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Shooting Ektachrome 100D with Nizo 561 macro


Hugo Bueno

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Hello!

Please pardon me if this has been answered before (I've read quite a few posts regarding Nizos and exposure readings but not sure I have up-to-date information).

I have shot a roll of Tri-X with the Nizo to pretty good results in terms of exposure (Light Bulb setting on), but this is my first time doing Ektachrome. I'm going on a trip and very worried about ending up with poorly exposed results based on incorrect settings.

I thought it would be unnecessary to do the Light Bulb setting on (no filter) since it's a daylight balanced film, but I read in a much older post to use the sun filter regardless for the camera to accurately meter it. I would appreciate any advice on avoiding poor exposure with this combination in general. So if anyone has some footage with Nizo and Ekta, either auto exposing, or manually exposing (I plan on using manual but guiding with the camera's meter to have an idea of how to expose it). Some people say to overexpose it a bit... others to underexpose it a bit... because it's reversal.

Ultimately I plan on scanning it, more so than projecting it physically (but nice to have the option to at some point; I just really like the colors based on footage I've seen online). So if this changes the exposure question for improved results, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

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Hi there,

I've been shooting ektachrome 100d on a nizo 561 macro without the filter. I haven't considered making an adjustment to my light meter readings and up till now the footage has come out to my liking.
I think for this film I used the auto exposure to check and set it to manual aperture based on the initial reading.

Hope that helps!

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I have shot Ektachrome with my Nizo on auto and set to the lightbulb (filter out of the way) and it came out great. I think it meters for either 160 or 100 which would be good.

If you set the switch to win I think the red filter will be out into place and make your recordings very red. Put it on lightbulb.

 

If it does meter at 160 on lightbulb, manual override of the aperture is trivial with this camera to correct it 2/3 stop.

 

Edited by Niels kakelveld
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The new Ektachrome requires at least one stop more exposure to look its best! So the advice you read to overexpose is correct. Many of us discovered early on this newest stock is rated more like 64 ASA. If you shoot this at the box speed of 100 ASA your images will be pretty dark overall. I first shot this in 2018 with an Elmo Super 110 that exposes film perfectly in auto mode. That first cart came back very dark projected. I then decided to increase one stop with the next cart. That film came back perfectly exposed, and very sharp. I think the problem is Kodak did not develop this Ektachrome to be as sensitive as the prior 7285. Now many here will tell you that this is not true, and that I don't know what I'm talking about, etc. Trust me that usually means they haven't shot a roll of this film. I've shot a ton of it and so I know how it reacts to light, etc. Once you increase your exposure 1 stop this film looks awesome, especially projected! Your Nizo has a backlight function, and I would use that while you're filming in auto. I set all my cameras to backlight, and every single film that came back was perfectly exposed! With film being expensive it's important to get it right! 

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Hello!

Ever since the existence of the first slide films, there have been debates whether to shoot at box speed or not. For today’s E100D, there seem to be many photographers that are shooting it as 80ASA (at least according to the postings on various forums)…

…nevertheless, there are some  factors that have to be kept in mind:

a) processing: age/usage of the chemicals, temperatures and durations also do have an impact on the „brightness“ of the image 

b) when was the last time, your camera‘s exposure meter got CLA‘ed? The Elmo Super 110 mentioned by Shane is approximately 50 years old. Did anyone ever did a CLA since it left the factory half a century ago?

c) exposure meters is S8-cameras: Is your camera taking the whole image into account? Or is the meter a single, „center-weighted“ sensor? Or does your camera have 9, 15 or more separate points for measuring the exposure that can be switched on/off?

d) personal taste: what might be „too dark“ for Shane might be already be „too bright“ for me (depending on the scene/subject).

e) last, but not least: Super8 standards vs. existing cameras: There are several cameras that would shoot the E100D as 160 ASA Tungsten - simply because the manufacturer of the camera wanted to save some pennies and hence didn’t include a sensor for detecting the tungsten/daylight notch. And then, there are a few cameras that mistake the E100D with an E160G…

 

…to sum it up: Shane is correct when mentioning that the box speed is just a recommendation. And there are technical and artistic reasons to ignore it sometimes. But IMHO it’s best to do some (expensive ? ) tests with your camera (while keeping the processing consistent) before applying some settings - especially when it’s the same setting for all your different cameras. 

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9 hours ago, Joerg Polzfusz said:

Hello!

Ever since the existence of the first slide films, there have been debates whether to shoot at box speed or not. For today’s E100D, there seem to be many photographers that are shooting it as 80ASA (at least according to the postings on various forums)…

…nevertheless, there are some  factors that have to be kept in mind:

a) processing: age/usage of the chemicals, temperatures and durations also do have an impact on the „brightness“ of the image 

b) when was the last time, your camera‘s exposure meter got CLA‘ed? The Elmo Super 110 mentioned by Shane is approximately 50 years old. Did anyone ever did a CLA since it left the factory half a century ago?

c) exposure meters is S8-cameras: Is your camera taking the whole image into account? Or is the meter a single, „center-weighted“ sensor? Or does your camera have 9, 15 or more separate points for measuring the exposure that can be switched on/off?

d) personal taste: what might be „too dark“ for Shane might be already be „too bright“ for me (depending on the scene/subject).

e) last, but not least: Super8 standards vs. existing cameras: There are several cameras that would shoot the E100D as 160 ASA Tungsten - simply because the manufacturer of the camera wanted to save some pennies and hence didn’t include a sensor for detecting the tungsten/daylight notch. And then, there are a few cameras that mistake the E100D with an E160G…

 

…to sum it up: Shane is correct when mentioning that the box speed is just a recommendation. And there are technical and artistic reasons to ignore it sometimes. But IMHO it’s best to do some (expensive ? ) tests with your camera (while keeping the processing consistent) before applying some settings - especially when it’s the same setting for all your different cameras. 

Joerg makes some good points concerning the proper exposure of the latest Ektachrome. I come into this discussion based on experience with shooting this stock. He's also correct that others online have recommended exposing at 80 ASA. The Elmo Super 110 I mentioned has not been serviced but I have taken it a part for lubrication. The 110 has been shooting different stocks for about 10 years. The last roll of Tri-X I shot last year was exposed properly at box speed. The cart of Tr-X before that was also exposed properly in this camera. And a year before that a roll of Ektachrome 64T (frozen since new) was shot at box speed and exposed correctly. I've shot 100D (7294) in about 5 different cameras that all required the exposure to be increased by 1 stop to make this film look sharp, brighter, etc. Each of those cameras have also exposed other stocks at box speed, and were consistent. So that's where I've decided, based on these experiences, that the latest 7294 is not near as sensitive, and needs more light. But as Joerg mentioned some might prefer a darker image either projected or scanned. The one issue I noticed on the first roll of 7294 that was shot at box speed was most of the scenes in the shadows were not visible on screen. Only the scenes in sunny conditions showed up. My sweet spot for projection has been 64 ASA which is one stop from 100 ASA. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 3/15/2023 at 10:53 PM, Harald Vonhoegen said:

The Nizo 561 macro can adjust to the film speed of ISO 100/21° exactly. The position of the filter switch (on = sun, off = lightbulb) is automatically taken into account - no correction needed in both cases. Lightbulb position is required for E100D.

That is not correct! If you set the Nizo 561 to light bulb, the E100D would be exposed as 160 ASA, since the E100D has the same speed notch like a 160T film.

http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/super-8-notch-ruler-new-and-improved
 

The Nizo large silver cameras (561, 481, 801, Professional) remove the filter correctly in case you put in a daylight film regardless of the external switch, this is correct. But since they cannot distinguish between a tungsten film set to tungsten light (filter removed by external switch) and a daylight film that removes the filter by itself, you have to set the external switch to daylight in order to expose it like a 100ASA.

Edited by Helge Landgraf
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Niels it looks like both these cameras will meter Ektachrome as 100 ASA. I checked the online database for these cameras, and the information provided indicates they both will work fine with 7294. Even if your using a camera that meters at 160, you can use the backlight control to open the aperture in auto-mode. 

Edited by Shane C Collins
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I have shot some S8mm 100D carts in basic auto exposure camera with good results and in general we recommend rating it at 80iso or as others have said 64iso for overall best results.

This is developed in Fuji Pro6 7-step chemistry not the easier tetnal blix process which is less controlled.

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