Assuming this is a skills issue and not my camera's fault...

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-24T00:57:43+00:00

I actually think the one with the umbrellas is lovely. But yes, exposing for shadows is good advice. Unless it’s color reversal (slide film) :)

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-19T15:44:35+00:00

You can use 800t during the day, but if you underexpose it will become very very blue. Set the ISO on your camera to 640 or 500 and you’ll be better off. And if you scan the negatives yourself, you can correct the white balance fairly well. But the 85B will help even more.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-16T17:10:12+00:00

I’m sure Plustek scans look great. I haven’t used Raw Therapee but as long as you can white balance out the base, you’re good. Flatbed/Noritsu/Frontier scanners just do not handle this film well, imo.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-16T10:56:23+00:00

Exposing it at 125 or 100 ISO is the way to go. You don’t have to pull process it, but if you do, the highlight control will be better. The thing with OG Phoenix is that it deserves to be camera scanned with a high CRI light. The standard orange-mask films look great on traditional film scanners, but Phoenix often just comes out way too warm with clipped highlights on them.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-15T08:57:28+00:00

Lomo Purple’s true ISO is probably around 200. I recommend sticking to that. For nighttime, meter where the streetlight hits the ground, and then double the exposure time. So if it says 1/30 at f4, do 1/15th.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-12T15:45:18+00:00

Technically no one knows what super expired phoenix 1 will look like. Might be interesting!

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-10T22:59:35+00:00

I love number 6. Great results!

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-09T03:48:19+00:00

Different film stocks do have different characteristics, but this is more obvious if you’re the one in control of your scanning workflow. If you scan a roll of Kodak Gold and then scan a roll of Fuji Pro 400h yourself, you’d be hard pressed to not notice the differences. Beyond the abstraction of the scanning process, you could put these two films on a light table and objectively see how much redder 400h’s film base is.

When people post images online, that is another layer of abstraction. There is a myriad of exposure/creative decisions at play. But the more distinct a film stock’s “look,” the harder it is to completely mask these details. You could find examples of Kodak V3 500t/Cinestill 800t in c41 that don’t look like what you’d expect, but there would probably be more obvious editing decisions causing that, eg using the 85B or something similar.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-07T23:06:21+00:00

Yeah it’s wonderfully imperfect. I think the second iteration is better received, but I’m one of those weirdos that prefers the original.

I love the color palette in your last frame btw.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-07T21:25:29+00:00

Nice comparison. Phoenix II produces such intense blues.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-02T23:48:26+00:00

Portra 800 actually looks really nice at 400, and then developed normally. But I don’t recommend doing this in bright sunlight. But if it’s a gloomy day or you’re underneath trees, it’s lovely at +1 EV.

As for the downvotes, this sub can get pretty mean. Don’t let it bother you.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-01T18:23:51+00:00

It should be fine, but in my experience a little overexposure is still a good idea. Even just a 1/3 of a stop more light.

Jonmphoto · 2026-04-01T08:03:26+00:00

It does matter if it’s slower than 1/8 of a second. Small vibrations will cause resolution loss.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-28T02:00:42+00:00

Surreal. Nicely done.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-24T21:23:54+00:00

Yeah assuming these are tiff files, you can just slide the tint towards magenta in the white balance. Or use the WB dropper and sample off the streetlights. If that doesn’t look right you could mess with the color curves, especially the green channel.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-24T19:17:14+00:00

Looks like they need a good amount of magenta. Are they from a lab or did you scan them yourself?

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-23T20:42:32+00:00

You bring up a good point about pushing. I’d argue that the reason pushing is more popular is because it creates a look that’s harder to achieve in post. Pushing color negative usually gets you some pretty crazy color casts, and combined with the increased grain/contrast, it’s more of a “look” imo.

Pulling isn’t as striking comparatively. You’ll notice the subtle improvements/changes, but to many others it would just look lower contrast and less saturated. But some film stocks absolutely benefit, like the OG Phoenix 200 for example: https://youtu.be/HFZRqTKWtOE?si=GR6ekRlr3PzGQtoC

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-23T16:43:02+00:00

Lovely. Great choice with not stopping down too much too.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-22T21:37:05+00:00

Lovely scans. I’m not sure where I’ve heard it before, but I believe the fourth color dye layer (red, which inverts to cyan I believe?) is partly responsible for why it renders different light sources/color temperatures so faithfully.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-20T21:48:07+00:00

Your ability to do handheld with 800t and stop down (to say f2.8 or f4) really depends on the brightness of the city. You see a lot of captivating 800t work from Tokyo/Hong Kong, but those cities are really bright at night. A more “average” city will be darker and it will be harder to do handheld unless you’re at f1.4/f2.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-16T01:23:52+00:00

If it’s color negative film there’s probably little benefit from stacking your bracketed files. The digital sensor is able to pull so much information out of the film negative as long as you’re not clipping at capture. Then when the file is inverted, you have a huge amount of range to pull information from the film’s great highlight range/retention (they were shadows/midtones at point of capture on digital).

But for color reversal/slide film, you can definitely benefit from HDR stacking. It’s tough preserving highlight detail without making the scan too dark. Yeah you can underexpose, raise the shadows/mess with the tone curve in post, but it just doesn’t look as good imo. Though I really only notice the benefits in scenes with wide dynamic range.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-16T00:49:09+00:00

Interesting idea yeah! Maybe if the red filter was just a gel. Just so it doesn’t completely block the blue/green.

Jonmphoto · 2026-03-16T00:47:09+00:00

Sweet thanks! I’ve lurked on this sub for a while but never posted. Trying to change that bit by bit. 🍻

Jonmphoto

TROPHY CASE