Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hi all,

I've tried this film and simply love it- but I've not used it when photographing people. Has anyone shot people with this yet, and if so, what did you think? I'm just wondering how it renders skin tones?

Thanks!

-Jason

It's quite hot in the reds in general vivid colours so depending on the light you might find yourself desaturating skin tones other then that it's fine.

Thanks!

Also because it's almost like a slide film with a high dynamic range (dmin-dmax) some people don't know how to scan and get correct mid grey to dark grey colour balance.

I personally like using neutral colour film for portraits.

The colour balance sounds somewhat like PotraVC- which I've liked in certain lighting conditions - though I often prefer the colour gamut in Portra NC for colour portraits (when I'm trying to emphasize youth/downplay age I'll use a not too sharp print film to gloss over lines/wrinkles- I find that Potra NC works especially well for fair skinned people where the skin looks creamy).

But I'll give Ektar a whirl, and try to be careful when scanning. If my prints are too reddish, I'll blame the subjects for not using sunscreen.

Thericyip, what do you use for portraits?

Thanks again for your suggestions/thoughts!

-Jason

Because Ektar is a very vivid film I think your find it's a great film for portraits under the same lighting that you like portra VC films and portra NC washes out, but having over saturated for skin tones in the same lighting where portra NC shines.

A search on flickr comes up with both some good and bad examples:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Ektar10 ... s=int&ss=2

And one of mine for what it's worth

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix_feet/4390573235/" title="Linzy B by Metrix X, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4390573235_b942c1e5d4.jpg" width="495" height="500" alt="Linzy B"></a>

nice shot Ryan! I love Ektar - I have 5 rolls I have to take into the lab this week. I don't have the experience/gear needed to develop my own film yet.

Portra NC. LOL. I actually use Portra NC for everything.. it's my to go film. Once I finish some of my stock at home, I'm gonna buy some Ektar.

Thanks Ryan- nice shot!

thericyip, why the switch? or a you just trying it out?

Oh I'm not switching. I just have like 50 rolls of other types of film.

I've only used Ektar on 35mm. I'll be buying some to try for MF.

That sounds so disciplined- I should try that. I order some film every time I order stuff from the U.S. - so I have a good supply of 35mm and 120 that doesn't seem to dwindle.....

It sounds strange but Ektar in MF looks different then in 35mm. The 120 has comparatively a finer invisible grain but the colours have so much depth and texture while 35 mm is closer to but more varied then digital.

I love love love Ektar 100 in 120.

Shots I've taken with it:
http://tinyurl.com/2bhjt9y

I have 2 packs of it in 4x5 that I'm really looking forward to shooting.

So far I've only shot Ektar in 35mm, and I was very impressed. Funny I think I had an initial reaction similar to Metrix- I told a friend that it reminded me a lot of what I was able to get from digital after I did my colour corrections and processing in photoshop - but better because of the dynamic range, gradations etc. - no blown highlights etc. (I shot some of the same subjects with 35mm and in digital to compare). I was looking at scans and prints from the scan.

Thanks for sharing your photos Sean- actually the other thread on Ektar encouraged me to try it.

I'm going to shoot some Ektar this weekend in 120- I can't wait!

Which camera store has the cheapest Ektar 100?

so far the cheapest I've found is at film plus in the west end

What's your typical "workflow" for film development? Do you digitally scan the film or get it developed and printed. I hate it when I ask for no exposure corrections on my prints and it comes back corrected as they see fit I don't have a good film scanner, are there any good places that develop and offer digital scans (that don't charge an arm or a leg)?

Hey Foggy,

I don't really have a consistent workflow.

I usually I send my colour film (and B & W that I really care about) to a lab- sometimes I get proofs, sometimes I ask them to scan, sometimes I will just get it processed and scan myself using a rented scanner at TIW and Pitko.

I prefer to scan myself to be able to control the quality of the scans and make adjustments at the time of scanning.

Though everyone seems to offer scanning, Ive found that some labs are rough with the negatives.

I like to get proofs, but have had problems getting good colour proofs (sometimes colour casts from scanning are not corrected etc.). I like to get proofs, but I haven't found anyone who consistently provides good colour proofs. Others may have more experience/luck on this front.

I think a lot of us get development only and scan them ourselves. Some of us also use either the Epson V500 or V700. Great scanners.