Anyone had any results back on Kodak ProPhoto 100 Colour Negative Film?

[wlaidlaw]

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I have bought 10 rolls of Kodak ProPhoto 100 for my trip to India. Has anyone tried this film, recently released in Europe but available for a long time in Asia and South America?  It is supposed to resist heat and humidity better than the Kodak Alternatives, Ektar 100 and Portra 160. From reviews I have seen, it is described as roughly half way between the very subtle colour palette of Portra and the high colour saturation of Ektar 100, which should suit me fine. The street colours in India are often very vivid and on my last trip there, I took an Olympus EP-5 as a back up to my M240. I found many of the images from the Olympus were over-saturated and I feared that Ektar 100 might demonstrate something similar. I will probably keep everything to send to Ag Photolabs in the UK on my return, who offer a competitively priced C41 process and Noritsu high resolution scan package. I am very happy to scan colour positive myself with a Leitz BEOON, SL601 camera and 50mm Schneider Componon S lens but colour negative scanning I would prefer to leave to others. I have a Photoshop action to convert from negative to positive but I still think it leaves the colours washed out and unnatural. 

Wilson

[plasticman]

Hi Wilson

I'm afraid I don't have any ProPhoto experience (looks like no-one else here has tried it either), but I noted your comment about Photoshop and converting color negatives to positives, and just thought I'd recommend ColorPerfect again, as I have in the past. 

I know the interface and potential complexity isn't to everyone's taste, but the  plugin's defaults are actually a good enough starting point, and a mile ahead of what I've seen from even the best Ps actions.

There's also a new plugin (for Lightroom) called Negative Lab Pro 

I don't have any DSLR captures to try it on, but it's had a very positive response from people using that technique for 'scanning'.

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[gbealnz]

Wilson, 

I realise this is the best place to ask as you have,  but I wonder if you might also get a few replies from the wealth of knowledge that is in the I Like Film thread.

Gary

[wlaidlaw]

52 minutes ago, plasticman said:

Hi Wilson

I'm afraid I don't have any ProPhoto experience (looks like no-one else here has tried it either), but I noted your comment about Photoshop and converting color negatives to positives, and just thought I'd recommend ColorPerfect again, as I have in the past. 

I know the interface and potential complexity isn't to everyone's taste, but the  plugin's defaults are actually a good enough starting point, and a mile ahead of what I've seen from even the best Ps actions.

There's also a new plugin (for Lightroom) called Negative Lab Pro 

I don't have any DSLR captures to try it on, but it's had a very positive response from people using that technique for 'scanning'.

I am afraid I have neither the patience nor really the inclination to cope with Colorperfect. I had the trial version and found its interface about the worst designed I have come across. I am not a Lightroom user either, having been a Capture One user for the last 15+ years. I am going to leave it to the pro's and get AG PhotoLab to process and high definition (80MB) scan for me on their Noritsu scanner. They charge £15 per film for process and scan to CD and for me, that is worth it. It is only when I am travelling to hot humid countries that I use colour negative film anyway, the rest of the time I use colour reversal, which I am very happy to scan myself with a BEOON and SL601. 

Wilson

Edited February 14, 2019 by wlaidlaw

[wlaidlaw]

17 minutes ago, gbealnz said:

Wilson, 

I realise this is the best place to ask as you have,  but I wonder if you might also get a few replies from the wealth of knowledge that is in the I Like Film thread.

Gary

Gary, 

Not sure what thread you mean. This is already posted in Film Forum. Is this a thread in a different forum such as RFF? 

Wilson

[wattsy]

There's a fellow over on RFF (Michael something or other) who uses this film all the time for street photography in the Far East. He is an excellent photographer and I think he uses the 'golden' palette of this film to his advantage. As far as I know he gets his film developed and scanned by a lab in Bangkok and does nothing fancy to it.

[wlaidlaw]

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Ian, 

Based on past experience, I was not going to use a photolab in Kolkata (our final stop). The last film I had processed in India, was I think done with chemicals thrown out by Fox Talbot and came out in varying shades of mud. The ProImage is supposed to be better able to resist heat and humidity, which I will certainly meet in Mumbai and Kolkata and just heat in the other places, other than Darjeeling, where it is likely to be cold and humid. I will try and track Michael down on RFF. 

Wilson

[Keith (M)]

2 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

Gary, 

Not sure what thread you mean. This is already posted in Film Forum. Is this a thread in a different forum such as RFF? 

Wilson

Wilson, it is the Photo Forum /Other /I like film...(open thread) that Gary is referring to.

 

[EoinC]

Hi, Wilson.

 

Is that what is labelled as Kodak Professional ProImage 100 down here in Asia (Discontinued, as far as I know)? I bought a 5-roll pack a couple of years ago, and notice that I have 3 rolls still sitting in my fridge, so presumably I've shot 2 rolls. I'll see if I can track them down.

[wlaidlaw]

Eoin, yes ProImage not ProPhoto, who were photo processors I used to use. This was the film sold in South America and Asia, which has now been released Worldwide. It is supposed to be heat and humidity resistant but how resistant it will be to multiple x-ray scans, which it gets in India (every time I enter the hotel) remains to be seen. 

Wilson

[EoinC]

Thanks, Wilson.

For what it's worth, I live in the tropics (Malaysia), and travel a lot, with multiple X-ray passes at airports and hotels. I haven't had any problems using Ektar 100 and Portra 160 films (or Tri-X 400 / 320).

I didn't know that ProImage had been re-released. Any film continuation is good news to me. I still haven't found the rolls that I have used.

I hope your trip goes well.

[ckuwajima]

Wilson,

Kodak Proimage 100 is sold in Brazi, it is the cheapest non-expired color negative film one can buy here.

Used once, scanned myself using Silverfast and Negafix Kodak Proimage 100 profile to convert back to positive.

That being said, I can confirm that it is much less contrasty and color saturated than Ektar 100, similar to Portra, but a bit warmer.

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Bixiga by Celso Kuwajima, on Flickr

It can though render nice saturated colors:

Bloco Mel by Celso Kuwajima, on Flickr

 

[wlaidlaw]

A little disappointed in the results from my 6 rolls of ProImage 100 processed so far. Either the metering of my R9 is a bit off or I should have done like others have suggested and rated it a bit higher than 100 ISO, maybe 125 or 160 or dialled in -⅓ to -⅔ EV. Many of the photos taken in bright sunlight, look a tad over-exposed and many are also under-saturated. I was metering the R9 in wide field mode, to try and take account of the bright/hard skies in India. It is really my own fault, as I should have run a trial roll of the Pro-Image through my R9 before I went. I did run a roll of Agfa Precisa 100 reversal through the R9 and it came out OK but that is a film where it might be better to shoot it at 80 ISO rather than its rated 100 ISO, so its correct exposure with the R9 maybe should have given me a clue. I can increase the saturation in PP but I fear some of the skies will be blown out. The R9 was all a bit of a rush and a new acquisition, as my M7 was not going to be repaired in time for my India trip and it was therefore a camera where I was unfamiliar with its characteristics. Below is an un-tweaked example, which I think demonstrates the issues, although the saturation of this one is not too bad. Photo at Ghoom station on the Darjeeling railway. 

Wilson

 

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[sblitz]

I think its fine, it is after all a vacation pic. Looks like the latitude is more like reversal film than negatives. As you know in a shot like the one you show, it is either shadows or hilghts it won’t be both. Portrait 160 would be good in India, lots of latitude as well, although there is a pastel like look to it that has me shooting Ektachrome. But Ektachrome would create the same choice you made above..... Nevertheless, looks like a good memory of what I hope was a very nice vacation.

[Guest Nowhereman]

On 2/14/2019 at 4:50 AM, wattsy said:

There's a fellow over on RFF (Michael something or other) who uses this film all the time for street photography in the Far East. He is an excellent photographer and I think he uses the 'golden' palette of this film to his advantage. As far as I know he gets his film developed and scanned by a lab in Bangkok and does nothing fancy to it.

Yes, Michael Bialecki. He's left Bangkok, and is in Florida, from where he'll be photographing Cuba for the next two years. While he's good photographer and his pictures work with this film, I'm not crazy about it's color rendition for my work.

[wlaidlaw]

I wish now that I had stuck to my normal usages of either Ektar 100 or 100 ISO Reversal (either Agfa Precisa CT100 or Ektachrome E100). The whole idea of using ProImage was to have a wider latitude film than reversal, to cope with the high contrast in India with bright skies/hard shadows. Interestingly this has shown up what a good sensor the CL has with excellent dynamic range.

I did take two rolls of Kodak 400 Ultramax in my "disposable" Yashica 110 AF Zoom camera and that has worked noticeably better than the ProImage. I do wonder if the ProImage did not like being scanned in the Noritsu scanner, as the images from the Yashica look crisper than those from my R9 with either 50 Summicron or 24 Elmarit. Once I get down to France, I will re-image some of the frames using my Leitz BEOON, Schneider-Kreuznach 50mm Componon S and SL601 camera. I have had this in the past where the scans from the processing lab (even competent folk like AG-Photolab) look mediocre but when I have re-imaged or re-scanned on an individual basis, they were just fine. Someone else has said that they fear that ProImage may just be rebranded Kodak economy colour negative film, designated professional and sold at 4 times the price. 

Wilson

[Guest Nowhereman]

Wilson - As I recall, Michael B. told me a few years ago that ProImage was cheap in Bangkok, at that time about US$2.80 per roll, and that it was made to withstand storage without refrigeration in hot and humid countries — that it was sold only in (parts of?) of Asia and Latin America. 

[frame-it]

a few from last year..M5 + 90APO Summicron Kodak ProImage 100

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[frame-it]

i "researched"  this film here before i bought it last year

 

https://www.flickr.com/groups/96466389@N00/pool/

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[wlaidlaw]

38 minutes ago, frame-it said:

i "researched"  this film here before i bought it last year

 

https://www.flickr.com/groups/96466389@N00/pool/

Those look just like my photos. Often near blown out skies and low saturation on daylight shots. It works fine in lower light but of course, I was mainly using my digital CL for those circumstances, where its excellent high ISO performance comes to the fore and for street evening use, I had taken my 28/1.4 in M mount with me to use on the CL. Ah well - lesson learnt. At least I have over 1000 images taken with the CL to fall back on, plus those taken by my wife, initially on her elderly Leica V-Lux 20 until that finally died and after that on the Sony HX60V, we bought from the Sony Centre in Jodhpur. Unlike UK Sony centres, they were still quite amenable to talking discounts 😀. 

Wilson