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In Reply to: Kodak HD 400 posted by jondz on June 07, 2003 at 01:40:01:
It is truly amazing to behold the negatives and check out the grainless quality extending out into the spocket hole area. Never saw that with other products.Porta 400 NC is the film of choice for my 2 1/4 Hassy work. NC is No contrast film for daylight / Flash.
Follow Ups:
NC stands for Natural Colour
Why would you want no contrast? I hope you might explain it to me.
Normal Contrast - not "no contrast." Porta NC is a lovely film with a long scale, great color rendering. The UC (ultra color) version is the same color balance, grain, etc. with more contrast. Frankly, I'm trying to get the longest scale possible so the NC works better for me. As always, your mileage may vary with usage.
brightness range based on your subject. It is generally accepted that ideal outdoor shooting times are early morn and late afternoon. As that is when the Sun's rays are slanted on the Earth's surface.Most Kodak & Fuji films are the contrasty (General use) type, ideal for shooting in Low contrast scenes, such as cloudy days or early morn well before high noon. In full Sun with no clouds, a higher contrast film ,in that high a contrast daylight. Would create dark eye sockets and under chins and very dark black shadows on your subject.
So finding a low or no contrast film is used in those situations . Also when I shoot Weddings I will use Kodak Portra 400 NC for the contrast created by my Flash unit and a Bride in white and Groom in Black. That same film comes in 400 VC stands for very contrasty. If needed, same grainless quality.
I love the slide film Fuji Velvia because of it's very high contrast range when used in very low scene brightness shoots. Like waterfalls or on tree covered nature hikes. It really punches up the color. It would not be very usefull out in full sun ! Unless one was to use a polarizing filter...... Contrasty film plus contrasty day = way too much contrast to capture on a print.
A photoghrapher must know how his film's will react under what conditions. Before it gets loaded into your camera, or be prepared to make allowances. Such as to use fil flash outdoors with high contrast films. To eliminate (illuminate) dark shadows under the eyes.
I tried to be clear with that answer. Check a Kodak film guide book for their film ratings.
I must say, your information is misleading at best. First, the NC and VC designations of Kodak Portra film are not acronyms for "No Contrast" and "Very Contrasty". They actually mean "Vivid Color" and "Natural Color". VC is used when one really wants ones colors to pop, eg. when the subject is a colorful hot air ballon. NC is used when one wants the full range of tones rendered in a "Natural" way, eg. when taking portraits it is usually desirable to acheive the full range of skin tones. Without contrast, an image would not exist. All images have contrast, a very flat image has low contrast but does have some contrast. If the image has a density range, it has by definition, contrast. A no contast image would look like a picture of a flat single color wall. Having said this, it is true that VC film is more contrasty than NC film and indeed has more contrast than the human eye would normally render the same seen, so in this sense you are correct. Thanks for your post on Kodak HD film. I have not used it yet and was looking for user feedback.
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