Warming filter for Portra?

[George Mann]

Hi. I am thinking of a way to add a bit of warmth and saturation to the cool rendering of Portra 160.

Has anyone here used a warming filter with it. Which one?

 

[koraks]

Just dial back a few cc's Y during printing, or give the B curve a tiny nudge in digital post.

 

[BMbikerider]

The suggestions by Koraks is the more sensible if you alter the colour temp at the taking stage you are stuck with what you adjustment you make. Doing it afterwards and you don't like it you can always go back and have another go.

 

[Ian C]

Warming Filters​

The usual warming filters are the 81 series. In order of increasing strength, they are:

81

81A

81B

81C

81D

81EF

The following table describes the various lighting conditions where each is used and the corresponding change in color temperature or mired shift.

https://www.geocities.ws/cokinfiltersystem/color_corection.htm

These were mostly used with color transparency film, but they can be used with color negative film as well to get the color recorded on film as close as possible to a neutral result, or to enhance warmth where desired.

From what I’ve read, color correction with lens filters in the digital photography age isn’t done to the extent it was with color film.

I use CC filters based on the color of the illuminating light. I use a Kenko KCM-3100 (same as the discontinued Minolta Color Meter IIIF), for critical use. In most cases, I simply use the tables of lighting situations as noted in the article linked above. As noted in posts #2 and 3, if you use a dichroic color enlarger to make color prints, you can adjust the dichroic filtration to give your prints the color balance you prefer, freeing you from the bother of using filters on the camera lens.

 

[BrianShaw]

There was a very long discussion on this topic recently, perhaps less than a year ago. Worth searching for as there were several options discussed.

 

[koraks]

There was a very long discussion on this topic recently, perhaps less than a year ago. Worth searching for as there were several options discussed.

Maybe this: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/best-warming-filter-for-ektachrome.207794/
Or this: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...on-of-ektachrome-100-would-you-try-it.207790/
Both are about Ektachrome, but the options will apply to Portra just the same. The main difference being the inherently bigger flexibility/leeway to the advantage of the CN film.

 

[BrianShaw]

There was a very long discussion on this topic recently, perhaps less than a year ago. Worth searching for as there were several options discussed.

My error, George. I was recalling your thread regarding warming filters for Ektachrome. Im sure you already know about that discussion.

For Portra I’ve never felt the need for warming and when I want more saturated I’ll use Portra 400.

 

[MattKing]

Choose a filter that seems appropriate for the light source plus any predominant reflecting surfaces.
If you do that, the film's flexibility will cover all the rest.
@DREW WILEY will most likely chime in about Ektar, which is a bit more demanding about exactitude than the Portra films.

 

[pentaxuser]

.
@DREW WILEY will most likely chime in about Ektar, which is a bit more demanding about exactitude than the Portra films.

Yes it is Drew I too recall saying that he always used some kind of warming filter with one of the so-called professional Kodak C41 films but cannot recall which it was

pentaxuser

 

[George Mann]

My error, George. I was recalling your thread regarding warming filters for Ektachrome. Im sure you already know about that discussion.

For Portra I’ve never felt the need for warming and when I want more saturated I’ll use Portra 400.

400 definitely has more saturation. I am atleast looking to match that with the roll of 160 that I currently have.

I bought the roll to experiment with. I prefer to use the amber KR series over the brown 81 with Ektachrome. Would this not be true with Portra as well?

 

[George Mann]

I was going to begin with a KR-3 to give the negatives a controlled amount of the oversaturated vintage postcard look.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Ektar is not artificially warmed liked Portra ("portrait") products, or, ahem, over-warmed like Kodak Gold etc. I rarely needed any kind of warming filter with conventional "skintone" optimized color neg films, unless a distinct amber skewing toward a Godfather movie look is in mind. Filters like 81A or 81C, or KR1.5 or KR3, which are often needed for corrective color temp purposes when shooting Ektar will end up looking more artificial when applied to conventional CN films, whether for better or worse, depending on your creative objectives.

The KR series is a little more salmon (not actually red) than the amber 81 series. I find B&W KR's a little more versatile then Hoya 81's, for example. But it depends on exactly what you're trying to achieve. If straight blue overcast is to be corrected, then the 81 series is preferable; but if you want some overall warming, then the KR series might be best. I tend to carry both, but mostly because I'm shooting Ektar, which tends to be fussy - or at least, I'm fussy about how I want it to turn out in print fashion.

But more often, I need a basic light pink Skylight filter like a Hoya 1B, or a pale salmon-amber filter like the Singh-Ray KN, which is about halfway between a Skylight and an 81A (I think they're now called the Singh Ray HiLux Warming Filter - expensive, and worth it).

KR3 would be an excellent choice for a somewhat warmish-oversaturated vintage look, or what I just referred to as the Godfather movie look. That will make the warm values pop, and slightly mute the greens and blues. I love the way some of those old color neg films turned out in a nostalgic sense, even though I don't shoot for that effect myself.