Confused Newbie Question

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Ken1959 - 01 Feb 2005 23:01 GMT

OK.....it's been a while since I've shot anything serious....maybe 20
years...and film has certainly changed from the days of ASA 100 or 400 for
print and 64, 160 (tungsten) 200 and 400 Ektachrome.

I shot my first roll of EPH 135-36 ASA 1600 Ektachrome last night was was
very dissapointed when it came back very under exposed. I told the lab to
push 2 stops because I shot it at ASA 6400.

Well, when I looked at the film cannister, it seems a 2 stop push is
necessary to get to ASA 1600. In essesnce, is this just ASA 400 film that
is being marketed differently. To get to ASA 3200 requires an 3 stop push
and 6400 a 4 stop push.

According to my math, that makes this film really ASA 400. Am I missing
something?

Thanks.......Ken

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Gordon Moat - 01 Feb 2005 23:27 GMT

> OK.....it's been a while since I've shot anything serious....maybe 20
> years...and film has certainly changed from the days of ASA 100 or 400 for
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> very dissapointed when it came back very under exposed. I told the lab to
> push 2 stops because I shot it at ASA 6400.

Seems that you were using Kodak P1600. I have used quite a bit of that film,
though after the price increase last year, I might not get any more in the
future. Anyway, it is sometimes confusing to get the lab to properly develop
this film.

> Well, when I looked at the film cannister, it seems a 2 stop push is
> necessary to get to ASA 1600. In essesnce, is this just ASA 400 film that
> is being marketed differently. To get to ASA 3200 requires an 3 stop push
> and 6400 a 4 stop push.

Most of the time I used P1600 at ISO 800. Sometimes I used it at ISO 3200, and
a few times at ISO 6400. To avoid confusion, I always told my lab what ISO
exposure setting I used for that roll. They always got it right that way.
Also, I wrote in black marker on the canister the ISO exposure used for that
roll.

> According to my math, that makes this film really ASA 400. Am I missing
> something?
>
> Thanks.......Ken

This film was created by Kodak by modifying Ektachrome 400X. It did start out
as an ISO 400 emulsion, but it responds in a somewhat linear manner to
exposure at greater ISO settings. The optimum is at ISO 1600 for this film,
which I suspect is why it is called P1600. If Ron Baird of Kodak is following
this thread, perhaps he can shed more light on this matter.

The stops of push or pull always confused me at the lab, so what we worked out
was that I just write down the ISO that I used for the exposure of each roll.
Unless I went over 5 stops of push, they charged me the same amount.

It is a great film for low light, and unfortunately getting very expensive.
Since I used it more at ISO 800, or ISO 1600, I have since replaced it with
E200. If you need, or want, colour film to use at ISO 3200, 6400, or higher,
then it is the only game in town.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
<http://www.allgstudio.com>

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Nick Zentena - 01 Feb 2005 23:32 GMT

> OK.....it's been a while since I've shot anything serious....maybe 20
> years...and film has certainly changed from the days of ASA 100 or 400 for
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> According to my math, that makes this film really ASA 400. Am I missing
> something?

Nope. Well it's an EI of 1600 not an ASA/ISO 1600.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/health/scientific/products/35mm/ephp1600.shtml

Nick

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Dr. Georg N.Nyman - 06 Feb 2005 02:12 GMT

>>OK.....it's been a while since I've shot anything serious....maybe 20
>>years...and film has certainly changed from the days of ASA 100 or 400 for
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Nick

This film is basically a ISO/ASA 400 film - you can see it by checking
their recommendation for processing: Normal=ASA400

Look at
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/e147/e147.jhtml
and see what they write in the paragraph : Push/Pull processing -
400=normal...
rgds George

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