote:
Portra is rather saturated, yes, but those tomato shots are really bold - very saturated, and very contrasty!
Are you sure your developer isn't a bit hot, and are you following the times of the most recent tech sheet? https://www.bellinifoto.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/C41_scheda-tecnica-3.pdf
Or, of course, it could also be due to the way those were scanned (your CineStill 50D looks quite contrasty to me as well)..
The tomato shots indeed look a bit over the top, but I don't think it's the film's fault 🙂
Well, I use to love Velvia printed on 100% pure white polyester (Cibachrome) - So I plead guilty.
Professionally I shot transparencies, because getting good color from negatives seemed impossible. These are my first two rolls of Portra, and it seems ideal for studio portraits - imo. I did run the temp 1 degree hot, because I was using a $30 suvee from Aldi, and I didn't trust it's built in thermometer. Cinestill's C-41 kit says to start at 3.5min on fresh chemistry, and add a few seconds (5-10) per additional rolls. I had rthe whole quart of developer and blix in their own individual 12" tanks (I hate pouring chemicals) doing three rolls at a time. 2nd batch was 3:45, third batch was 4min. and 4th was 4:15. Here is one from the second roll in the same flat lighting, but much less vivid subject - Mina
James Markus wrote:
Well, I use to love Velvia printed on 100% pure white polyester (Cibachrome) - So I plead guilty.
Professionally I shot transparencies, because getting good color from negatives seemed impossible. These are my first two rolls of Portra, and it seems ideal for studio portraits - imo. I did run the temp 1 degree hot, because I was using a $30 suvee from Aldi, and I didn't trust it's built in thermometer. Cinestill's C-41 kit says to start at 3.5min on fresh chemistry, and add a few seconds (5-10) per additional rolls. I had rthe whole quart of developer and blix in their own individual 12" tanks (I hate pouring chemicals) doing three rolls at a time. 2nd batch was 3:45, third batch was 4min. and 4th was 4:15. Here is one from the second roll in the same flat lighting, but much less vivid subject - Mina
