To 85 or Not to 85… is that a question?

Over a year ago I bought most of, if not all the 85 filters you can throw in front of a lens. The only one I didn’t use in this test is the 85A, dunno why, prolly couldn’t find it! The results were pretty apparent and I just wanted to throw them up and let you see them for yourself.

What’s to See?

So, everybody preaches the 85B filter as the filter to use in front of tungsten stocks when shooting in daylight conditions. I’ve always felt like the “B” was a little warm and I’m sure this is by design but if you’re truly trying to get back to “normal” then an 85B is clearly not it. In this very dumbed down quick test you can see that the straight 85 is magenta, the 85B is amber/green and the 85C is, well, pretty close to what my eye was seeing on the day.

But why don’t you just correct it later and not deal with losing the 2/3 stop of light??? Fine, do that. If you’re going to grade in software that allows you control over Lift/Gamma/Gain and you understand the workings of color grading an image. For most still photographers they want something that is as close to what the eye saw at the moment of the shot. An image with accurate color reproduction is always going to be easier to take it where you want it creatively later.

That being said, if you want your image to be cool, or warm, or magenta, or neon green… then use the filters you see fit to do that in camera, I’m all for that! Remember that the Tungsten stocks are marked with a “T”. In the case of the films we sell there are a couple current stocks and some oldies. 500T, 200T, EXR100T, & Fuji 160T.

Hope to throw some more tests up soon. New year, new goals. We’ll see how much time we have to play!

Justin

Capturing History Frame by Frame

In the realm of motion picture film, few products have left as indelible a mark as Kodak 5222. Developed by the iconic Eastman Kodak Company in 1959, this black-and-white film stock has a rich history that mirrors the evolution of filmmaking itself.

The Birth of Kodak 5222

Introduced in the 1959, Kodak 5222, or Double X, film was initially designed for professional cinematographers. Its unique formulation allowed filmmakers to capture stunning images with exceptional contrast and fine grain, setting a new standard for black-and-white cinematography. Kodak 5222 quickly became a favorite in the film industry. Its versatility made it suitable for a wide range of genres, from classic film noirs to epic dramas. Hollywood directors, cinematographers, and photographers alike embraced the film for its ability to convey mood and emotion with unparalleled depth.

Timeless Aesthetics

What makes Kodak 5222 truly special is its distinctive look, characterized by deep blacks and crisp whites, has graced the screen in iconic films like "Schindler's List" and "Raging Bull." Filmmakers appreciated its ability to create a sense of nostalgia, even in contemporary settings.

"Schindler's List" (1993) - Directed by Steven Spielberg and shot by Janusz Kamiński, this critically acclaimed film used Kodak 5222 to capture the haunting and powerful imagery of the Holocaust.

"Raging Bull" (1980) - Directed by Martin Scorsese and lensed by Michael Chapman, this classic boxing drama starring Robert De Niro prominently featured Kodak 5222 to achieve its gritty, high-contrast look.

In recent years, Kodak 5222 has been rebranded as "Kodak XX" by independent film suppliers, carrying the legacy forward. This reincarnation ensures that contemporary filmmakers can still access the unique qualities that made the original film a staple in the industry.

This leads us to now, in a sense. As analog still photography grows in popularity and film climbs in price, photographers have been looking for an edge over digital. Kodak’s XX is a legendary film that allows you push it all over the place. We have been shooting XX for some years now and most commonly shoot it at 800 speed (+2). You can find the stock in our store https://www.midwestfilmco.com/film/midwestfilmco-xx. We’ve been perfecting the developing process for some time and we’ve landed on a classic! Kodak D76 1:1 dilution. Here are some samples which you’ll also find on the product page linked above.

Midwest Film Co. XX - Shot at 800iso

Midwest Film Co. XX - Shot at 1600iso

© Justin Cary - Kodak 5213/200T - Developed ECN2 - Scanned via BlackMagic Cintel

After receiving an email from a customer this last week I was once again reminded about how confusing some of our “motion” nomenclature is to the stills world. It’s concerning to think that the lack of knowledge may be keeping some film photographers from loading Cinema, ECN2, Motion Picture, whatever you wanna call it, film into their cameras to create.

Cinefilm isn’t the only film stock that receives a “LOG” scan from Midwest Film Co. We scan all 35mm film stocks on our motion picture scanner, therefore all stocks have the same deliverable in the end.

So, what is a LOG scan? “LOG footage was invented by Kodak with their Cineon system for scanning film. This system scanned film into a LOG format that corresponded with the density of the original film, thus maximizing the amount of information from the film that could be stored in a video format.” I stole that straight from this article from Artgrid, why - because it was the first thing that popped up when I googled it ;)

Essentially what that paragraph says is this… The image is scanned in a way that gives, you, the artist the most latitude to push the contrast & color around when processing your images. The highlights are there and the shadows are there, as well as all of the color information from the film negative. You decide what the image is going to look like in the end. On the motion side of things, colorists spend years learning their craft. Just check out the list of amazing artists at Company 3 who color grade most of your favorite films. That being said, there are some simple guidelines for success.

1.) Start with a really well scanned image. Scanning your film on a motion picture scanner like our BlackMagic Cintel gives you a really great starting point as it is a LOG image with tons detail, not to mention very high resolution by today’s stills standards at 6000px wide.
2.) I like to start with balancing the color of the image - this will shift around as you introduce contrast for sure, but get to a place where you like the overall tone. As of late, Adobe Lightroom has introduced the Color Grading tool which gives you a glimpse of what professional colorists use to balance the color and overall look of an image or scene. They achieve this with the Lift/Gamma/Gain color wheels which help separate color out into Darks/Mids/Highlights. That’s all the further I’m gonna go into that - I’m not a colorist but have been pushing film images around for the past 20 years.
3.) After the image feels balanced color wise the only thing left to do is add contrast. This can be done a number of ways. One way to build the contrast back into an image is to use the sliders on Lift/Gamma/Gain. That can help refine the contrast in a more controlled way than the second which is using the contrast slider to dial the contrast up or down.
4.) Add or take away saturation and your image should be pretty well there! We’ll leave masks and fine tuning to the pros!

Let’s have a look at this shot by photographer Max Delsid (@24fpsmax). Nevermind the amazing shot and the fact that the deliverable is 10,270 x 4098px! Let’s get not so technical in the details. Max shot this frame on Kodak Portra 400, we processed it in it’s native chemistry (C41 Process).

© Max Delsid - Kodak Portra 400 - Hasselblad X-Pan - BlackMagic Cintel Scan

A perfect example of a flat image with tons of detail. This is where the fun really begins as an artist. Instead of handing over power to the scanning tech, which there’s NOTHING wrong with that, they are very good at what they do, you have the ability to craft this image anyway you see fit. Your analog acquisition has just become a very high resolution digital file for processing! I did a quick pushing of the image around in Adobe Lightroom and this is what I came up with. This is NOT the artists interpretation of this image, this is my own, which will vary from person to person no doubt.

So, the long and short of it. There’s no wrong way to grade your images. Do it the best way you see fit for your work flow! Keep shooting great images and the rest will fall in place, no doubt!

Justin - MWFC, Founder, Lab Tech, Scanning Tech, Mail Guy, Blog Writer

When we purchased the scanner we had set our sights on new clients shooting new stock for current projects. After operating the business for a few months we’ve seen a massive need for archival scans. As the reels of 50s, 60s, 70s, & 80s footage flood in the door we’ve made a commitment to our local community to share, with permission, the wonderful sights (and sounds) of Wichita, KS & the surrounding areas.

We’re excepting 16mm & 35mm film from all over the world but we’re excited to announce a project we’re working on called Wichita Archive. The website will be up early next year but for now we’re housing everything on YouTube. It’s truly amazing to see our city from the past and we hope to share as much of it as possible with everyone out there.

On the DP side of things for me, I’m working on a documentary about a dive bar in Wichita, Kirby’s Beer Store. Here’s some footage from 1978 for you to enjoy. Shot by the late Randall Parker, a local cinematographer, who, I believe, gets credit for lensing the first ever Pizza Hut commercial! We are also remastering Parker’s 1967 feature film “The Shortest Straw” to be released early next year. Be on the lookout for that!

Midwest Film Company is a small post house that specializes in scanning 16mm/35mm motion picture film. We are super excited to help you with your upcoming film projects! Rates will be affordable and turnaround will be quick! Hope to see your film on the bench soon!

We are happy to announce the purchase of a BlackMagic Cintel scanner as our main workhorse. If you haven’t seen the scans off this thing here’s a little preview. Shot a bunch of expired film on the Bolex H16 at my son & nephew’s birthday party. Love the look of expired film… never know what you’re going to get but it’s usually something amazing!!!

So... We did it... We bought a freaking scanner! I was a skeptic at first but after spending 1 day with the Black Magic Cintel Scanner I'm truly a fan! Sure, It doesn't scan 16mm at 5K but the 2K files are gorgeous! Anyway... enjoy the beauty...