The Ortho Look On Pan Film

[Andrew O'Neill]

Not large format, but the focus is on filters... 44, and the 44A.

[jnantz]

great stuff as usual Andy !
what is the light compensation for these filters -> 1 stop ? im a sucker for that ortho-look

[Andrew O'Neill]

great stuff as usual Andy !
what is the light compensation for these filters -> 1 stop ? im a sucker for that ortho-look

Thanks! Both the 44 and 44A are 2 stops. I'm waiting for an 80A filter to arrive, so I can see what it will do...

[maltfalc]

the results aren't too far off, but those aren't remotely the right filters to actually match the spectrum of ortho film. the whole point of ortho was to add sensitivity to greens and yellows, which you're filtering out.

[jnantz]

there was a thread on faux3P330 where
the fellow who was the cinematographer for the Lighthouse movie
asked similar questions .. how to get the ortho look with pan film ( seems to be a regular question )
and from what I remember he had a custom filter made, but I could be wrong it was a long time ago

[Drew Wiley]

The most appropriate filter would seem to be a 57A : "absorbs much red and some blue". Stronger than 44 and 44A, with significantly better fade resistance. Whether or not you can still find one anywhere is a different story.

The 58 deep green tricolor, which filters out almost all blue as well as red is still available in a Wratten gel. It's basically a true color separation filter; I have an old Tiffen glass one of those. It's what I myself have used to simulate an Ortho look - not exact, but good enough. I don't have time at the moment to look up my tested filter factor; but it was around 3 stops, a full stop more than a Hoya X1 medium green in conjunction TMax film. The Hoya X1 is more practical, and is readily available; but a fair amount of foliage red still gets through.

The 44 and 44A are really relatively mild traditional microscopy filters used to enhance viewing with older light sources. I'm using something similar right now over the microscope bulb, but in affordable polyester rather than true gel.

[Mark J]

Surely a strong-ish Cyan filter is what's needed ?

[Drew Wiley]

You're not going to find deep cyan filters, and the ones that do exist are prone to fading.

An easy practical solution would be to simply stack a medium dark green, like a Hoya X1, with a common moderate blue, like an 80A or 80B.

[h2oman]

Hmmm... Not to be too much of a buzzkill, but given all the money most of us sink into this obsession, the additional cost for the real thing in 120 is pretty negligible. And in 4x5, the price of ortho is comparable to, or even less than, in some cases, pan. (I say this as someone who has some of both 120 and 4x5 in the freezer. I've not used the 4x5, but have shot several rolls of 120.)

That said, the video is quite well done, and it is interesting to see the results. I chose ortho for shooting in the southwest, and I think it would be interesting to do a comparison like you did there, with various shades of yellows, reds and oranges, and blue sky.

[Drew Wiley]

I often use a medium deep green filter in the Southwest. Otherwise all that reddish Navajo sandstone and its clay soil comes out unnaturally pale and pasty looking. Or to some extent, you could compromise with an Orthopan film like Acros, with diminished red sensitivity. The whole point is that you need to experiment to find out what effect you like.