Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Fuji Pro 400H


I've been using versions ( originally called Fuji NPH) of this film since the late 1980's when we used it for weddings and portraits and over the years the different versions have remained constant in their character, the latest version is Pro 400H.
The films main strengths has always been the fine grain and neutral colour rendition, albeit with slightly higher contrast than some rival companies emulsions.
One of the films particularly fine characteristic is it's rendition of light skin tones, where some might emphasise the red component 400H gives a 'creamy' skin tone almost similar to the old Ektachrome 64 Pro but without the coolness in blue/green areas. The Pro H is certainly less contrasty and smoother in tone than say Fuji Superia 400 or Kodak Gold similar to the old Agfa XPS 160.

sand, skin tone and sea all look very natural


Along with it's slightly constrained colour pallete the film has very fine grain for a 400 ISO emulsion, probably not quite as fine as Kodak's new Portra 400 but so close as to be considered equivalent in many uses. Double click on any of the images to open a larger sized photo.

Just a rough idea of the films grain structure






One of the benefits of being colour neutral and being able to record wide tonal ranges is that under certain lighting (early and end of day) you can get a almost three dimensional effect without excessive shadows or contrast although lighting and lens coatings will also play their part, in the above photo 400H clearly does help too.
In summation Fuji 400H is a fine emulsion, available in both 35mm and medium format, certainly one of my favourite colour films.


©Photo Utopia 2012

3 comments:

mattmoy_2000 said...

Hurrah! Photo-utopia is back! Good to have a new post after all this time. I'm still looking forward to the rest of your "In praise of Rodinal" post!

Photo–Smith said...

Wow that was quick! I'm not sure I've tweeked the article to my satisfaction yet.
The Rodinal pt 2 article will come, I have all the info it's just having time. The blog has been a low priority over the last year as serious illness and home/job commitments have eaten my time.

I have 12-15 articles in draft though, so possibly you'll see more posts.

mattmoy_2000 said...

I'm sorry to hear that, I hope things become better for you this year.