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Is it only me that finds high speed film the only option
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:53 pm    Post subject: Is it only me that finds high speed film the only option Reply with quote

Hi,
I leave in Germany and the typical weather is a dull weather with very dense clouds. Typically there are no shadows or very little of it with this type of lighting.

In the f/16 rule that would be an aperture for 5.6 or even 4. Assume now that I am using an iso 200...

and thus at this weather having a good exposure at 1/250 and at f/4. If I need larger dof and want to move to f/16 my shutter speed would have to fall down to 1/15 where I can not really hand hold....(also keep in mind that this shutter speed is not good for freezing even slight motion)

Given that I also like to shoot portraits and kids moving my shutter speed has to usually be to 1/125 or even faster.
What is my problem then? That I find that an iso 800 film is a good option to work with. There are even times that I am thinking of going to 1600 iso.
Is it only me that finds that the mostly used iso speeds are too slow?

Regards
Alex


PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the old answer to the these situations is flash or other artificial light

I remember times when asa 400 was "night film" Smile


PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kansalliskala wrote:
I remember times when asa 400 was "night film" Smile

Me too. It was considered super fast.

If I were in your situation, I would be looking for a faster film, too. But I'd try to make do with ISO 400 as the top speed. I've seem some ISO 800 film being advertised recently -- Kodak, isn't it? -- but I've never used it so I can't comment on it.

Back in the day when I shot only slide film and that film was almost always Kodachrome 64, I just learned to live with it. Even at ISO 64, on a sunny day you can be shooting at 1/250 at f/8. Sure, dull days are a different matter. That's what tripods -- or at least monopods -- are for. But even on dull days, you can still be okay hand-holding. Figure a light situation that's two stops off of bright sun. So if the sunny f/16 rule gives you 1/60 at f/16, then two stops off from that and you're still at 1/60 at f/8. Four stops off and you're still at 1/60 at f/4. Now, if you're toting a 200mm lens, bright sun with ISO 64 still gives you 1/250 at f/8, as I mentioned above. Two stops off from bright sun and you're still at 1/250 at f/4. And 200mm f/4 lenses are common. If you have a 200mm f/2.8, then you can handhold without supports three stops off at f/2.8.

Here's a shot I took on a dull winter day. The film was Kodachrome 64. I specifically recall going for a walk with the camera only -- no tripod or monopod. The camera was a Canon FTb and the lens was an FL 35mm f/2.5. I don't know what aperture I used, but as you can see, the foreground is in focus and most of the background is in reasonably sharp focus.



True, it's a wide-angle lens, and WA lenses have greater depths of field than normals or telephotos, but it's only slightly wide angle, being a 35mm and all. Still I was able to dial in enough aperture to get the scene within depth of field settings. When I was shooting Kodachrome a lot, the only times I felt limited were if I were in a dimly lit structure and unable to use a flash, or if I were outside in waning light, with the same flash situation. At other times, I just got lucky, handholding in the darkness:

Canon A-1, FD 50mm f/1.8, Kodachrome 64:


Also, back in those bygone days, I did a lot of motorsports photography. I learned early on not to use high shutter speeds because they freeze the cars on the track or they stop the propellers of prop-driven aircraft. About the highest I would go was 1/125. So on dull days at the track or airshow I usually didn't have a problem. And I was often using lenses that were 300mm or longer. And in those days, my fastest 300mm was an f/4 lens, plus I had a 600mm f/8 mirror. So no fast glass. But for times when exposure might have been problematic, I always packed a monopod.


PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well for me it's an easy answer as I don't take shots on dull miserable days unless I have to...after all it's only a hobby. But I take my hat off to those who show some great street scenes esp of people in pouring rain and to me graveyards look better in miserable conditions.
Colours will be off in miserable conditions so a flash helps for closer shots, of course B/W has no problem.


PostPosted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kansalliskala wrote:
the old answer to the these situations is flash or other artificial light ...


or tripod. Wink

digital photogs have it so easy... Laughing


PostPosted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

visualopsins wrote:
kansalliskala wrote:
the old answer to the these situations is flash or other artificial light ...


or tripod. Wink

digital photogs have it so easy... Laughing


So if you use a digi camera it makes the sun come out Laughing


PostPosted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excalibur wrote:
visualopsins wrote:
kansalliskala wrote:
the old answer to the these situations is flash or other artificial light ...


or tripod. Wink

digital photogs have it so easy... Laughing


So if you use a digi camera it makes the sun come out Laughing


ahahaha so true Smile


PostPosted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well Alex I have very few miserable condition shots but found one using Kodak Ultra 400, and think bright colours help and everything is not moving fast:-

Sigma 28mm on X-700 camera.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excalibur wrote:
visualopsins wrote:
kansalliskala wrote:
the old answer to the these situations is flash or other artificial light ...


or tripod. Wink

digital photogs have it so easy... Laughing


So if you use a digi camera it makes the sun come out Laughing


No, you just jack the ISO up to 250 billion or so . . .


PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use ASA 100 most frequently. By the time it gets too dark to use this film hand held - it's usually not worth taking pics anyway.

Two pics:
water by berangberang, on Flickr
night fountain by berangberang, on Flickr

The first pic was exposed at f/2 for 1/30, within five minutes it was too dark to take photos without a tripod (or in this case by sitting the camera on something). The second exposure was about five seconds at f/8 or f/11.

The thing is 1/30 and f/2 is doable even for candid shots, but by that time in the evening the light is dwindling so fast even ASA400 isn't going to be very useful in 15-20 minutes. Unless you want to use a tripod or flash. So I just stick with 100ASA for outdoors. Inside ASA400 is usually fast enough to cut it if it is a well lit space, but ASA800 is a safer bet.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the answer.. I can not hand hold with that shutter speeds Sad Even 1/60 looks to slow for my hands Sad


PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alaios wrote:
Thanks for the answer.. I can not hand hold with that shutter speeds Sad Even 1/60 looks to slow for my hands Sad



In the old days millions got by at 1/60 sec, and no problem getting decent sharp shots as long as you don't want large blowups. And I suppose members could post " I can get sharp shots @ 1/30 and 1/15 sec" ....there are a few basic tips:- try and steady yourself against a brick wall or tree etc and hold your breath before firing the shutter.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

squeeze not press


PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the suggestions found in old exakta manuals for getting steady images with slow shutter speeds is to hold the camera upside down so it rests against your forehead. This works great with a camera that has the shutter button on the front, but not so good with the button on top.