Polacolor 'effect' ?

what color film would you use if you were a fan of the "polaroid look (type
108/6668/sx70" but wanted something a neg or transparency

any fans out there ?

fgphotog wrote:

what color film would you use if you were a fan of the "polaroid look (type
108/6668/sx70" but wanted something a neg or transparency

any fans out there ?

I use several Polaroid films, and find they have a unique look. With the Time
Zero films, about the closest that emulates that is using Kodak Ektachrome 64
Tungsten and an 81A filter. Of course, the easiest non-Polaroid way to do this
is in PhotoShop, and any film will work.

The variety of Polaroid films currently available (peel apart films) is fairly
good currently. Each has a slightly different look to it. In general, I find
that Polaroid films can be a bit cool in colour temperature, and tend to render
bluish tones, especially in shadows. The other noticeable trait is that most
are a bit low in contrast, though there are exceptions.

Why would you want the look of Polaroid film without using Polaroid films? Old
cameras and Polaroid printers are fairly low cost, and widely available used.
Also, there is quite a bit more experimenting possible with the actual real
Polaroid films.

Fuji gave me some of their Instant films to try out. If I get around to trying
these, I will try to post my impressions to this group, or at least one of the
r.p.equipment groups.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Alliance Graphique Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

:

what color film would you use if you were a fan of the "polaroid look
(type
108/6668/sx70" but wanted something a neg or transparency

any fans out there ?
================================================== ====
I use several Polaroid films, and find they have a unique look. With the
Time
Zero films, about the closest that emulates that is using Kodak Ektachrome
64
Tungsten and an 81A filter. Of course, the easiest non-Polaroid way to do
this
is in PhotoShop, and any film will work.

The variety of Polaroid films currently available (peel apart films) is
fairly
good currently. Each has a slightly different look to it. In general, I
find
that Polaroid films can be a bit cool in colour temperature, and tend to
render
bluish tones, especially in shadows. The other noticeable trait is that
most
are a bit low in contrast, though there are exceptions.

Why would you want the look of Polaroid film without using Polaroid films?
Old
cameras and Polaroid printers are fairly low cost, and widely available
used.
Also, there is quite a bit more experimenting possible with the actual
real
Polaroid films.

Fuji gave me some of their Instant films to try out. If I get around to
trying
these, I will try to post my impressions to this group, or at least one of
the
r.p.equipment groups.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
==========================================
Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's not
just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not sure
what I'm missing.

I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took years
ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want something
more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print :-)

You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality to
skin tones that I love.
Frank

fgphotog wrote:

:. . .. . . . .

Hi Frank,


Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's not
just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not sure
what I'm missing.

There is nothing easy about doing this . . . unfortunately. I have about nine
years of PhotoShop experience, and I do this for a living. Sometimes I forget
that what I consider easy may not be that way. I wish I had a nice explanation
of how to do this, but this is something that would be easier to view over
someone's shoulder, than try to explain it. A few hints are using layers, layer
blending, the Hue/Saturation controls, but unfortunately every image is a
little different.



I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took years
ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want something
more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print :-)

I feel the same way, especially with the transfer and lifts that I have done,
or had on display. The unique one off nature is sort of nice, but I would still
like it to be around many years from now. With the SX70 manipulations, they are
just too small.

A couple of options are high resolution flat scanning, and setting up a copy
stand. With the copy stand, this involves getting the image onto some other
film. The ideal would be 4x5 film, though I just did a few test copies onto 35
mm film, and they seem to work okay. A copy image gains a bit of contrast,
though perhaps adjusting the film type might help. That contrast increase could
be avoided with a high resolution flat scan. With scanning, you would need to
adjust the colours to match the original, and a print off that file may be
slightly different. Mostly, the flat scan method can be a great way to get good
enlargements.



You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality to
skin tones that I love.
Frank

I find this more with the B/W Polaroid films than the colour choices. Part of
the effect is the large size, and part of it is the slight lower resolution of
the prints. The P/N films are a different area, and the negative can give some
really nice looking enlargements.

Also, a good source of scanned and printed (published) Polaroid images is P
Magazine. This is available from Polaroid, and contains images that used
Polaroid films in some way. The printing quality and paper are really great.
More information is at:

http://www.polaroid.com/landing/landing.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302023864 &bmUID=1062052905072&PRDREG=null

And click on the P Magazine link. There are two issues put out each year, and
you should be able to get the current issue for free.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Alliance Graphique Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

thanks for all this

Hi Frank,


Well it's interesting what you say. Firstly about using any film and
photoshop - I find it hard to simulate the Polacolor look this way. It's
not
just a case of desaturating and sliding the colour balance around. Not
sure
what I'm missing.

There is nothing easy about doing this . . . unfortunately. I have about
nine
years of PhotoShop experience, and I do this for a living. Sometimes I
forget
that what I consider easy may not be that way. I wish I had a nice
explanation
of how to do this, but this is something that would be easier to view over
someone's shoulder, than try to explain it. A few hints are using layers,
layer
blending, the Hue/Saturation controls, but unfortunately every image is a
little different.



I dont want to use the actual Polaroid films because many that I took
years
ago have faded even though they were kept in the dark etc. I want
something
more permanent and I would like more than one copy of a successful print
:-)

I feel the same way, especially with the transfer and lifts that I have
done,
or had on display. The unique one off nature is sort of nice, but I would
still
like it to be around many years from now. With the SX70 manipulations,
they are
just too small.

A couple of options are high resolution flat scanning, and setting up a
copy
stand. With the copy stand, this involves getting the image onto some
other
film. The ideal would be 4x5 film, though I just did a few test copies
onto 35
mm film, and they seem to work okay. A copy image gains a bit of contrast,
though perhaps adjusting the film type might help. That contrast increase
could
be avoided with a high resolution flat scan. With scanning, you would need
to
adjust the colours to match the original, and a print off that file may be
slightly different. Mostly, the flat scan method can be a great way to get
good
enlargements.



You're right about the low contrast, and it's the "porcelain" quality
to
skin tones that I love.
Frank

I find this more with the B/W Polaroid films than the colour choices. Part
of
the effect is the large size, and part of it is the slight lower
resolution of
the prints. The P/N films are a different area, and the negative can give
some
really nice looking enlargements.

Also, a good source of scanned and printed (published) Polaroid images is
P
Magazine. This is available from Polaroid, and contains images that used
Polaroid films in some way. The printing quality and paper are really
great.
More information is at:


http://www.polaroid.com/landing/land...r_id=253437430
2023864&bmUID=1062052905072&PRDREG=null

And click on the P Magazine link. There are two issues put out each year,
and
you should be able to get the current issue for free.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
Alliance Graphique Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com