Here we present you the results of Kodak Portra 400 film exposure test, shot in the range from -3 EV to +7 EV with Hasselblad 503cw camera, Carl Zeiss Planar 2.8/80 lens on medium format film (type 120).
For normal exposure we considered spot metering with an external spotmeter of the faces in such a way that their tone corresponded to the Adams VI zone. The aperture on all shots was set to f/2.8, except the first one (underexposed by -3 EV). The shutter speeds for the above sequence of photos (from left to right) were: 1/500 (-3 EV), 1/250 (-2 EV), 1/125 (-1 EV), 1/60 (Normal Exposure), 1/30 (+1 EV), 1/15 (+2 EV), 1/8 sec (+3 EV), 1/4 sec (+4 EV), 1/2 sec (+5 EV), 1 sec (+6 EV), 2 sec (+7EV). Shooting was carried out with a tripod and mirror lockup.
The film was developed using the standard C-41 process and scanned on a Noritsu HS-1800 scanner. White balance was set manually using the normally exposed photo and copied to all frames.
The purpose of this test is to observe the behavior of film color depending on exposure and to identify the limits of acceptable exposure errors.
The test results can be observed in the title picture of this article.
Visual Observations
1. Kodak Portra 400 film withstands overexposure quite well. Even at +6 EV there is no loss of detail in the highlights, although the colors are slightly shifted.
2. Overexposed film is noticeably better at bringing out shadow detail.
3. This film does not tolerate underexposure. An exposure error of -1 EV can be considered as generally acceptable, but further underexposure leads to technical defects with loss of shadow detail.
4. Underexposed Kodak Portra 400 tends toward reds in the highlights, which is especially unpleasant for the European-type skin tone. Shadows on the underexposed shots are slightly cold.
5. Overexposed Kodak Portra 400 tends toward yellow-green tones in the highlights and cyan tones in the shadows.
Conclusions
Color reproduction of Kodak Portra 400 film can be considered acceptable at the exposure range from -1 EV to +3 EV. At the same time, overexposure within these limits allows using basic color correction (when printing or scanning) to obtain a picture with slightly greater color separation in shadows and highlights, preserving the characteristic color reproduction without significant deviations.
Kodak Portra 400 (Normal Exposure)
Kodak Portra 400 (+3 EV with color correction applied)
Further overexposure can be classified as excessive, as it results in more significant color degradation that is difficult to correct when printing or scanning.