The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Shot ISO 160 film as ISO 400, should I trash it?

haring

Member
Please don't laugh!

I have shot two rolls of ISO 160 film last week. The camera was set to ISO 400, should I trash the two rolls? Is sending them to the lab a waste of money?

Thanks!
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
C41 or E-6?

C41 really won't be an issue. E-6? Well, I guess that depends on the subject matter. Either way it's not like it's going to break the bank to have them at least processed.
 

Arjuna

Member
I believe that if you tell the lab, they can compensate during the development. I did something similar once, E6, and the results were not great, but better than nothing at all.
 
If this is E-6 film it is no problem - BUT - you need to communicate clearly with a professional lab. I shot E-6 films professionally for many (25+) years and often rated film at a higher ISO, then had the lab "push process" the film to compensate. The film is kept in the developer longer than normal. We also used to "clip test" E-6 film. The lab would cut just the first few frames from the roll of film, then process it according to the ISO (back then it was ASA) speed at which I rated the film. I would then inspect the processed clip test frames, and we would process the balance of the film based on the test frame results (sometimes push processing further, sometimes less). Important note: when I did this all of the exposures on the roll were identical. I am certain there are good labs remaining on both coasts, probably in Chicago.
 

johnnygoesdigital

New member
It's actually quite normal, I would intentionally rate films higher (ISO) so we could use fast f/stops for really dark set ups or action shots with higher shutter speeds. If you/camera metered at 400 ISO, then just "push" the film to developed at that speed. Your film developer should be able to "tweek" it for good results.

Also,

"160" seems like it would be color negative film, so pushing will saturate more with additional contrast.
 

gandolfi

Subscriber Member
Hi,

I remember way back when, in those glory, glory days of film (actually when I started it was E3 :eek:), if something like this happened I would ask the lab to do a "clip test". They would cut off a small portion from the end of the roll and process only that (in your case you would ask the lab to push the film a stop and a half).

Then you would look at those 2 or 3 frames and see if it was to your liking, and you would then ask the lab to process the remainder accordingly.

Cheers,

Gandolfi.
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
Just push it a stop. For E6 you increase the first developer time IIRC, while the remainder is kept the same. Underexposure basically just makes the bottom end of the scale get clipped by the toe.
 
Top