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Having a Print made - what to watch out for


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I've been shooting both negative and reversal 16mm for some time now, but I've always telecined the film and never projected it. Now that I have a projector, I want to print some of my negative film and was wondering if I should look out for anything.

 

I know there there are one-light, best-light and timed prints available... and since this will be simply projected at home I'm guessing best-light will be fine if my footage is fairly consistent in lighting.

 

Any special stocks I should be requesting?

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Most people print 16mm neg on Kodak Vision ('83) like most 35mm films do. I don't think Vision Premier ('93) is available in 16mm anyway. There are two similar Fuji stocks, and an Agfa print stock, but you won't find any extreme differences in look, just that some have slightly more contrast, saturation and higher black level (D-max). I'd probably start with the standard Kodak print stock.

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Kodak Vision Premier isn't available in 16mm, according to John Carlson, VP of Monaco Labs in San Francisco.

 

If you're going to be watching workprint of your work from now on, I would take the time to shoot an 18% grey card at the head of every roll and order a one-light "Print to Grey Card" workprint from your lab. This way, you can objectively judge your exposures from shot to shot, and begin see where you like to print on the Hazeltine (25-25-25 being a mid-light "normal"exposure). Maybe you'll find you like the look of an over-exposed negative printed down, or maybe not. It's definitely more challenging to fine tune the look you want when shooting for print instead of telecine. Good luck!

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If you're going to be watching workprint of your work from now on, I would take the time to shoot an 18% grey card at the head of every roll

Good advice, I have one ready to go, I just haven't been as responsible as I should in this regard.

 

This is really to get the experience of printing the negative, not for any paid work at this point. I cringe at the thought of running my Kodachrome or Ektachrome through my projector for fear of scratching it... although it looks great when I do.

 

Are any labs recommended over others for standard 16mm prints? I've used Forde in Seattle and been happy with their work so I was considering sending it to them since they teamed up with another lab that has printing capibility. I'm in Texas, so I pretty much have to send out for this service.

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Good advice, I have one ready to go, I just haven't been as responsible as I should in this regard.

 

This is really to get the experience of printing the negative, not for any paid work at this point. I cringe at the thought of running my Kodachrome or Ektachrome through my projector for fear of scratching it... although it looks great when I do.

 

Are any labs recommended over others for standard 16mm prints? I've used Forde in Seattle and been happy with their work so I was considering sending it to them since they teamed up with another lab that has printing capibility. I'm in Texas, so I pretty much have to send out for this service.

 

Since you've been pleased with Alpha Cine/Forde's work, stay with them.

 

Running camera original through a projector is fine for home movies, but the risks are just too great for any professional work.

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Since you've been pleased with Alpha Cine/Forde's work, stay with them.

 

Running camera original through a projector is fine for home movies, but the risks are just too great for any professional work.

Thanks John, can't tell you how happy I am to see you posting again.

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