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The absolute beginner’s guide to film photography: Color print film
| All photos by Dan Bracaglia |
Color print film (otherwise known as color negative film) was the most popular variety of film in the pre-digital photography era, primarily because it was cheap to develop and easy to show and share the resultant prints. Color print film is also known as ‘C-41’ for the name of the standardized process used to develop it.
One of the best aspects of color print film is its generous exposure latitude, which means that it is very forgiving of incorrect exposure, particularly overexposure – you can be 1 to 2 (or sometimes 3 or 4) stops off the proper exposure and still get a usable image. Cheap point-and-shoot and disposable cameras often have a small range of exposure settings and rely on the latitude of color print film to get good pictures. For today’s film photographers, especially those new to manual-exposure cameras, this latitude helps ensure good results even if your technique isn’t perfect.
An Oversimplified Explanation of how Color Print Film Works
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| Shot on Fujifilm Superia 400. Scanned and then edited to taste in Lightroom. |
Like black and white film (read our guide: What you need to know about B&W film), color film relies on light-sensitive silver halide crystals, but instead of a single layer of emulsion, color film has three, each sensitive to a different color of light (generally, blue, green and red). The emulsion layers include chemicals called dye couplers. When the film is developed, the interaction of the silver halide, dye couplers and developing chemicals produces dyes that form a negative image. Color negatives have a strong orange hue.
Types of Color Print Film
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| Kodak and Fujifilm are two of the bigger players in the color print film market and both offer a variety of options, from the affordable, like Kodak Gold and Fujifilm Superia, to the higher-end, including stocks like Kodak Portra and Fujfilm Natura (available only in Japan). |
Color print films come in many varieties, with the chief differences being speed and color reproduction. Film speed is expressed as an ISO number (ASA is an older standard for the same basic thing). Higher ISO film is more sensitive to light and therefore requires a lower exposure (shorter exposure times or smaller apertures), but will have more visible grain (somewhat akin to noise in digital photography). Most color film is in the 50 to 800 ASA range, with 100 being ideal for a sunny day and 400 for overcast skies
One of the primary differences between digital photography and film photography is that film cannot be white balanced, though color adjustment/correction is possible during the printing and scanning process. Different films will render colors differently, which is part of what gives them their individuality.
Lower-cost films like Kodak Colorplus have pale, washed-out colors reminiscent of classic film photographs, while Kodak Ektar produces bright, vibrant colors similar to slide film and digital cameras. Kodak Portra, meanwhile, is optimized for skin tones and easy scanning. Some color print films use motion picture emulsions, which have their own unique look, and Lomography/other boutique brands sells films that introduce random patterns or color splashes into your images.
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| Shot on Kodak Portra 800. Scanned and then edited to taste in Lightroom. |
How Much Does Color Print Film Cost?
If you’re shooting 35mm, you’ll find lower-end films like Kodak Colorplus and Kodak Gold starting around $5 for a 36-exposure roll, while faster or finer-grain films like Fujicolor Pro 400H (RIP) or Kodak Ektar are closer to $10 per roll. Specialty films like Kodak Portra and Cinestill cost around $13 per roll. Unlike B&W film, color film is generally not sold in bulk rolls, but some film types are sold in 3- to 5-roll packs at a lower per-roll cost.
When it comes to 120-size medium-format color film, generally only ‘pro’ emulsions like Ektar, Portra and Fujicolor Pro are available. You’ll generally pay between $8 and $15 per roll, which yields between 8 and 16 shots depending on the camera’s format. As with 35mm, you can save money by buying in 5-roll packs.
Developing Color Print Film
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| Shot on Fujifilm Superia 400. Scanned and then edited to taste in Lightroom. |
Color print film is generally cheaper to have processed than B&W film, as the C-41 process is standardized and usually done by machine, and therefore less labor-intensive. Developed film can be printed or scanned, and most labs will do either or both when you have your film processed. You can also buy your own film scanner.
As with B&W film, it is possible to develop color film at home using the same tanks and reels, although the C-41 process is more exacting. While B&W developing can be done at room temperature, color processing chemicals must be maintained around 102 degrees F (39 ° C). Variations in temperature or timing can cause undesired color shifts. Color developing chemicals are more expensive and have a shorter shelf life than B&W chemicals, but home developing can still save money over lab developing.
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| Shot on Kodak Portra 800. Scanned and then edited to taste in Lightroom. |
Printing at home is much more of a challenge than with B&W, as the paper must be exposed and developed in complete darkness, and it’s up to you to get the color balance right (using filters in the enlarger, the device used to project the negative onto the paper). Hand-processing color prints is a tedious and precise process, and automated processing machines are very expensive.
About
Our ‘Absolute beginner’s guide to film photography’ is an educational series of articles focused on demystifying the ins and outs of analog photography. Geared toward those discovering (or re-discovering) film, the series will cover everything from gear, to technique and more.
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Pentax K-1 and K-1 II firmware updates include astrophotography features (depending on where you live)
Yesterday, Ricoh quietly released firmware 2.50 for its Pentax K-1 and K-1 II DSLRs. However, the features you can expect to gain from this update may depend on your geography.
Ricoh’s English-language firmware pages for the K-1 and K-1 II state that firmware 2.50 delivers “Improved stability for general performance.”
However, astute Pentax users noted that Ricoh’s Japanese-language firmware pages (translation) indicate that the update also includes a limited feature called “Astronomical Photo Assist,” a collection of three new features designed for astrophotography: Star AF, remote control focus fine adjustment, and astronomical image processing.
Star AF is intended to automate focusing on stars when using autofocus lenses. Rather than manually focusing on a bright star and changing your composition, it promises to let you compose your shot and let the camera focus.
Remote control fine adjustment allows users to adjust focus without touching the lens and requires Pentax’s optional O-RC1 remote. Astronomical image processing will enable users to make in-camera adjustments to astrophotography images, including shading correction, fogging correction, background darkness, star brightness, celestial clarity, and fringe correction.
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| Astronomical image processing on the K-1 and K-1 II will enable users to make in-camera adjustments to astrophotography images, including shading correction, fogging correction, background darkness, star brightness, celestial clarity, and fringe correction. |
According to Ricoh, Astronomical Photo Assist is a premium feature that must be purchased and costs ￥11,000 for an activation key (about $70 at current exchange rates).
Although these astrophotography features appear to be Japan-only for now, a Ricoh representative tells us, “Ricoh Imaging Americas confirmed that the premium firmware features for the PENTAX K-1 and PENTAX K-1 Mark II will eventually be available to US customers.”
Firmware update 2.50 for both the K-1 and K-1 II is available for download from Ricoh’s website.
As part of our twenty fifth anniversary, we’re looking back at some of the most significant cameras launched and reviewed during that period. Today’s pick was launched seven years ago today* and yet we’re only quite recently stepping out of its shadow.
The Nikon D850 is likely to be remembered as the high watermark of DSLR technology. We may yet still see impressive developments from Ricoh in the future (we’d love to see a significantly upgraded Pentax K-1 III), but the D850 was perhaps the green flash as the sun set on the DSLR as the dominant technology in the market.
Click here to read our Nikon D850 review
Why do we think it was such a big deal? Because it got just about everything right. Its 45MP sensor brought dual conversion gain to high pixel count sensors, meaning excellent dynamic range at base ISO and lower noise at high ISOs. Its autofocus system was one of the best we’ve ever seen on a DSLR: easy to use and highly dependable, with a good level of coverage. And then there was a body and user interface honed by years of iterative refinement, that made it easy to get the most out of the camera.
None of this is meant as a slight towards the other late-period DSLRs but the likes of Canon’s EOS 5DS and 5DSR didn’t present quite such a complete package of AF tracking, daylight DR and low-light quality as the Nikon did. With its ability to shoot at up to 9fps (if you used the optional battery grip), the D850 started to chip away at the idea that high megapixel cameras were specialized landscape and studio tools that would struggle with movement or less-than-perfect lighting. And that’s without even considering its 4K video capabilities.
In the seven years since the D850 was launched, mirrorless cameras have eclipsed most areas in which DSLRs once held the advantage. For example, the Z8 can shoot faster, autofocus more with more accuracy and precision, across a wider area of the frame and do so while shooting at much faster rates.
But, even though it outshines the D850 in most regards, the Z8 is still based around what we believe is a (significant) evolution of the same sensor, and its reputation still looms large enough for Nikon to explicitly market the Z8 as its “true successor.”
Nikon D850 sample gallery
*Actually seven years ago yesterday: we had to delay this article for a day to focus on the publishing the Z6III studio scene: the latest cameras taking precedence over our anniversary content.
| Photo: Richard Butler |
We’ve just received a production Nikon Z6III and took it into our studio immediately to get a sense for how the sensor really performs.
Dynamic range tests have already been conducted, but these only give a limited insight into the image quality as a whole. As expected, our Exposure Latitude test – which mimics the effect of reducing exposure to capture a bright sunrise or sunset, then making use of the deep shadows – shows a difference if you use the very deepest shadows, just as the numerical DR tests imply.
Likewise, our ISO Invariance test shows there’s more of a benefit to be had from applying more amplification by raising the ISO setting to overcome the read noise, than there was in the Z6 II. This means there’s a bigger improvement when you move up to the higher gain step of the dual conversion gain sensor but, as with the Z6 II, little more to be gained beyond that.
These are pushing at the extreme of the sensor’s performance though. For most everyday photography, you don’t use the deepest shadows of the Raw files, so differences in read noise between sensors don’t play much of a role. In most of the tones of an image, sensor size plays a huge role, along with any (pretty rare) differences in light capturing efficiency.
As expected, the standard exposures look identical to those of the Z6 II. There are similar (or better) levels of detail at low ISO, in both JPEG and Raw. At higher ISO, the Z6III still looks essentially the same as the Z6II. Its fractionally higher level of read noise finally comes back to have an impact at very, very high ISO settings.
Overall, then, there is a read noise price to be paid for the camera’s faster sensor, in a way that slightly blunts the ultimate flexibility of the Raw files at low ISO and that results in fractionally more noise at ultra-high ISOs. But we suspect most people will more than happily pay this small price in return for a big boost in performance.
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