Agfa Precisa  shot at ASA 200

Agfa Precisa  shot at ASA 200 means that it was underexposed by 1 stop in camera. I developed it normally, with out ‘pushing‘, then increased the exposure in Adobe Lightroom.

Agfa Precisa at ASA200

Having used Agfa Precisa a few times i realised that although it has gorgeous colours and a grain free look, it is best used on bright days. Over cast and dull days give muted and flat slides. Although you might like this look, is it worth using slide film for this? Slide films give grain free, sharp and vivid colour results so why would you choose to flatten them?

Agfa Precisa at ASA200

With this in mind i waited until  a couple of over cast days arrived to experiment with Agfa Precisa. Underexposing by 1 stop then correcting in Adobe Lightroom has in fact changed the over look and feel of this film. When compared to a properly exposed Agfa Precisa you will notice that the colours are not so vivid  and the grain is much more visible. Colours are still close but the shadows have lost their ‘black’ point and turned reddish. Highlights are overblown. The amount of exposure correction available was also very limited, in fact i had to stop before reaching a correct look.

*All the slides here had the exposure increased plus a little bit of contrast and sharpness added. White balance was not corrected.

Agfa Precisa at ASA200

Colour negative films such as Kodak Portra 160 have gorgeous and smooth colour tones. If that is the look you want then ignore Agfa Precisa. On the other hand if you want a particular and unusually look you should have a go at underexposing then correcting in post.

Films scanned here at Darkroom Malta are done in very high quality, giving you enough leeway to play around in post. If you are interested and would like some more information, please contact me! I am happy to help out.

My next experiment will be to again shoot Agfa Precisa at ASA 200 then develop accordingly. To be honest i do not push colour film often because of colour casts even though this can be corrected in Adobe Lightroom.

Straight out of the scanner then corrected in Adobe Lightroom.

Photography by © Alan Falzon. Developed and scanned by Darkroom Malta.

*Click on photo.

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