Portra 6400 (Pushing Film) 

I’ve pushed 400 ISO film stocks to 1600, there were many times I had to correct colours to remove a green tint. You can certainly get usable results!

I'd kind of love to see a different use case here. It doesn't feel natural to push 800 in daylight, but I'd be super interested to see how it fared in low light, indoors, or night time. These are all cases when you could shoot 800 just fine--and it is a useful exercise to see the color shift. But I'd also love to understand how pushing works in scenarios where 800 might just not give you the range you'd need.

As much as I'd love a native 1600 ISO color film, I have to admit that Portra 800 pushed one stop has always been a pretty good stand-in. Still... Natura or Superia 1600 would be very welcome. But if I was given the choice for a new film stock, I'd rather have Ektachrome 400 or Provia 400X.

thank you for explaining what pushing film is in a very simple way.🙏🏾

this is a great video, I love the way you communicate the nuance of pushing film and what's actually going on with the highlights v shadows in development

Pushing is said to work a lot worse, while pulling (or "printing down") is almost preferred to avoid any muddiness in the dark areas with normal exposures. And because you can apparently safely get 5+ stops that way. Would you do a video experimenting with pulling film?

So glad you’re posting more consistently again

Loved this video! Such a good visual explanation of pushing film.

Thanks for that clear, concise explainer on pushing film. I hear a lot of film photographers talk about it (as a digital shooter) but I've never understood how exactly one "pushes" film.

Always a good day when a Willem notification pops up ✌️✌️✌️

i love the idea of you reviewing the photos. please put them on full screen next time so we can see them bigger. thank you Willem for this beautiful video :)

1:53 can I ask what is this light meter app? Been looking for one for quite some time now. Thanks in advance!

This is amazing example and explanation. Great shots. I hate how ugly is is where I live and how beautiful it is where you are!

cant wait for the long weekend backpack

Just wished you had a reaction video of the lab. Thanks for sharing! 👌🏻

Great experimental video!

Great video! Would love to see the same test but with portraits (both studio and natural light)

Willem out here doing the lords work. Paying to make these mistakes so we don't have to

Great video ! So happy I found this channel ! May I ask which app of light meter you are using ?

Great explanation!

One tip for pushing film in daylight is to set the meter to one third stop less than you want to push it. Just to give the shadows more room. So for 3200 you’d meter at 2500. For night stuff where you’d push film because it’s really dark and you’re not using a tripod, it’s better not to meter at all and just give the film as much light as is practical. Maybe meter for some medium lit spot on a stage to make you’re not loosing anything.

Love the video Willem! Do you use a light meter app, use one in camera, or use an external one?

Cool video - I would have liked to see you shoot in very low light scenarios, or more flat light - I feel pushing is typically used more on gray days and indoors.

Hi Willem, i undertsand lot of things with this video so thank you ! What is your light meter app?

Really interesting! This also falls into that much loved catagory of "William did this so I don't have too" videos! ✌

Well, I would say that taking photos in that already high contrast light at sunset, while pushing the film, is really pushing it! 😄

I would love to see the same test for 35mm film!

I'm curious how the negatives looks after lab work

I push +2 to +4 all the time for concert photos and nighttime street photography, and I find that DSLR scanning goes a long way in helping bring out more detail in shadows or with high-contrast images.

Thalaivaa vaa thalaivaa!!!❤, big fan of u from India, chennai.

I pushed portra 400 to 1600 and the grain was similar to the original portra 800! Too much color-correction needed, but for night and telephoto lens photography it's a fun experiment.

The data sheet for Portra 800 says you can push to 3200 no problem, and even tells you the negative density relative to box speed. Data sheets are amazing.

Appreciate this video, I have recently been actively taking pictures of birds in their natural habitat & I've been using Portra by 1 stop in order to use high ISO. I want to push it further in order to capture movements of birds interacting with one another rather than just static images. So if this 6400 image is somewhat pleasing with a log scan, I might do it. Appreciate the content! Also for contrast shake, you should maybe have shot the 6400 first? Maybe you did and I can't tell from the editing, but just a thought.

Wow, Portra 800 @ 3200 is something I'm willing to try out now!

What is this app you used in this video to meter the light?

Try pushing some Kodak Vision3 film! I've been experimenting with 250d pushed to 1000 and I've been getting really great, consistent results.

I like to see you taking pictures in the streets again 🤟🏻

The look of the image at 10:50 reminds me of ecn2 cross processed E100.

Willem, been a subscriber for a long time. I have to ask, are the rings a family thing or just your style? Dig em.

I used to push Ektar 1000 5 stops and print 1.5meter (5ft) wide ra4 prints from 35mm negs lovely grain❤❤❤❤

Great time to open RU-vid!

I honestly kinda love the pushed to 3200.

Not sure if this makes sense cuz you can compensate with slower shutter buuuut do this at night. Please! Just curious 😅

PUSHING 🅿‼‼‼‼

13:25 what an intriguing totally generic everyday backpack 👀

what’s the metering app you’re using? Great video!

Great work! It was very interesting to see this! Would love to see how far portra 160 or 400 can go!

I've gotten my favorite photos pushing portra 400 to 1600 iso but only if i shoot at blue hour as soon as the sun sets, and with 1 or 2 continuous lights

I remember pushing Tri-x400 to 1600 in 1989 Central America. red filters in the print room.

Nice vid as always ! What light meter app did you use btw ? Thanks ❤

Willem can be a documentary reporter for classic photography. His delivery is so relaxing. I'd listen to him talk all day

Side note, rip to that w124 merc.. mine died from similar damage same color too!

Superb content as ever, but I have a question unrelated to photography... what t-shirts are you repping, pro-club? I'm in need of some staple, plain t-shirts and the ones you're wearing look crispy. Can we all agree?

amazing vid, Willem. yo... what's the name of the lightmeter app you use?

@WillemVerb I’ve always been under the impression that c41 film, has a lot of attitude and that with one stop over or under you don’t need to adjust development time

Pushing film really makes sense to me only when I'm trying to shoot some night time photos without a tripod. Day time photos would always look a bit off.

Love it!! What light meter app are you using?

would the effects of pushing that many stops be amplified on lower ISO film like 200 to 800? I feel the contrast and blown out highlights would be much more intense than on more sensitive film. Also would love to see this in a black and white version, that increase in contrast could add a nice style

hey, willem may I know which light meter app you were using in this video.

Thanks for the nice video! I wonder (or if I missed it) why did you shoot at F16 and not lets say F8 just in regards to diffraction blur.

incredible video! i have to ask, what app is that??

why aren't you using the built in light meter?

Go willem go willem go

why when I'm about to watch a video about film photography I get lo-fi hip hop in my head beforehand )))

Can I ask what light metering you are using on your phone? Thanks!

cool idea! I wonder if you could push vision3 500t to for example iso 800?

Anyone know how he is able to adjust the aperture setting in lumu light meter? I can only edit the shutter speed

What light meter app is that @ 1:50? :) ty

Probably answered a hundred times but what is Willem's metering app we see at the beginning of the video?

What app do you use for metering?

What would the development be if doing it at home?

Cool nonchalant Easter egg. Did nobody notice?

Can someone explain to me what pushing +2/+4 is? I don't understand. I'm kinda new at photography

What kind of camera are you using if you don’t mind me asking

If I set the iso to 1600 do I have to increase my shutter to compensate ?

Would you mind sharing how the lab pushed your film? Pushing the film by extending development time is one way to do it but most labs don't have maschines to extend the time, so they increase the temperature of their chemicals. Higher temps tend to have a worst effect on colours (beyond +1). Would be great if you could share this info.

Which light meter app do you use on your phone ?

What app did you use to calculate the parameters?

Somehow this stock at 3200 makes West Coast Light look like East Coast Light

Shoots Natura 1600 in direct sun, you know, for the vibes.

Is there a reason you shot most photos at f/16? Some of those shutter speeds were unnecessarily long and could have been raised by opening the aperture.

is that up on mt Washington by Eric Weirheims house?

Good 📷🎞

Never be afraid to lose the shadows if it suits your look

what app are you using in the video and can it really used for spot metering? cheers

Where did you scan this shots? By which scanner?)

What kind of camera are you using?

anyone know what app hes using on his phone for light meter?

Bro had me for a second that Kodak released that

what app he was using for photo shot metering ??

The crooked calendar on the wall is triggering my ocd 😅😅

what’s the lightmeter app called?

does anyone know what app he's using to meter? i've never seen this one before and would love to try it!

What app are you using to meter?

We need that backpack, gotta stop teasing us

What camera are you using?

Does anyone know what Light meter app he is using?

What light meter app is this? I like the UI a lot

what app did he use for metering?

what lightmeter app is that?