Testing Kodak Portra 400 film + Canon AE-1(BTS + Review)

Watch as I Go out and shoot Kodak Portra 400 film and test the exposure lattitude that this film stock has. Additionally, I test the Canon AE-1 in camera exposure meter.
Hopefully seeing the difference between exposures helps you see the impact of over and under exposing film and ultimately how the Digital and Film photography can be different.
Please feel free to leave any questions or criticism (Preferably constructive =P) in the comments section!

[@randallstewart175]

The problem with these types of "tests" is that they assume that if you point your camera straight at a scene and use whatever exposure the internal meter indicates, you are making a "normal" exposure. If the scene has a true average of light and dark tones, then that assumption may be accurate. Most of the time, that assumption is false, which makes these tests basically worthless. You have a range of tones and you want to fit them into the range of exposure the film can capture. This often makes the "normal exposure" more or less than what the meter indicates. In other words, you have to use judgment. For example, on the scenes where he is shooting buildings with sky, he'd be better off pointing the camera/meter down at the pavement, which is close in tone to that which the meter is set to read as an average exposure. To further invalidate the perceived benefit of these tests, when you scan the negative, the scanner is going to interpose a set of automatic image adjustments to reach what it is programmed to recognize as an average image. When you intentionally over or under expose, all you are doing is trying to fit range of light in the scene into less than the full dynamic range of the film, in that you are intentionally throwing away some of the film's potential. In effect, that is what all the YT guys do when they "expose at half box speed", but they are too dumb about film exposure to know it.

[@arielgajda3335]

Exelent words, i got a nikon F2 and Nikkormat FTN.

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Randall, I appreciate your feedback. first off, photography is art, it is subjective not empirical. Second, some people don't care to get into the weeds with technical details and that's who this video is intended for. It is not intended for someone who is well studied in the photography world like yourself. Finally, Were essentially doing the same thing. I am arguing that you should "overexpose" when confronted with a high contract scene because your meter is grabbing an average and you really went to expose for the shadows. There is a more advanced way of doing this, specifically with a light meter and metering different components of a scene but not everyone wants to take it to that level. Anyways. Thanks for the comment and I hope this provided some insight into what your really looking at.

[@randallstewart175]

@@nickdambrosia2304 I fully understand and appreciate your point, however IMO it makes a false assumption, which is that where source light requires that you loose either highlights or shadows, that shadows should be maintained at the loss of highlight details. While this is an undisputed given everyone seems to accept when using slide film with a dynamic range less generous than negative color film, the reverse seems to have entrenched itself as to negative film, i.e., that highlights are disposable in the crunch, which is your argument. I've seen that said many times, but I've never seen any rational argument for its truth. There is no logical or technical reason to make this distinction, of course. Big blotches of white lacking detail, i.e., blown highlights, you know should be there are obvious. Dark shadow detail lost rarely brings a second look. It is commonly suggested that negative color film has a much wider tonal range than positive film to justify such different treatment, but the argument that color negative film has a 5 - 8 stop over-exposure capacity is just false. True, a scanner may be able to burn though a heavily over-exposed highlight, but neither the color or tonal range is anything close to acceptable beyond 3 stops. So it boils down to what you can accept to loose, and my argument is that loosing the shadow detail is always going to look better overall. A good example is the body of work of Willem Verbreek, a popular YT proponent of the 'half box speed" rule. The vcontrol As to photography begin an art, not a science: In order to implement your artistic desires, first you have to master the medium being used to control that subjective, artistic expression. Film photography is a based on a fairly complex scientific, i.e., empirical, base. You do not have to master all of the technology to shoot some photos, but just repeating unfounded YT boiler plate as tutorial writ is no virtue.

[@MrGrungydude]

@@randallstewart175 relax 😌

[@luisisaiasmontesrico9610]

@@randallstewart175 How much do you charge to write an essay?

[@ELAR15]

Maybe we have different opinions, and the way we see things. But for me, I like the underexposed ones. Despite the fact that they're really grainy, but with the underexposed ones, the film look is really noticeable compared to the overexposed ones. You really get that nostalgic feeling with the underexposed images like they were pictured in the past but in a modern time.

[@nickdambrosia2304]

this is fair. Art is subjective. I just posted a new vid on self scanning. Curious to hear your thoughts!

[@boondoc001]

Agreed, I personally underexpose some of my fresh film by 1 stop or less because I really like the look. But with expired film I do compensate/overexpose to get the "correct" exposure.

[@karlosxedge]

Yess!! and personally for me the way i see it, i feel like the over exposed can be confused with a digital photo that was edit! For me, the point is for it to look filmy, old, grungy as soon as you look at the photo! Thats the vibe i want from shooting in film! all preferences im just talking about myself!

[@RobMoses]

Good one Nick. Always nice to see little tests like this.

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reaching out!

[@vantopanphoto]

Hey man, really enjoyed this test and vlog! I really liked your shooting style for the vlog portion. Can I make a suggestion that when showing the photos afterwards you might want to label them in the corner? It would have made it a little easier to follow what was over/under exposed and by how many stops

[@nickdambrosia2304]

This is a good suggestion! I thought about that and will definitely implement that next time!

[@Analogbrain]

Interesting video. It all comes down to what you want to get out of the picture.

[@t.mischol8236]

loved it and shooting the kodak building :D nice touch ;D

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Oh yes the Kodak building is one of my favorites in Rochester. Just posted a new video about scanning if your interested on more film content!

[@IINyChrisII]

I haven't been home in over 3 years but just listening to your Rochester accent made me feel at home :)

[@err7273]

nice mustache

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Lol I hate to admit it but I bet I do have an accent!

[@oscarhodges]

Apologies if it’s a dumb question, just getting into film photography. When you say you’re under exposing, are you referring to adjusting the box speed? So, if you’re 1 stop over, you’d be at 200 iso instead of 400? Thanks

[@charliipresley]

Nick, What happens when I shoot a 400 film at 1600 but my camera (Contax G1) exposes correctly by just boosting my shutter speed? Do I just have a photo with more grain like digital?

[@lea4777]

Great vid. I liked the underxposed 2nd image tbh

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Interesting! I tend to like the brighter ones but that’s just me!

[@Joshbrochelle]

took me a second to realize this was in rochester. very cool!

[@AardvarkAdventure]

I spotted it in the thumbnail and figured I'd check it out. Looks like there are a few Rochester folks, here!

[@thatdudebarry]

Bro!! I’m watching this in la bc I just got a new canon ae1….and this man pulls up to genny Brew house!!! I’m from Rochester this blew my mind. Mans in my hometown. 585

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Lets goo. Shot some film in LA recently. You can see for yourself in my most recent video! its beautiful out there

[@kurtozan251]

This is dope dude thx!

[@nickdambrosia2304]

No problem man! Glad you enjoyed it! Just posted a new video if interested more of this kind of content!

[@valurautakattila]

The greenish cast in the shadows is usually caused by noritsu lab scanner presets. If you scan these yourself, you might have a better looking image if you choose to spend time color correcting it.

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Makes sense! I appreciate the insight. Just posted a video about self scanning. Would love any insight you have!

[@ryangarza7324]

What was the normal exposure ?

[@lorenhartman801]

I was literally just out taking pictures at the high falls and Webster Park earlier today. I totally didn't realize that this was in Rochester by the thumbnail lol

[@lolatron20]

Great video! Did you just change your shutter speed to under and over expose or did you change the ISO?

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Great question! Changing iso on a film camera really only change what your light meter reads out because the film loaded is a given film speed and therefore doesn’t adjust like with digital cameras. For this test, I simply adjusted my aperture.

[@lolatron20]

@@nickdambrosia2304 So would you just set your light meter to what your camera tells you then adjust your aperture by one or two stops if you want to overexpose? I’m new to film and just got my canon ae -1 today so I’ve been doing research and your channels helps a lot! Thanks man!

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Yes you can absolutely use the aperture ring to adjust exposure. When you are in manual mode your iso is set at a given number, you then pick a shutter speed, then the light meter will tell you what aperture to shoot at. If you want to over expose you pick a wider aperture (lower f#) and vice versa. Does that help? I briefly go over that in my “how to shoot film” video Also if yiu plan on over exposing, you don’t necessarily need to, but I wouldn’t go more than 1 stop over (or one f value more than what the camera tells you)

[@grapegaming8508]

@@nickdambrosia2304 wouldnt changing your F value also change your range of focus

[@yssuhh]

@@grapegaming8508 yup, which is why of the time i prefer adjusting the shutter speed instead of the aperture

[@stefaniearual]

Hey I wan‘t to buy this camera my only question is how to digitaze the film?.. I am new in the game😪😅

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Hi there! You totally should buy this camera. I absolutely love it! As far as digitizing film goes, you can scan it! If you don’t want to develop and scan yourself, you can send it in to a lab (there’s tons out there) who will do that for you! P.s I will be making a video about scanning your own files here this week, so feel free to sub for that!

[@armanjustiniani8526]

Really nice video! Can you tell me how do you overexpose/underexpose?

[@nickdambrosia2304]

I set my shutter speed at a certain speed and adjusted aperture accordingly! You could set your aperture at a constant and adjust shutter speed as well to get the same affect

[@armanjustiniani8526]

@@nickdambrosia2304 thank you! I’ve seen different techniques with overexposing/underexposing and they are confusing lol. Like writing +1 during film development?

[@nickdambrosia2304]

@@armanjustiniani8526 Writing +1 during film development is telling the lab to develop the film in a different way than the manufacturer recommends. I wouldn’t recommend doing this if it doesn’t totally make sense. You will end up with inconsistent results.

[@davidhuy8501]

what is the tripod you are using ? 😅

[@paulinabyczek7654]

hey! this bag for camera is amazing! where did you buy it?

[@nickdambrosia2304]

I got it in a bundle of other gear from Adorama camera I believe. Hope this helps

[@thextopic]

good video

[@alinapohl5580]

Where is your tripod from ? :)

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Believe it or not this one is an Amazon basics tripod 🤣

[@EvertGuzman]

@@nickdambrosia2304 i just got mine I love it

[@user-nr4dp7hm2i]

Да, и видео хорошо снято

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

Nice! Where do you scan your photos ?

[@nickdambrosia2304]

I have a local shop develop and scan. Looking into getting the supplies to do it myself though

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

@@nickdambrosia2304 nice results! I have a epson v330. Lab Scans in Germany are expensive. I will get a full frame dlsr soon and scan the films with it

[@nickdambrosia2304]

I have to look into the dslr scanning option, I have a mirror less Sony a7iii, wonder if that would be better that buying a dedicated film scanner

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

@@nickdambrosia2304 you should definitely try the dlsr scan. U will get better results compared to a epson v600 or v800. You can reach nearly lab scan results.

[@henryrogers5500]

@@Fatih-xl7yn I think that is a matter of opinion as there are a lot of variables with both DSLR and dedicated film scanner methodologies. I scan my negs with an Epson V600 and I get outstanding results!

[@jerrywaynecalloway]

Peter McKinnon inspired intro lmao

[@user-nr4dp7hm2i]

Ок, всё по делу

[@henryrogers5500]

I’m going to get some polarizing filters and graduated ND filters to put on my lenses for photos with sky in them. This way, I can expose for midtone shadow areas and avoid blown-out skies. My theory, anyway. With color film, this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem, mostly with black and white film.

[@EduardStuparu]

Wear your seatbelt!

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Must have forgot! Good call!

[@benny9588]

pls turn down the music next time

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Noted! Will definitely keep working on my mixing. Just posted a new video, would love to hear your feedback on this one!

[@stevanastardust8487]

Please clean your camera... I takes like 5 seconds

[@nickdambrosia2304]

Fair Enough! Just posted a new video if interested in more film content!