Color Balance with a film camera...

[epatsellis]

William, did you even read what helen posted above? Substitute noise for grain and suddenly that blue noise you see when shooting under tungsten makes sense. (every digital camera I have ever used does this) If anything, digital benefits as much, if not more, from proper color correction filtration. I use my Decamired and CC filters far more now than I used to. If you are trying to achieve the highest possible image quality, a color correction filter is mandatory to reduce noise and maximize dynamic range.

 

[UUilliam]

No, I did not read it however I will do.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

CC, if color work is important, and in your workflow there are times when film works better, it's really not that hard to process C41 film correctly, nor expensive. If you have a film scanner already, and remember how to process b&w film, the only significant difference is continuous agitation and a water bath, that's it. (unless you do what I did and buy a processor, of course)

You are absolutely correct although I never upgraded my darkroom to color because I didn't see any point. Most of my color work was pro work and the cost of processing was passed on to the customer. The only C41 work I did was weddings and I had not intention to deal with that myself. The "wedding labs" were just fine Not to mention I could make more money shooting then spending time in the darkroom.

My personal work was all B&W and, that, I did all the darkroom work myself. My way of relaxing

But my point (however badly stated, I see now) was that unless you use pro labs, you have no control over the output. And considering that most amateurs today find film work to be expensive, they probably are not going to sent their films to such a lab.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

By the way, epatsellis, how much C41 do you do and for what kind of jobs? From what I've seen of your posts, I'm not sure why you would use it that much and, thus, even need a processor.

 

[epatsellis]

I have two clients that periodically require available light (day and night) images of construction projects and buildings. Two or three times a year, I shoot between 200 and 300 4x5 negatives over the course of a week.

Final product is large (as in 4'x5' +) prints of selected images. The processor (a wing-lynch pro 6 tube based processor) cost me under $200, and I still bill the same rate as I did when I sent it out, it really doesn't take that long to load 8 sheets at a time and press start. When it's finished, I load the negs into hangers and do final rinse and dry. I can process a days worth of shooting in a few hours (and billed at the "pro" lab rate to the client). It can be very profitable, even using developer and fixer one shot and replenishing/regenerating bleach.

Initial scans are done on a profiled Lino Opal Ultra for proofs, and when the final images are selected, I have them drum scanned and output. mounted and packed and shipped.

It's lucrative enough that the first run paid for my Sinar P, a pile of lenses and accessories.

 

[epatsellis]

My personal work, on the other hand, tends to cross processed CDU, lots of work with the Betterlight back and "fine art" LF type images that are sold through several galleries.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Interesting. And thanks for explaining.

I never had any call for C41, aside from retail work, so I wondered.

 

[Helen B]

Are we underestimating modern color film or are we realistic about today's labs?

...

You live in NYC. Great. No everyone does. Believe it or not I still have photos I am waiting to find the right lab for. None of the ones I knew/used could do what I wanted.

This is, of course, a different issue - it's nothing to do with colour neg film itself.

Although I live in NYC I travel a lot and prefer to get my film developed locally when I am away - one less x-ray worry. (As an aside, it's surprising how many minilabs can develop 120 as well as 35 mm, though they may not be able to print it.) Because most current minilabs are digital (scan-digitally process-expose onto light-sensitive paper) it's usually not difficult to get them to colour correct if you ask. You can have control over the colour balance.

It's better to be in full control of everything yourself, of course, so I prefer to scan and print my own work unless I'm printing large, when I will send the processed, colour-managed files to an online printer (which can be anywhere in the US or Canada) or to Laumont here in Hell's Kitchen.

Best,
Helen