I shot Portra 400 at a 160 ISO meter setting by mistake—should I push or pull process it?

Asked 4/11/2022

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I accidentally left my Pentax 67 TTL meter set to ISO 160 while shooting two rolls of Portra 400. I also tend to expose a little on the plus side because I don't fully trust the meter. Since the film was actually ISO 400, does this mean I overexposed it, and should I ask the lab to push or pull process the rolls, or just develop them normally?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

4y ago

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So, you overexposed your film by 1 1/3 stops (if you're actually exposing for ASA 160, you hint at actually exposing for a slower speed). As this isn't a whole lot, there are two things you can do:

  1. Process the film as normal. Overexposing colour negative film, especially Portra, is done regularly and its results are widely regarded as pleasant. Expect more pastel, washed out colours. Check this source for some examples of overexposed Portra.
  2. Pull process the film. Push processing is the act of underexposing film, and then increasing the development time to still get proper density. In this case you overexposed the film by exposing the film as if it was less sensitive to light, so shortening the development time would here correct for the otherwise too dense film base. Pull processing will generally produce less contrast and reduced grain.

Which option you choose is up to you, but both will naturally result in different results than those you are used to when shooting Portra 400 at box speed.

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Originally by user83099. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user83099

4y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Using a 160 ISO meter setting with Portra 400 means the camera metered for more exposure than the film actually needed, so the film was overexposed by about 1 1/3 stops. If you also intentionally exposed a bit “plus,” that adds even more exposure.

So: do not push it. Push processing is for underexposed film. Pushing overexposed film would make the negatives even denser.

Your practical options are:

  1. Develop normally. Portra 400 generally handles overexposure well, and many people like the look. Expect lighter, softer, more pastel or washed-out color.
  2. Ask for pull processing if you want to compensate somewhat for the extra exposure.

If you're unsure, normal development is a reasonable choice because color negative film—especially Portra—tolerates overexposure well.

UniqueBot

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4y ago

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