SEARCHING USER EXPERIENCE FOR VNF7240 / E125 + VNF CLIP LINK

[S8 Booster]

Just wondering if anyone tried to "tweak" this film to minimize grain etc. Anyone tried to shoot it at exactly 125/80 ASA? rather than the automatically preset (notched) 160/100 in many S8 cams.

Recently I have been watching a lot of old Norwegian Broadcast "Soft News" from 1979 on TV and I am impressed by these 16mm takes and maybe even more! by the sound quality as pointed out before. Now, the film is definately reversal and most likely the VNF 7240.

If you go to the link below you can watch the same program clips as seen on TV. When cam or images are moving this LQ Windows media player goes WIld (Bad) but at steady shots it is possible to get an impression of the colour balance etc at least.

Page: http://www.nrk.no/programmer/tv/norge_rundt/
Click down left menu: "Gammel årgang"

Or going there directly:
Window media Player URL: Film starts at 2 minutes.
http://streambase01.nrk.no/asx/generato ... astighet=3

R

[Carlos 8mm]

Hi all!

Ektachrome 125T was designed for TV reporting News.
It´s a low - contrast film, and have poor latitude range (less than K-40),
poor resolvilg power and color saturation.

Here Ekta 125T were used until 1982, (some argentine TV reports of Falkland Islands War were shoot with this film and U-Matic Video format)
(Of course those shots with Ekt 125T looks so far good than U-Matic shots)

But today S8 K-40 looks better than some older shots with EKT125T in 16 mm, that I have seen. (not in TV only, directly projected, too)

I shoot some S8 rolls of EKT and the results, to me, were very poor.

Never overexpose it! Works fine only when you expose the film as ASA 125/80.

If underexpose it, Lots of grain!! 8O

Carlos.

[Pedro]

I have shot some rolls under lowlight conditions, where K40 had not any chance to work. I set the speed exactly at the correct setting. The results are very weak in contrast, sharpness and color, because the film is designed for tv issues where too much contrast is problematic for the transfer. It only looks more or less good projected, when *only* using for adequate lowlight scenes, with a lot of direct light sources in it (city at night etc).
I had no problem with the grain, like many people claim, only with the foggy and soft results and the greenish colors, even in black areas.
Last winter I used it again, this time with the Angenieux lens 1:1,2/6-80. The extreme high contrast of this lens improves the results significantly.
But I would prefer much more the characteristic grain and contrasty colors of the Ektachrome 160 stock!!!
Pedro

[Carlos 8mm]

Hi Pedro,
Nice to see you again!

I agree with you about EKT 125T characteristics . I never have shot with EKT 160T, but some years ago I read in the Kodak´s Site the Thecnical Specifications of this discontinued stock.
If my memory serves me right, EKT160T had similar granularity than Kodak Tri-X (RMS=16) and similar resolving power (maximun 125 lines per mm). This is possible?


Regards,

Carlos.

[S8 Booster]

Thanks for providing very useful and interesting information.

Going to do some test with this one soon.
See if Andreas can put the steam up with his WP when he returns so I can post clips from the test some time next year. Format will be MiniDV.

R

[Pedro]

Hi Carlos!
You are the guy from Argentina? Nice to meet you again!
Yes, I believe the Ektachrome 160 characteristics may be true, the resolving power is significantly lower than K40, but the high color contrast and saturation of this stock leads to sharp looking results, that could be combined with K40 footage and looked very good for low light shots, where that imperfections like grain etc normally are tolerated by the audience. Totally different to that greenish soft soap that the VNF produces on the screen!
Pedro

[Carlos 8mm]

Pedro,

Yes I am!

I was the desperate Argie guy by the delay of a Kahl Film shipment . But the problem was not Kahl. the Film material slept four weeks in the Buenos Aires Customs. (Aaah, the argentine burocracy...)

But in spite of that incident all was right.

Happy Christmas to you and your family!!

[S8 Booster]

Hi.

I have posted E160 scans before and here they are again. I think the benefits are bigger than the drawbacks for some situations. More freedom in low light:

I think that these images are very good and some of them offers a very professional impression (colour balance) although it was a pull and shoot job only. Additionally they were shot at 150° not 220° which were available at the C1014. At that time I did not even know the cam had the 220° option.

Apart from the low res scans, somewhat darker balance etc than when projected, I think the E160 did a very good job under these circumstances.

Scanned images:







Too big: ftp://ftp.filmshooting.com/upload/pictures/E160U9.jpg

R

[S8 Booster]

On yesterdays New Year eve I decided to run my Canon AF 310 XL-S gun with an Ektachrome E160A SOUND cart and shoot the fireworks etc.

Been examing my old E160 takes for a while I get ever more impressed by this film.

Posted some scans of the box for reference to those who never got a chance to know this discontinued film.


Big: ftp://ftp.filmshooting.com/upload/pictures/E160A.jpg


Big: ftp://ftp.filmshooting.com/upload/pictures/E160B.jpg


Big: ftp://ftp.filmshooting.com/upload/pictures/E160C.jpg

Really looking forward to get this film processed. Might post some scans if it turns out good. Do not know the status of this old film.

R

[tfunch24]

I have shot some rolls under lowlight conditions, where K40 had not any chance to work. I set the speed exactly at the correct setting...It only looks more or less good projected, when *only* using for adequate lowlight scenes, with a lot of direct light sources in it (city at night etc)...But I would prefer much more the characteristic grain and contrasty colors of the Ektachrome 160 stock!!!
Pedro

I did the same thing last Spring (filmed the new Ekta when K40 would be useless). I had just purchased some movie lights and wanted to get some experience using them. My only problem was I did not adjust to the correct ASA setting; I allowed the automatic light meter to get a reading.

You can view the clip here:

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/tfunch24/powerout2.avi

I have posted this clip here and on Hostboard before but since people are asking for a clip of E7240, here it is.

Pac Lab processed the film and Annette Evans did the telecine transfer on the DV-8 last spring. I purchased some of the carts from Kodak during last year's "jitter scare."

Tom

[studiocarter]

The ektachrome 125 for Regular 8mm was my choice for natural light shooting indoors and outdoors at night. Thecamera was a Bolex H8rx wide open with the Switar lenses. The film was PUSHED one stop. the film is and has been on this site for a long time. The indoor film is not on line as it is my wife reading a story to the little boy, boreing. the outdoor night film is on line and just a little more interesting.
Regular 8mm, 125 Ektachrome film, PUSHED one stop, see for yourself.

ftp://ftp.filmshooting.com/upload/video/Night480.zip

You will need WinDVD to view it as it is a SVCD MPEG-2 file. I promise you, the reflections of the beer store lights in the wet street is worth it. Transferred with a TC-20.

Michael

[Maurizio Di Cintio]

Hi everybody and happy New Year.
Last year I wanted to test the "NEW" Ektachrome VNF: the resolving power is lower than K40 as I expected, but the overall appearance was even less pleasant because of its inherent lower contrast. So I agree with many people who have already described their experiences with this stock.

Probably the old E 160 had similar resolving power, but thanks to its higher contrast, it looked sharper. In 1996 I shot wonderful footage withthis stock: I used a 1000 W 3,400 K cinelight ininteriors and the results were terrific: great contrast, great colors, great seemingly definition when projected. I really can't understand why Kodak disocntinued E 160 and introduced this (#####) stock. Since I doubt anybody is still shooting 16 mm on VNF for telecine purposes, Kodak might have as well discontinue VNF and keep producing E 160. Plus it's very expensive when compared to K40.
Anybody has suggestions?

Auguri!!