Analysing the roll: part III

This roll was shot through my new Pentacon Six, the first roll to go through it. This is Kodak Portra 400 and is expired by a couple of years. A check of the negatives shows no obvious issues with the camera (no light leaks etc…) except image 13, see below.

The first 6 shots were taken on the fully working 50mm lens and the remaining shots were all on the 80mm lens.

Shot 1

1/30sec f/8. So this shot looks familiar! I took a very similar shot on this camera so I could compare the results with the camera I already owned. I also wonder whether this goes some way to explain the silly error in exposure I made in the last roll – did I get confused in what settings I had changed as I swapped cameras and lenses around?

Anyway, I find that the exposure in this image is what I had intended but it lacks the warmth of the Kodak Ektar 100 image.

Shot 2

1/500sec f/22. For my parents this is a wonderful shot as it means something to them but as a standalone image I’m not wowed by it. The colours don’t pop (the film) and the composition isn’t anything special. But I am happy with the exposure and I’m happy with the sharpness of my lenses.

Shot 3

1/500sec f/22. I was particularly drawn to the sky/clouds with this set of photos but I’m not over the moon with the result. I do wonder whether a different film stock would have given me the punch I was looking for as I don’t believe that the issue was exposure. Another thought could be the use of filters such as a polarising filter. I’ve slightly cropped this image to give a more pleasing composition.

Shot 4

1/125sec f/22. I’m happy with the composition but again feeling lacklustre on the colours.

Shot 5

1/250sec f/22. My comments on this are the same as for the previous 2 in terms of not feeling wowed. Although the lighting from this direction does provide a bit more of the colour in the sky that I felt was lacking.

Shot 6

1/1000sec f/8. It’s hard for me to have too much perspective on this one as I think my dog is absolutely beautiful and I love this shot. I’m happy with the exposure and the composition.

Shot 7

1/60sec f/4. Underexposed and I’m gutted as this photo captures such a beautiful moment between my son and his grandad.

Shot 8

Omitted as it’s directly of my child.

Shot 9

1/8sec f/8. This hasn’t come out as I had hoped, I definately think that has something to do with the colour rendition of this particular film but it also isn’t as visually pleasing as it is in real life.

Shot 10

1/8sec f/16. Misfire, I accidentally fired the shutter before changing it to bulb mode and so this shot is massively underexposed.

Shot 11

3sec f/16. This isn’t a visually pleasing image but I had wanted to test bulb mode on this new camera and to see what sort of effect the mirror slap would have at this sort of speed and I’m pleasantly surprised with the sharpness!

Shot 12

Omitted as it’s directly of my son.

Shot 13

1/60sec f/2.8. There is a scratch on the negative, was this the lab? the camera? the film? My guess is it’s because I’ve eeked out a 13th shot and the lab has damaged it as it’s so close to the edge and therefore where the drying hooks would be attached.

Anyway, I love this image, again is that because I just adore this dog? When I came upon the scene I liked the different tones of brown and I still feel that way.

Conclusion

I’m happy that this camera and the lenses that came with it are working great. I’ve also determined that I like Kodak Portra for portraits but I’m not particularly pleased with it for landscapes and the like. I also feel, from the last 3 rolls that I have been through that I need to work on my exposure when indoors, I’m quite happy with my ability to expose shots outside.