Photoclubalpha

I just got 5 rolls through, thought I would give this film a bash. I have some people/portait work this weeked. So I was planning on using some film, some digital, mixing it up..and seeing how things went.

I have never used this film before, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this film.
Heard good things about it, and Kodak portra. Any notable differences between the two films??

I used Fuji's earlier 160 NPS for years, and also their NPC. If you have been using consumer grade film, the biggest differences are in contrast and colour rendering - very much more subtle, like Reala rather than any of the Kodak Gold, Fuji Superia etc type films. Be very careful with underexposure on this, or Kodak Portra. Very accurate exposure gives the best results. The films are tolerant of overexposure but about 0.5 to 1 stop less tolerant to underexposure, compared to consumer films. This is not because they are worse, it's because they are labelled for 160 but if they were sold for consumer use, they would be called 100. The stated ISO is accurate, without the usual safety margin added.

David

If memory serves me right, I had better results with NPS when rated at ISO 125 in my medium format camera.

Dusty

Thanks for the info. I think I will try the film at rated speed. I have read some threads on forums suggesting maybe to rate it a bit lower. I will have to see how the results come out.

Evidently fuji claim improved latitude over the previous generation, how accurate that is, we shall find out shortly! I will use the film 7 for this one, and based on previous shootings with it, I am pretty happy with the exposure metering wise. I had heard porta was possible less forgiving and more prone to muddy shadows in some situations, I have no idea as I have never used that either! The forecast is mostly sunny for sunday where I am going, so most likely I will use a bit of fill in flash if we are outdoors.

The only time I really noticed underexposure on neg film, was when I got into the habit of doing my KM5d, bashing the AF point near to highlights for WA shots. It worked pretty well, but it's not a good idea on neg film. True the roll I mashed up did produce usable images, problem was my low ISO film, ended up looking like high ISO 800 stuff lol

We normally used it at 160 in the studio where flash can be controlled for perfect contrast, and rated it at 100 for outdoor work with no control over light. Either that, or have an assistant with a reflector.

David

Maybe a weird question, but are there some services for push or pull processing? We practiced a lot but solely on B&W, but I am aware that normal labs did on request in the West (Europe, Americas).

Push and pull was never recommended for Fuji 160 professional stock. It can be done. Fuji always have advised that Superia - especially the professional Press-type 400 and 800 emulsions - responds better to pushing. Pull processing should never be necessary with C41 colour stock, it has about 5 stops of overexposure latitude when normally processed.

David