News — color

Why the CS-Lite color modes are important for camera scanning

Posted by CineStill on

The real secret to a workable camera scan is getting a good initial capture in camera so that you don’t have to push or stretch the file more than it's bit depth or the software can handle. This means getting an appropriate exposure and color balance at the moment of capture. 

With the new CS-LITE, there are 3 color modes built in: Warm for slides, White for black and white film, and Cool mode for color negatives. So for this post, we’re putting all 3 color modes to the test to show you the difference. 

Raw Capturewhat your capture will look like with the three different color modes when you set your white balance to the coolest setting at 2000 kelvinCool | White | Warm

Due to the orange mask which is present when scanning color negatives, using any other scanning light source (or our CS-LITE set to the White light mode), you will need to do more than just invert the negative with added contrast and adjust color temperature further for good color, resulting in the need to use the fringes of what the sensors is capable of recording, similar to underexposing or blowing your highlights by overexposing your capture, but only in one or two color channels. RAW files are fantastic if you miss exposure a little bit, but there are limits. For example, you don’t want to underexpose your capture too much or you will see a lot of noise and contrast and color will be hard to control.

Inverted with LR CurvesWhat we could get using minimal adjustments in Lightroom to convertCool | White | Warm

It needed hardly any RGB midpoint correction to adjust for the Cool setting and likely only because this was 800T in open shade, otherwise I would have been able to correct color using only white balance if it were shot on 400D or with an 85 warming filter on the lens. It is very apparent that the White and Warm light modes require quite a bit more adjustment, even when adjusting the RGB midpoints in tone curves...

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Introducing: Cs2 “Cine Simplified” ECN 2-Bath Kit, for Low-Contrast Motion Picture Color Negatives

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After years of research and development, we’re are proud to release our reinterpretation of classic cinematic chemistry, the CineStill way. Following the lead of our other chemistry offerings, simplicity is key. As with Cs41 “Color Simplified” 2-Bath kit, the Df96 Monobath Single-Step solution, and the Cs6 “Creative Slide” 3-Bath process, we are making at-home processing modernized, simplified, and safe.

Introducing the CineStill Cs2 “Cine Simplified” ECN 2-Bath Kit. Low contrast, cinema style processing for all color film. A complete, easy-to-use, 2-bath process for photographers, which produces low-contrast color negatives synonymous with the motion picture workflow. A safe and foolproof process, without all of the troublesome byproducts of the original industrial method.

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A DP's Point of View - CineStill 50D & 800T by Rob Hauer

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CineStill 50Daylight

You may recognize the above image by Rob Hauer from our web site sample images of our 50Daylight emulsion. Rob was an early tester of our CineStill 50Daylight emulsion, but since then he has continued to capture beautiful images on CineStill 50D and 800T with an incredible eye for composition and light! It is really interesting to see what a director of photography does with...

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COMMITMENT, PASSION, RESOLVE! - The Future of CineStill 120

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Update: We have launched a new CineStill 120 campaign on IndieGoGo! Come support, share and get a chance to become a CineStill 120 Beta Tester by following the "CineStill 120" link in the navigation!

CineStill 800Tungsten 120 Beta by Laura E. Partain

To all those who have supported, promoted and pushed our KICKSTARTER campaign for medium format, thank you! The support we have seen throughout our...

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"Cigarettes & Coffee Porter" on 800T by Jessica Palopoli

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"I went to a blind tasting at a brewery in SF (Cellarmaker) - they brewed their "coffee and cigarettes" porter with three different types of coffee beans from local coffee roasters. Tasters had to vote for their favorite." - Jessica Palopoli

Jessica is a freelance photographer living in San Fran working a lot with local Bay Area businesses. She has been doing photography since 1993 and is very...

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