Which color stock?

Ashley Barron · January 30, 2008

Hi,

I am now looking for a color stock that is the best to shoot for rich, deep colors. We will be photographing artwork, and it is very vibrant, so I want to bring out those colors.

Anyone have any ideas on the best stock?

Thank you,

Ashley.

Adrian Sierkowski · January 30, 2008

Personally, I havn't noticed a marked difference in color negative stocks in terms of this. A lot of it boils down to your lighting as well as your art and costume design/makeup and locations. For an example, the bright red wall in the number 23 was just that, a wall painted bright red.

You can up saturation and contrast later on in post, from what I've been told by a colorist i work with, it's best to over-expose the stock a little bit which will also tighten up the grain structure and increase the saturation.

That being said, I personally find the colors of the 5217/7217 kodak the most pleasing to me, and also that of the '18 stock.

of course if you're shooting reversal film you'll have higher saturation from the get go. check out the '85 for a daylight stock.

Saul Rodgar · January 30, 2008

Hi,
I am now looking for a color stock that is the best to shoot for rich, deep colors. We will be photographing artwork, and it is very vibrant, so I want to bring out those colors.

Anyone have any ideas on the best stock?

Thank you,

Ashley.

If color saturation on camera is what you want, you should probably bypass the negative stocks and go directly to Kodak Ektachrome '85 reversal film, as nothing beats it for color saturation.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/16mm/pro...5.6.4&lc=en

Chris Burke · January 30, 2008

Hi,
I am now looking for a color stock that is the best to shoot for rich, deep colors. We will be photographing artwork, and it is very vibrant, so I want to bring out those colors.

Anyone have any ideas on the best stock?

Thank you,

Ashley.

Take a look at Fuji Vivid 160T. As the name implies, it renders vivid colors. When you say artwork, do you mean flat art such as paintings and the lot? If so, you want to make sure that there isn't any glare on them and that they are lit evenly and flat. This will get you the best reproduction of the artwork.

All in all, it depends on what you are photographing and how it will be shown in the end. Motion picture shots of 2D art? Or people in places speaking some masterful dialogue that you have penned? Color reversal will probably render the most vibrant colors. Also take a look at Velvia, if you can find it.

Steve Zimmerman · January 31, 2008

This german site sells S8mm and 16mm Velvia.

http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de/katalog/...mm/16_filmm.php

Order page in English:

http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de/katalog/...der/order_e.php

Edited January 31, 2008 by Steve Zimmerman

Ashley Barron · February 1, 2008

That being said, I personally find the colors of the 5217/7217 kodak the most pleasing to me, and also that of the '18 stock.

of course if you're shooting reversal film you'll have higher saturation from the get go. check out the '85 for a daylight stock.

I never understood what the 5217/7217 digits mean when written on a stock. Same goes for the '18 and '85..

Anyone help me out?

Adrian Sierkowski · February 1, 2008

52 is a prefix which designated 35mm film, '17 is then the stock (200T). so 5217 is 35mm Kodak vision 2 200T color negative. 72 is the kodak prefix for 16mm film, so 7217 is then 16mm kodak vision 2 200T. '18 then refers to the vision 2 500T, without prefix it's just the emulsion in general, whereas 7218 would be specifically 16mm (though in reality there is no difference aside from the physical size of each emulsion i.e. 7218 is the same emulsion as 5218).

Fuji also has different prefixes for 35mm and 16mm, though off hand i don't recall them (86? i think might be 16mm?)

Edited February 1, 2008 by Adrian Sierkowski

David Mullen ASC · February 1, 2008

Fuji color neg prefix:

85 = 35mm

86 = 16mm

As you said, for Kodak:

52 = 35mm

72 = 16mm

Then the last two digits refer to the specific stock. In Kodak:

01 = 50D

12 = 100T

17 = 200T

05 = 250D

18 = 500T

19 = new Vision-3 500T

29 = Expression 500T

99 = "HD" stock

In Fuji:

22 = 64D

32 = 100T

43 = Vivid 160T

53 = 250T

63 = 250D

83 = 400T (low-con)

73 = 500T

92 = Reala 500D

Michal Grabowski · February 2, 2008

Hi,

i've been shooting some comparison tests with the 18 and 19, pushed it 1 and 2 stops. There isn't much difference between them. It is sharper than 18 but the grain seems to be a little bigger, which is a suprise. But generally it's pretty much the same thing.

And if you're thinking about pushing, 18 seems to have a bigger dynamic range after Push 2. I like the older stock better, or there's simply not much to like about a new one. Vision 2 after a tiny face lifting.

I can't show you the tests cause they were contact printed. But maybe some day the lab is goingbe generous enaugh to scan it for me.

Good luck with your film