Have You Shot AGFA?
Scott David W
Yes, I have heard that a lot of people don't like the pastel nature of
this film, but it seems appropriate to my current project. Further, I
have no quibbles with how Seinfeld looks, and as our project is
distributed on video, issues of resolution and low-contrast should be
negated.
However, this is not the end of the story. I'd like other people's
opinion about AGFA film, if they've used it recently. Pro or con, I'd
like to know what you think.
-Dave
JKreines
Prescient words! Agfa discontinued all camera negative about 2 weeks ago.
Wayne Kennan (who shoots Seinfeld on Agfa) said on AOL that he was
expecting a lot of lunch invites from EK and Fuji! Agfa guaranteed him
enough stock to finish the season...
All Agfa makes now are print stocks and optical track recording stock,
both on polyester bases.
Kamshad Kooshan
I just made a 50 minutes narrative short which we shot on xts 400.
The main thing that I like about it is that blacks are black and it
has more european look.
Than again perhaps a D.P would give you a more detailed comparison.
Kamshad
John W Bottoms
like the looks of it. It captures the image the way I remember it. It
doesn't leap out at you but the color is solid. We shot it 1 stop over
so it would be a bit more saturated. (This was XTR250) And get it while
you can, AGFA is getting out of the film business. When I asked about
the next closest competitor to the XTR the answer that came back was
Kodak XX87, I think it is 5287 but I'm not sure. For price the Fuji will
be closest, but still 3cents more per foot.
-john
snicfay
which we used XTS400 and XTS100 stock. I saw the premiere a couple of
weeks ago and loved the look. "The Last Tattoo" is a period film set in
New Zealand during WWII, and the Agfa Film gave it a really appropriate
look. Yes it is kind of pastel (especially when compared to Eastman
stock), and it handles wood tones beautifully as it does all warm
tones. It is generally softer than Eastman (especially if shot under
daylight-balanced fluros as we were doing).
If you want more specific info on it, I could forward your queries to
the DoP of that Film, John Blick.
Regards,
Nic Fay.
Saccard Associates L
it, British Airways, and was featured in their advertising for a while.
I was involved in the development of 5287 which Kodak developed as an
answer to XTR.
They hired 12 cameramen who normally used Agfa to test shoot the
experimental stock about a year ago. I was one of the four European
cameramen chosen.
It is a very good extended contrast range stock, I still prefer the Agfa
skin tones but I don't have that option for much longer :-(.
The 5287 has an incredibly extended shadow response, it beats XTR by well
over a stop. You should be careful of its highlight response, it goes
suddenly at just over 4 stops over grey. This is compared to the gentle
highlight collapse of XTR its better than other Kodak stocks :-)
I shot for two and a half weeks in December with 87 for Diet Coke and
I've shot for another 12 days in January with it for a couple of
products. Its coped very well.
Try a light diffusion in the telecine gate if you're transferring off
neg., it responds very well to this approach.
Cheers
Geoff
Scott Dorsey
I've never used any of their color negative stock, but the B&W stock is
nothing short of amazing. Beats Plus-X hands down, in every possible
way. Better shadow detail, blacker blacks, tighter grain, faster speed,
and takes a push much more easily.
The Agfa color reversal stuff is also amazing, with spectacular grey
scale, and lower saturation than VNF. Very nice skin tones. Regretfully,
it's not available in the US, and you couldn't get it processed here if
it were. And nobody much uses color reversal any more anyway (mainly as
a result of crap like VNF being the only stocks available).
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."