ETTR vs. subtle/natural lighting

Razz16mm said:
Other than the most recent modern negative film stocks, the idea that film has gobs of dynamic range is a meme. It is not necessarily true. The 16mm negative film stocks I shot with through the 80's never exceeded 9-10 stops usable DR. The Ektachrome reversal stocks, 6 to 8 stops DR. Cinematographers then shot everything within 6-7 stops contrast range if they wanted to see any detail in the shadows. Reversal stocks blew highlights pretty much the same as modern digital cameras do, though without some of the uglier digital artifacts.
Click to expand...

16mm tends to have less perceived useable latitude due to higher magnification om projection.
On the other hand, Conrad Hall overexposed the negative 2 1/2 stops on Tell Them Willie Boy is Here in the 60's in order to bring a lot of the image into the shoulder and get lower saturation there, and still nothing is clipped in the highlights even though the film has tons of bright outdoors scenes. Modern stocks have a very high shoulder, but old negs still roll for a very long range above the shoulder.
 
Perhaps Hall worked with the lab to lower development time or temperature, to keep highlights under control. When shooting film for print, be it b&w negative or transparency, lowering developer time, temperature, or dilution (keeping the same base amount of developer in a larger container), is the standard way to control highlight contrast.
25 years ago, I developed a method for printing Cibacrhome straight from the transparency. A transparency exposed at normal speed and developed in spec could not be printed to Cibachrome without making separation negatives. I exposed Ektchrome EPN (box speed 100) at 32, and cut first development time by 30%. It printed effortlessly with no significant color shift.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top