Tri-X red filter?

[Richard Ian]

Hi,

 

Just finished off a reel of Tri-X in my K-3. The light meter is gone but I use a Gossen 6 hand-held light meter. Quite a bright day, winter sunshine peeping round the clouds. I was amazed to to see the Gossen going up into the F22 for a 24fps speed @ asa100. Admittedly this was landscape photography with a broad uninterrupted skyline - lots of sky - lots of light.

 

Should I pack a red filter with me for next time, or a ND?

 

Thanks,

 

Ric

[David Mullen ASC]

Generally the Sunny 16 rule applies -- the stop is f/16 when shooting in direct sunlight on a clear day when the ASA value and the value of the shutter speed under 1/-- is the same... in motion picture terms, that would be f/16 at 50 ASA with a shutter speed of 1/50th.

 

So yes, you need ND filters, or a Pola or color contrast filters, etc. Whether to use red, orange, or ND, etc. is a creative decision since they affect the contrast of the blue skies versus the white clouds. Most b&w shooters on a clear day would use something in the yellow to red range to make the clouds stand out. Red creates a very dramatic effect when the sky is blue.

[Richard Ian]

... in motion picture terms, that would be f/16 at 50 ASA with a shutter speed of 1/50th ... yes, you need ND filters, or a Pola or color contrast filters, etc. Whether to use red, orange, or ND, etc. is a creative decision since they affect the contrast of the blue skies versus the white clouds. Most b&w shooters on a clear day would use something in the yellow to red range to make the clouds stand out. Red creates a very dramatic effect when the sky is blue.

 

Thanks David, so i cooked my film :wacko: that's how we learn. At least the meter is behaving itself, it's a goodun. What would I do to compensate for the over-exposure on development please?

 

Best regards,

 

Ric

[David Mullen ASC]

Pull-processing can help a little but b&w reversal is so high in contrast that you have to expose pretty much spot on.

[Chris Burke]

what F stop did you shoot at? The stock K-3 lens goes up to ƒ22 so, you might be ok. Like David said, try pulling a stop. If you can't, don't sweat it. I personally kind of like a little clipping sometimes. It really is a aesthetic decision. sometime, when shooting Tri X outdoors, I like to use a graduated ND, for properly exposing the foreground and not blowing out the sky. I can't always do that, so Red and Orange filters in varying degrees come into play. Also a polarizer can be a great help, but remember to use a linear polarizer and not a Circular one. Linear is for non auto focus cameras.

[Richard Ian]

Thanks guys. I got very confused - am in the middle of trialling Regular 8 & 16mm. Big mistake. I set the K-3 to 25fps which is correct for my 16mm B&H TQIII, runs at 25fps (capture cam runs at 1/50th). Then I had a brain storm and re-set the K-3 to 16&3/4fps - which is the speed I use for Regular 8: so gosh knows what the result will be :-o anyway, the aperture was between F22-F16 all the time so I couldn't have pushed it beyond that anyway.

 

When you say pulling a stop you mean let it cook less in the developer?

 

Thanks,

 

Ric

[David Mullen ASC]

Pull-processing can mean either reduced time or temperature, but for motion picture film, it usually means reduced time. However, not all labs offer it for 16mm or smaller, and as I said, with the limited exposure latitude of reversal film, it's not going to help fix overexposure problems much.

[Richard Ian]

Thanks David,

 

Oh well - it was only 15 feet - should be fun however it comes out :)

 

Ric