BooDooPerson

It is time to put the past behind us. We will march into the future first by shaking off our recent failures, and second by using the only high-speed color negative film you're going to be able to buy new within a couple years.

It's Portra time, baby!!

Having just started shooting and not being on any forums or reddits or whatever, all I really "knew" about film stock was: when playing around with HaldCLUT film simulation effects in RawTherapee for digital shots, I was often happy with what I saw from using Fuji 400H and 800Z. I also knew that Velvia was legendary, though obviously no camera of mine had ever touched the stuff (and still haven't. But my freezer has, now.)

By the time I got to the party, 800Z had been retired for over a decade. I didn't know at the time, but they had also just announced 400H was being discontinued in 2020. And Fuji decided some Velvia was illegal for them to sell in the United States.

So admittedly I was kind of foot-dragging myself to the shop when I went to buy a roll of Portra to try out. But I wanted a fast color film so I could leave a polarizer on and still hand-hold a big awkward C330 with lenses that don't go any faster than f/3.5. All this while the bright, high-sunned summer days are still a ways off.

And here's the thing: turns out Portra looks incredible, too. Especially when you take every shot with an 81a warming filter. So while I'm sad to live in an age where at this speed your only other option is a Tungsten-balanced cinefilm, it doesn't feel like I'll need to hold my nose when buying a roll of it by necessity in our brave new world.