 BetterPhoto Member |
WHAT SPEED FILM TO USE FOR LOWLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY I HAVE A MINOLTA 35MM SLR CAMERA WITH THE PORTRAIT, LANDSCAPE, NIGHT, ETC. SETTINGS. MY HUSBAND IS IN A BAND AND I WILL BE TAKING PICTURES IN LOWLIGHT CONDITIONS. WHAT IS THE BEST FILM SPEED TO USE ? I ALSO WILL BE USING A TELEPHOTO LENS. THANK YOU !
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John A. Lind |
How fast is your lens (widest aperture setting)?? For these types of photographs (small blues club) I use mostly Kodak TMax P3200 and have used a couple rolls of Ilford Delta 3200 in the past. I shoot at EI 1600 and have the negatives developed Push 1. Lens is an 85mm f/2 with aperture set to f/2.8 and shutter speed typically 1/30th or 1/60th second depending on how well the individual is illuminated. At f/2.8 and the distance I work from the bands, depth of field is usually about six inches! The lighting is not very bright . . . all run-of-the-mill floodlights with colored gels on them. Both TMax P3200 and Delta 3200 have a nominal speed rating of ISO 800. They were designed to be pushed to ISO 3200 without becoming too contrasty or too grainy, and can be pushed to even higher speeds (with contrast and grain becoming prominent). At EI 1600, they should be developed Push 1; if used at EI 3200 they should be developed Push 2. Unless you soup your own B&W negatives and are familiar with push processing, the film must be taken to a full-service professional lab. The great majority of consumer labs will look at you as if you've been smoking something funny if you mention "push processing" to them . . . and even if they do understand what it is, they're not equipped to do it. You will pay an additional fee of several dollars for the push processing as the film developing is different from B&W negative film that hasn't been pushed and the pushed film must be developed separately in its own run. In using TMax P3200 at EI 1600, it has an appearance similar to Tri-X Pan. Nothing wrong with the Ilford film, I simply prefer the look that Kodak's renders. Someone else might prefer the Ilford. If you can meter where your husband will be playing a week or so in advance, do so! I recommend the two B&W films based on not knowing exactly what you will find. If EI 1600 isn't fast enough, put the film speed dial on your camera to EI 3200 . . . before firing the first frame. Whatever speed you use it at, you must shoot the entire roll at that speed. If you can meter it in advance and are able to use EI 1600, a color alternative is Fuji Press 1600 (a.k.a. Superia 1600). This is a true ISO 1600 film and doesn't require push processing. For the blues club I've been shooting, B&W has proven to be very fitting for it. Note the shutter speeds I've used . . . 1/30th and 1/60th. At 1/30th it's very difficult to hand hold an 85mm lens without noticeable camera shake and it took a little practice with stance and bracing. I'm posting a couple of examples for you to get a feel for what I've gotten using TMax P3200 at EI 1600. -- John
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John A. Lind |
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
If you don't have a spot meter on your camera, try to get as close as you can and fill the frame with whoever you're shooting. And try to do it when they are in the brightest part of the lights if they are moving around. Get a reading off of something like their clothes if they are wearing something that is a medium brown, or medium gray. What ever the camera says would be the correct exposure would probably be pretty close. Or you could try and take a reading off of their face, and from what ever that says, open up at least an f-stop if that will put you in a fast enough shutter speed range. If you try reading off their clothes and they are wearing black, you'll have to decrease exposure maybe around 1&1/2. You can get pictures by shooting around 1/30, but you'll have to time it right, and make sure you're holding the camera still. Try timing it on an extended note, if it's a singer. Or sometimes when they first start to sing a line, because sometimes a singer will bob their head back or move away from the mic when the finish a line to a song. But you don't have to use 3200, you can use something like fuji's 800. Unless the lighting is real dark. Stage lighting usually gives you somewhere around 1/125 of a second, it's just that everything else around the subject is so dark that the camera's meter dosen't read the spotlights accurately. And the gels can give good color to a photo, so you can use color film. This picture was taken one fuji 800 with f-stop somewhere between 2.8-4. I can't remember exactly.
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