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Color question, Orthochromatic film?
Topic Started: Jul 1 2018, 08:19 PM (121 Views)
Aaron_w
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Toady
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I am aware that orthochromatic film does funny things to certain colors, particularly reds and yellows which can appear quite dark.

Panchromatic film became commercially available around the time of WW1 but was much more expensive, so orthhochromatic film seems to have remained popular for still photos into at least the 1940s.

I was wondering when orthochromatic films fell out of favor. I have some B&W photos of private aircraft from the 1950s and early 60s that I'm trying to guess the colors of and the type of film would play a large part in interpretation. You can still buy orthochromatic film from specialty film makers, so clearly it never completely went away.
Aaron Woods
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dixieflyer
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Hero
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Aaron, I don't think there's a hard and fast date for this. As you said, panchromatic came along in WWI, but folks were still using ortho through the 40's. I would imagine it was a steady decline eventually falling to just a dribble of photographers using it.

Warren
"History is the lie we all agree upon."
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renscho
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Administrator
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Clouds in the sky. I believe orthochromatic always makes it look like a clear sky.

If I remember correctly...
Robert E. Rensch
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Paul Boyer
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Hero
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Ortho films were very blue sensitive, so everything that was blue looked unnaturally light. Pan film produced a more realistic balance, but often photographers would use color filters that would enhance effects even more. With Pan film, if you wanted to dramatically enhance the contrast of white clouds to blue sky, then you'd thread on a red or orange filter, darkening the blue sky.
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Aaron_w
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Toady
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renscho
Jul 1 2018, 09:08 PM
Clouds in the sky. I believe orthochromatic always makes it look like a clear sky.

If I remember correctly...
Interesting, and if true I suppose the presence of clouds could verify panchromatic. Of course lacking clouds... clear sky, overcast or orthochromatic.

Of course if I knew some of the colors that would help, but being private planes used for spraying who knows what colors they used. I've got a few photos of early air tankers, mostly Stearman and N3N that were used for crop dusting and then converted to drop fire retardant. They could be any color.


Oh well, best guess then. Most of those who flew them are long gone so not many around who can say I guessed wrong.
Aaron Woods
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dixieflyer
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Hero
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Aaron_w
Jul 2 2018, 05:14 AM
Oh well, best guess then. Most of those who flew them are long gone so not many around who can say I guessed wrong.
Exactly. :yes:

Model on!

Warren
"History is the lie we all agree upon."
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