Magenta Shift / Expired Velvia Transparency Film

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

I have noticed that some of the really old Velvia 50 I have shot has a tendency to shift (pretty badly) to magenta/pink...... I have also found that correcting that color shift in particular is not always simple or effective....

I generally scan 645 format transparencies using an Epson V700 scanner...and Aperture software.... The epson interface does have a color correction feature but in my experience with the magenta shift it doesn't work too well....

Does anyone have advice to share on how best to eliminate the magenta/pink color shift during editing ?? Obviously as an Aperture user reference to that software is most helpful but I can usually figure out the equivalents if responses mention PS techniques.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.... And yeah I guess it goes without saying that I don't really "like" the magenta shift like some of the hipsters do.... I prefer the real colors !

gsgary · Feb 18, 2015

Best way is shoot fresh slide film, I shoot lots of out of date film but don't bother with slide film

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

Well my dilemma is that I bought 20 rolls of 220 Velvia 50 for almost nothing.... Velvia 50 in 120 format is pricey... and it really comes down to I won't throw this out....of course IF I were shooting very seriously or for profit, I would buy fresh film...but that is not the reality for many of us...... the shift doesn't seem to come in the expired Provia 100f film I shoot... fwiw...

Buckster · Feb 18, 2015

Can you post one or more with the shift without any edits yet? My first instinct is a bit of re-shift with curves.

Have you tried shooting a white balance target in one frame, and balancing in post off that?

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

I will try to get an unedited scan to post so you can see what I am describing..

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

there you go... a low res scan with no editing... perhaps a bit underexposed

Ysarex · Feb 18, 2015

The controls for white balance are temp and tint. Tint is magenta/green.

Joe

limr · Feb 18, 2015

I know that cast, and quite frankly, it happens with some fresh film too, depending on how touchy the emulsion is. This was taken on some expired Kodacolor 400:

Woodpile by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And this with fresh Gold 200:

Tree in the field by limrodrigues, on Flickr

The colors got all sorts of wonky in that second one - magenta in the shadows and green in the highlights.

I am just learning how to deal with this - I use Corel and have just downloaded Gimp. Color adjustments are a little bit of a mindf*** for me; after a while, I just can't even tell what I'm looking at anymore. But I've had some success with going into the color levels and adjusting them individually. There also is probably a way to use a mask layer to adjust colors only in one part of the picture but not the other. I'm just not sure how to do that yet.

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

Yeah.. what he said ! Limr....
I have the same sense... I adjust one thing and it corrects one problem but creates another... and then I lose track of what I am trying to correct and what I have already corrected, etc etc.... I am sure that most of this simply comes with experience... but it has eluded me to date for sure !! I do appreciate the input and will continue to read and try to understand any responses or suggestions offered...

Derrel · Feb 18, 2015

I shot some expired Kodak Elite Chrome slide film last summer in a 120 rollfilm back....wayyyyyyyyy purple-y...pretty much rubbish and mostly un-correctable for me...

vintagesnaps · Feb 18, 2015

I like those Leonore, pretty cool! especially the first one. I like some of the experimental films so when I'm using those I'm not trying to correct a shift in color, I'm going with it! lol

Anyway for photos that I need good quality color I don't use expired film. If you do I guess it's going to take time to learn how to adjust digitally or how much correction can be done, I don't do much editing myself.

I was going to suggest you might want to look at Film Photography Project An Internet Radio Show On-Line Resource for Film Shooters Worldwide since they sell expired films. But I think they embrace the crazy color shifts.

Just happened to think, maybe try looking up Film Rescue International. They restore old photos, I don't know if they have any info. on their site about how to make adjustments/restorations.

Or maybe make copies of one photo you want to work on, then keep track of what you did to each one you adjust/edit. Maybe play around with different adjustments on each copy and see if you can get closer to what you want and go from there.

limr · Feb 18, 2015

Thanks, Sharon

I do like the crazy color shifts sometimes, so that's why I do shoot expired film occasionally, but other times I get the color shift when I don't want it, so it's still good to know how to handle them. If I figure out anything specific, I'll come back and share the wisdom

dxqcanada · Feb 18, 2015

Hmm, in Lightroom I just use the WhiteBalance selector (eyedrop) and pointed at a "white" object ... like the clouds in the upper right.

Screen Shot 2015-02-18 at 4.25.12 PM.png

Authentic Southerner · Feb 18, 2015

Ahhh yes.... I found the white balance eye dropper tool in Aperture and that does help quite a bit... and I discovered there is an Auto Correct White Balance feature as well that does a reasonably good job.... learn something new every day it seems...

Understand using the gray portion of the clouds, but what IF the image has no or very little gray present... i.e. ... green foliage, blue sky, blue/green water etc etc ??