UPGRADE TECHNOLOGY Inc.

E-6 FILM:

We've done extensive experimentation with a variety of film from different manufacturers. We've found that Kodak's Electronic Output film gives us results that are by far superior to any E-6 process film we've tried. In fact, the first time we ran LUTs with it, we thought that something was wrong because the white to black range was just too great.
After experimenting further, we found that we had not made any errors at all.
Yes, it's tough to get as no one seems to stock it. Request it from your reseller by Kodak Catalog Number.

Kodak's Catalog Numbers for Ektachrome Electronic Output Film - 100ASA:

note: 35mm has been discontinued.

E100S exhibits nearly the same results, with the appropriate LUT.

4x5 10 Sheet #821-6384
4x5 50 Sheet #805-1260
8x10 10 Sheet #161-5491
8x10 50 Sheet #822-1954

We strongly urge that you verify these numbers with
Kodak Catalog Information - Tel: 800-242-2424

C-41 Film:

No, we're not paid shills for Kodak, we just think that they have the greatest understanding of film recorder requirements, and produce a product that gives us superior results when compared to anything else we've tried.

We find Royal Gold 100 35mm to be far more consistent than you would expect an "amateur" film to be. It's also readily available almost anywhere, and is familiar when printed from. HINT: If you don't do your own prints, it is always helpful to provide an RGBMonochrome wedge-type frame for color balancing. You have no idea how many time we've heard that the tech tries to guess what the image is supposed to look like when printing. Zebra stripe makeup with a yellow polka dot purple hat would come out looking like what?
Avoid time consuming rework and provide a test pattern.

Kodak's Pro-100 gives us cleaner and sharper negs than any of the VPS clones and variants we've tried.
Kodak strikes again by discontinuing Pro-100!!!
Try Portra-160VC instead for better grain and color than VPS.
All of you in medium format land are probably screaming by now that all your equipment is set up for 120/220. 4x5 darkroom setups are more expensive, true, but 4x5 film recorder modules are far cheaper. We think it's just about a tossup in cost. In the long run, we think that the results on 4x5 make it worthwhile. Remember, portrait film are inherently "soft" - not what you really want in a film recorder - after all, you've already done all of your retouching ahead of time. You want high res, sharp-as-a-tack film at this point in your process.

CINE 35:

Yes, Kodak again. Kodak's Eastman EXR 5245-50D. We've been led to believe that their new VISION 250D (5246) is a super tweaked 5245 with a comparable grain.
We're currently testing a few hundred feet and we'll let you know our experiences....
5246 is nice...just a hair more grain than 5245.

Computer Issues:

If you find that your fine details or sweeps seem to be getting lost, try composing and shooting TIFFs instead. TGA's seem attractive since they're almost always smaller, but details have a way of getting lost (the file does get smaller....somehow....guess how). Some applications cause problems with sweeps because the image looks great on your screen, but the file saving defaults convert the file to 8 or 12 bit total color - not the 24 bit you really want. Hence, when you re-open the file, which very few do once they think they're done, the image looks awful. Small wonder. The film recorder will wind up shooting that version, not the one you thought you had.

Network applications and other time defaulted background activities can wreak havok with your film recorder's pacing (also known as slow host adaptation). Try to keep your computer as free from extraneous applications as possible, especially of the background variety.

Load up as much RAM as you can afford - and make it of the largest module type that it will accept - but you already know that!

If your RIP allows you to shoot diectly from your application, make sure the settings are the same everywher in the RIP, not just under the application's print setup. Whatever is set in the RIP itself will generally override what you set in the application.