Just pick up 5 boxes of readyloads from Calumet last night for $5 a pop in there new oneshot deals. It expired in 03/09 and I now have 100 shts to go through. Opinions and any tricks to this film from users would be appreciated.
Just pick up 5 boxes of readyloads from Calumet last night for $5 a pop in there new oneshot deals. It expired in 03/09 and I now have 100 shts to go through. Opinions and any tricks to this film from users would be appreciated.
First, I'm very jealous of that price! I got the last box from my local photo shop for half list price a few months ago, and then promptly froze it, but that was way more than $5. I haven't shot it in about a year, so the 20 frozen sheets may last me several years.
It's my favorite color slide film. VS is "Vivid Saturation" and that may not appeal to everyone. It punches blues and reds, but not greens, especially when compared to Velvia. With our frequently very blue California skies and a lot of reds in our dirt and rocks, I liked how it rendered the scenery I most see. Arizona should work well for this film, unless you'd like to tone down the blue and red and get what little green you have to stand out, in which case you may not like it.
I exposed at 100 and had it processed by New Lab, but they're no more. I also had some processed by A&I a while back and they did a fine job of it. It's a well known film, so any good professional shop should know what to do with it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/
Exposures over four minutes at nightfall or later tend to go slightly bluer. What that means in usage is that an 82A or 82B become better choices than an 80A. I think this is one of the best films out there for urban night colour images. It is one of only two films that I use in 4x5.
I have overexposed it several stops a few times in order to get a lower contrast, more dream like, image from a scene. This works better in daylight, and especially been brightly coloured objects are the emphasis of the scene.
When photographing Italian sports cars, Kodak E100VS is my film of choice. The way yellows and reds just pop are very complimentary to these fine automobiles. Anyway, that is the extent of my tips, though if you want to send me a box I would gladly type more.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat Photography
I find personally that when exposed at box speed the shadows seem a little dense for my taste. I prefer a small amount of extra exposure, maybe a third to a half of a stop.
I also notice with this film that it is similar to E100GX in that sky blues have extra punch, but somehow this does not translate into extra blue in the shadows. I'm not really sure how they do that, but it gives a much different result from Velvia in a given scene.
Where I think this film excels is clean painters primaries. Red, yellow and blue absolutely pop on this film. In my opinion, fuji's films show their strengths in magenta and green.
I considered ordering more so I could pass along the deal but my account couldn't handle that right now. I came across the deal at 11pm last night or I would have posted it here.
Not quite "the deal", but still available from Calumet for $29.95/box, which ain't bad!
Got the film today, then checked my readyload holder. I forgot it was the older style with the chrome plate. Can this be used or do I need to look for a newer one?
The chrome backing plate version will work fine. I have a few of those, though I switched to the black plate version soon after I got one. I never noticed any ghosting nor reflections.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat Photography
I hope that you're able to expose some of this film soon and report back on how it is. According to the Calumet advertisement on their eBay site, the film was pulled from refrigeration at some unspecified time after it passed its expiration date. If it's still good, $30 is a great price.
Good luck, and thanks in advance.
Bruce
I like E100VS for cross-processing in C-41, it turns out quite nicely.
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