tri-x 400 dynamic range
19.04.15, 20:38
Post 1 of 2
Hi.
I'm looking into shooting on film as I like the look and feel of it. So I bought a canon ae1 and a 50mm lens from ebay. Got a roll of tri-x400 film and just went out and shot the whole roll in one day. I dropped it off at a local foto store but was a bit disappointed when I got the developed and printed fotos back. Generally all shots are lacking contrast. Looking at it in photoshop the values are clipped at a dark grey and light grey. So no real whites and no real blacks. I used the zone system to expose my shots but accidentally got a few underexposed shots and even they are clipped at a dark grey.
I'd like to look into developing the film myself but just want to find out at which stage I made a mistake.
Am I exposing wrong? But even then whites and blacks shouldn't be clipped, right?
Did the photo store do something wrong? Looking at the negative, as far as I can tell the range looks quite all right, completely transparent and fully opaque.
Maybe the negatives got fogged?
Thanks for your help,
Fabian
I'm looking into shooting on film as I like the look and feel of it. So I bought a canon ae1 and a 50mm lens from ebay. Got a roll of tri-x400 film and just went out and shot the whole roll in one day. I dropped it off at a local foto store but was a bit disappointed when I got the developed and printed fotos back. Generally all shots are lacking contrast. Looking at it in photoshop the values are clipped at a dark grey and light grey. So no real whites and no real blacks. I used the zone system to expose my shots but accidentally got a few underexposed shots and even they are clipped at a dark grey.
I'd like to look into developing the film myself but just want to find out at which stage I made a mistake.
Am I exposing wrong? But even then whites and blacks shouldn't be clipped, right?
Did the photo store do something wrong? Looking at the negative, as far as I can tell the range looks quite all right, completely transparent and fully opaque.
Maybe the negatives got fogged?
Thanks for your help,
Fabian
10.08.23, 12:27
Post 2 of 2
Quote: Deleted user 19.04.15, 20:38To the cited post
Hello,
It's possible that the issue lies with the film development process or handling at the photo store. If your negatives look fine with a good range of tones, but the printed photos lack contrast and have clipped values in Photoshop, it might indicate a problem during printing. It's unlikely that proper exposure alone would cause the extreme lack of contrast you're describing. The negatives being transparent and opaque suggests they are well-exposed.
Fogging of the negatives is less likely if you didn't notice any unusual artifacts or haziness on them. To narrow down the issue, you could try another roll of film, ensuring proper exposure, and have it developed at a different lab or attempt developing it yourself. This would help determine if the problem was with the initial development process. Remember that learning to develop film yourself can be a rewarding experience and give you more control over the final results.
Hello,
It's possible that the issue lies with the film development process or handling at the photo store. If your negatives look fine with a good range of tones, but the printed photos lack contrast and have clipped values in Photoshop, it might indicate a problem during printing. It's unlikely that proper exposure alone would cause the extreme lack of contrast you're describing. The negatives being transparent and opaque suggests they are well-exposed.
Fogging of the negatives is less likely if you didn't notice any unusual artifacts or haziness on them. To narrow down the issue, you could try another roll of film, ensuring proper exposure, and have it developed at a different lab or attempt developing it yourself. This would help determine if the problem was with the initial development process. Remember that learning to develop film yourself can be a rewarding experience and give you more control over the final results.