Canon 5d settings for good "E6" manipulaiton
 

okies well i been playing with some crossprocessing filters in CS2 and photoimpact 11 and i wanted to get that E6 look... u know that "hypercontrasted, blown out" look.. now when i apply the filter, u get that blue tint happenign, which is normal.. BUT, what i want to know is, is this E6 "look" a manipulation of the curves, or is it an actual E6 filter? Coz teh filter doesnt seem to want to gie me the results im looking for.. whereas by messing with curves, i get close..

any ideas what camera settings to use to to get this look?
Colour settings in prep for post? Saturation?

I know the 5d has 2 gamma curve setups within the shot style options.. like using "neutral" allows for a flatter gamut as opposed to using something like portrait or landscape...
Also should i be using RGB or Adobe RGB? I know adobe RGB offers a higher colourspace but im not too sure about this fo this particualr effect...

any thoughts or ideas?
thanks in advance..

Peter,

I don't know what you exactly mean by "E6 look". With the exeption of the Kodachrome films, the early Agfachrome films and some rather obscure films produced in south east asia, all slide films are nowadays beeing developed in Kodak's E6 process, no matter wether it is a Kodak, a Fuji or whatever. So I doubt that there is something like an "E6 look". You often hear people say they like the look of the Fuji Velvia because of it's highly saturated colors. But that's by no means typical for the E6 process.

Anyway, personally I wouldn't do any manipulation of curves or whatsoever in camera. I always shoot RAW. Then you have the maximum amount of color information you can get (usually 12bit as compared to 8bit JPGs) and you can do whatever you like in Photoshop without degrading the picture.

Sorry I couldn't help you how to get that special look you would like to achieve. Perhaps you can upload a picture that illustrates the look you are after. I guess, it wouldn't be a big deal to recreate that in Photoshop.

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby148/28448ust/

http://www.fotosearch.com/PHD426/91061/

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby171/32484tto/

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby149/28505nin/

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby145/29602bil/

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby161/30434tst/

http://www.fotosearch.com/sby152/29847tth/

Here are a couple of samples of teh type of look im wanting.. i dont know if this helps...

As for doing it in camera, that wasnt my intention.. i guess i should clarify.. what im trying to do is work out what settings to use when acquiring the shot, then to run the crossprocess filter (im using 55mm) for this effect to work well...

Hi Peter,

the examples could have been cross-processed, i.e. color reversal film processed in C41 chemicals or color negative film processed in E6 chemicals (just google for "cross processing").

I don't think you can do that in-camera, but experimenting with the curves, saturation and color balance in Phrotoshop should give you results close to that effect. You could also try to put 1 or 2 copies of your picture on the background layer and experiment with different layer blend modes (hard light, for example) and then add adjustment layers for color balance, curves etc.

Hi Peter, I dont know of a filter for that, but that doesnt mean there isnt one out there. It looks like some of the pictures were kind of over exposed then over saturated and maby some of the colors were manipulated. They all had a cyan cast (at least on my monitor). They definately had a look of their own. Sorry I couldnt help.

umm.. i thin i should clarify.. i DONT want to do this in camera.. i want to shoot it ready for filtering in post.. and as theres a tweak in certain saturation/contrast levels,
I guess im trying to figure out if anyone has determined a decent setup for the camera to be able to allow for this time of image manipulatoin...

Terry what u saw is exactly how they appear.. with an oversaturation, with blwin out highlights and crushed blacks

For video, i can do this without thinking too much but for the life of me, i cant work it out in CS2 or PhotoimpactRainer, your idea on teh compositing of these pics is a brilliant one. i never thought of doing that in CS2, as i do somethign similar to video using composites.. maybe i should use my video techniques, but im still a newbie to CS2..

I shoot raw most of the time, but do u think i should start with a flat, slightly underexplsed shot? Using adobe RGB? Im thinking this would give me the highest latitude to work with in post..

Hi Peter, I think you should shoot in raw as that I think will give you the most latitude. You could also shoot a still object twice, one for Highlight and the other for the shadows and in photoshop I think under automation make a high dinamic range image. That would give a lot of latitude. Although the images we saw doesnt look like they had a lot of latitude. Im not by my computer now but go to High light shadow adjustment and there is alot of manipulation there. Even the saturation adjustment will let you adjust high's mid's and shadows. You could also make a mask of the different colors or exposure levels and adjust them. When you convert the raw in bridge there's alot of chance there to swing the exposure levels there also. I still think those images looked like they actually used a brush and changed the saturation or color almost like we used to use oils on black and white or sepia pictures to give a painted look. I cant wait for you to tell us how it was done because I did like them. I also liked the price they charge for them. Maby that could be another avenue of income, stock photos. Worth a try, its kinda like fishin.

Edit: reread the thread, responding more relevantly...


Hi Peter,

I've always found cross-processing to work best with shots taken in diffused light where you get lots of color in the mid-range.

For some control in post, here's a how-to for Photoshop:
http://www.swish-db.com/tutorials/view.php/tid/568

Plugin: I like the one from Nik Color Efex Pro 2:
http://www.niksoftware.com/colorefex...osspross.shtml

55mm also works.

Hope that helps.

Hi Tom that is awesome. I cant wait to try it out. Peter is that what you were looking for? Im off to the computer, see you all later.

thnx for the response Tom, that first link is EXACTLY what im looking to do..