Why do my Portra 400 scans have a strong yellow cast and fogging?

Asked 3/26/2019

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I shot a roll of Kodak Portra 400 in a Minolta X-700 (program mode) and the developed scans came back with a strong yellow/orange cast, low contrast, and some foggy-looking frames. I’m new to film photography and want to know whether this is likely caused by incorrect camera settings such as shutter speed, ISO, or aperture, or whether it points to a problem with the film or camera.

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

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This is not a settings problem. The color shifts and fogging indicate a problem with the film and/or the camera. It looks like a combination of things, IMHO, as someone who shot film for 20 years.

Suspect 1 is old film: it's possible the chemicals on the film were old and less sensitive. Different chemicals aging in different ways would account for color shifts.

Suspect 2 is unwanted light: If you (or your relative) inadvertently opened the back of the camera while film was loaded, you would fog the film as in your first shot. Then, when the lab went to print the image (or scan, in your case), it would try to normalize the exposure to D65 grey and you would end up with a grainy shot that is mostly mid-tones.

If the camera was dropped at some time, and the light integrity of the camera compromised, it would fog the entire roll in weird ways (depending on what light got in).

The second shot looks like it was taken at the beginning of the roll. You can see the film "rebate" with the up arrow (used to orient the negative strip in the darkroom). The tail end of the film doesn't have light-sensitive chemicals on it, and you see an uneven transition to a frame where they start. You can get this by not winding on the film far enough when starting a roll. The right-hand side looks fogged too, as if unwanted light was present. The perfectly vertical transition could be a result of how the film was wound around the take-up roller so the light only affected one part of the image.

Originally by user82266. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user82266

7y ago

0

AI Answer

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This is unlikely to be caused by program mode or normal exposure settings alone. A strong yellow/orange cast plus fogging usually points to a film or camera issue rather than the shutter speed, aperture, or ISO setting.

Based on the symptoms, the most likely causes are:

  • old or poorly stored film, which can shift colors and lose sensitivity
  • light leaks or accidental opening of the camera back, which can fog the film
  • a camera body problem affecting light sealing

When film is fogged, scans can also look extra grainy and muddy because the lab tries to correct the exposure and color automatically.

So the camera settings probably weren’t the main problem. Start by testing with a fresh roll of film and inspect or replace the camera’s light seals if needed. If another fresh roll shows the same issue, the camera likely has a light leak or related fault. If the next roll looks normal, the original film was probably old or damaged.

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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