What's wrong with this picture?

[Mike Anderson]

What were the scanner settings when you did the scan? The film was loaded correctly so that leaves the scan as the next source of the problem.

It's just a cheap scanner set for color scan. The scan is true enough to the actual appearance of the negative.

The film was purchased from Adorama, the development lab has a very good reputation, the BW film that was loaded and shot and developed in parallel turned out OK.

I'm at a loss. The good news is that the camera/lens seems to work (it's an old camera) as the BW shots came out OK, and determining the functionality of the camera was the point of making these shots. But I would like to figure out what went wrong with the color shots.

...Mike

[Mike Anderson]

Could be flare. You are shouting into the setting sun. Which type of film did you use first? The B & W or the color.

The red/orange negative at issue is Kodak 160VC. The BW that turned out OK is FP4+.

...Mike

[Mike Anderson]

Well, that's the right way round. You didn't have red filter on the camera right?

No filters.

...Mike

[RPNugent]

Does the scanner have a setting for color negatives? It looks like it was scanned as a positive and inverting that will not get you the necessary correction for the orange mask.

[Mike Anderson]

Does the scanner have a setting for color negatives? It looks like it was scanned as a positive and inverting that will not get you the necessary correction for the orange mask.

The scanner doesn't have a setting for negatives. The original orange image I originally posted is a positive scan of the negative. The cyan image I posted is that inverted. Maybe it's just way overexposed.

...Mike

[RPNugent]

Based on that response I think there is in fact nothing wrong with the picture. What's wrong is the scan.

The exposure actually looks pretty decent and your black and white negative (which was probably shot at a very similar exposure) looks fine.

Inverting a positive scan of a color negative will give you a cyan looking image since the inverse of orange is cyan. You will have to play around in Photoshop to correct the color balance to remove the orange mask since inverting won't take care of the mask. I know you say it is a cheap scanner, but you might want to look at Vuescan to see if the scanner is supported. If it is you can try the software for free and see if you can get a proper mask corrected scan of the negative.

[Mike Anderson]

Based on that response I think there is in fact nothing wrong with the picture. What's wrong is the scan.

I agree.

The exposure actually looks pretty decent and your black and white negative (which was probably shot at a very similar exposure) looks fine.

Inverting a positive scan of a color negative will give you a cyan looking image since the inverse of orange is cyan. You will have to play around in Photoshop to correct the color balance to remove the orange mask since inverting won't take care of the mask. I know you say it is a cheap scanner, but you might want to look at Vuescan to see if the scanner is supported. If it is you can try the software for free and see if you can get a proper mask corrected scan of the negative.

These first shots were just test shots to see if the camera works, and since it does look like it works I can start looking at getting a better scanner (as well as start learning to dev my BW film). Epson has the V700 refurbished for $415 off and on, so that's probably what I'll look for.

I appreciate everyone's help on this wild goose chase. I feel like a real photographer now!

Thanks again,

....Mike

[Brian Ellis]

Notches in lower right when the film is horizontal. I think I did load it correctly - I read the Paul Butzi article a couple of times, found a video on youtube, etc.

Another clue as to the orientation: the image as posted here is oriented as I saw it (not reversed left to right) AND the imprint on the film "Kodak 160VC-2", as seen on the film as posted here, is also not reversed. Is that enough info to determine whether the film was facing the right way?

Thanks for the help.

...Mike

You loaded it correctly, as I said in my previous post.

[lenicolas]

the inverse of orange is cyan.

The inverse of cyan is RED! come on!

[RPNugent]

Yes PURE cyan has an inverse of RED. but the orange mask looks pretty close to cyan when inverted. It answers the question. Thanks for being SO helpful.