Bad 200T processing?

[Michael Ryan]

Hello All,

 

I had viewed some examples of 200T and was very impressed. I shot some 200T with a Bolex I had sent it away to be develped and was shocked when the 200T was telecined. It looked bad. Lots of grain and a bit out of focus. I decided it was the fault of the camera, so I shot another roll of 200T with a Canon 814XLS (a camera I know that is in good working order). I sent the film to the same lab and when I saw the results (telecine). It looked almost as bad as the first roll.

 

The image is has a great deal of grain. These are all outside shots with correct exposure. Along with the grain, the image looks farily overexposed. I know the camera is OK, so I'm wondering can the lab be doing something to make the 200T look so grainy and overexposed?

 

Can anyone recommend a lab that can correctly process 200T?

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[Alessandro Machi]

Perhaps you should mention the labs name. Also, how old was your film that you used? And another question that pops up, how contrasty were the images that you were shooting, was it more close-up oriented or wide shot oriented, and what was the dominant color scheme to your footage?

[Preston Herrick]

I wouldn't necessarily blame the lab either. Telecine and the colorist behind the knobs can have a dramatic affect on the output.

[John Pytlak RIP]

Underexposure can cause increased graininess, and "milky" blacks. So can a poor transfer.

 

If you look at the negative itself, is it "thin", with little detail in the darker areas of the scenes? Except for the very deepest shadow areas, you should see some information recorded on the film if it was properly exposed. If the negative looks normally exposed, ask the lab to try a new transfer.

[S8 Booster]

did you use an external 85b filter for daylight shooting. if not the film is set to 100D with no filtering and it wont help but the problem you describe seem to be a transfer and/or processing problem.

 

this is why the 200t gets improper setting in the camera but it will be perfect with an external 85b filter.

 

the cartridge is normally incorrectly notched from Kodak so the built in 85 filter is disabled.

 

here is what you need to do to make the cam read the cart as 160/100:

 

this is where the filter notch is located - open it and the cam is allowed to read it as either 160 for tungetsen (when the built in 85 filter is disabled) or 100 with the filter in place for daylight shoot.

 

Click images for biger size:

 

 

how to mod and why:

 

 

s8hôôt

[Michael Ryan]

Hello All,

 

Thank you for all your answers.

 

I wouldn't want to print the name of the lab as I don't know why the 200T looks this bad (it may be something that I'm doing wrong). So, I really don't want to place any blame incorrectly.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the film with me (it's at the telecine company).

 

I wish I had the ability to upload the images so you guys could take a look, but not for now at least. Since the roll was a "test" roll I shot a variety of scenes. I shot indoor close ups of a fruit bowl (lit by sunlight, no other type of light used or present). I had a medium shot of a F86 Sabre Jet (outside) on the ground with close ups of the canopy. Also medium shots of a Sherman tank. Indoor or outdoor, the scenes look very grainy and there seems to be a milky haze over the entire shot and overexposed. The blue sky looks almost completely washed out (although the jest has quite a bit of good detail, you can see the rivets, small numbers on the tail, good shadow detail in the 50 caliber gun holes.

 

So, if I read you guys correctly, a poor transfer can show too much grain?

 

I know it's not the fault of the film, because I've seen some really excellent results with 200T. It's just a little bit frustrating trying to get those same fantastic results.

 

Mike