kodak B&W iso400 - Can it be used?

Hello,

 

my cousin is getting married in 1 month and she asked me to take a

few pictures. They're hiring another photog so I'm not under any

pressure but I do want to see how good I can do.. I'm not sure what

kind of film to use, she said she wants B&W, though I could shoot

color and do the B&W in PS later, but I think a good B&W film would

look better. I have some Kodak iso 400 chromogenic, I don't know if

this will be fast enough, I'm shooting with a Maxxum 5 and my 28-80mm

zoom (not excessively fast... I think f3.5 is the biggest) though I

could possibly convince myself to get a bigger/faster lens (but

probably not bigger and faster) maybe a fast prime 50mm... anyway...

the wedding is at 2pm, the church has huge ceilings and some huge

windows too, there should be diffuse sunlight-a-plenty. any

recommendations on film? or that 50mm prime? I'm really doubting

ISO400 is gonna cut it, from what i've read people do good if they

get results with 1600, so if I have to go the 1600 route, any

suggestions on something good?

 

sorry for my rambling, thanks for reading

 

-Josh

Can you go to the church with a lightmeter and see what numbers you'll get? If there's enough light coming through those windows, you might be able to do without flash with ISO400 just fine. But it's hard to guess without knowing the exposure in the church. If possible, take the measurements both on cloudy and sunny days and you should get solid estimate of what film you will need. Oh, no matter what, on the big day, pack enough film both for cloudy and sunny weather. Weather likes to play tricks.

I use the Kodak 400BW rated at 320 - a nice creamy look which works well for me, though others prefer the sharper look of true b&w film. Most labs should do a decent job of developing the C41 chromogen films too, whereas it can be harder to find a good, consistent lab that does true b&w work. I would much rather shoot b&w film (either sort) than scanning in color film and converting on PS - sounds painfully time-consuming to me.

 

I've found that in most decently-lit churches in the mid-afternoon, I can handhold ISO 320 at with an 85mm lens at f2.8 or wider. If you were planning on shooting group formals, that wouldn't cut it, but candids with shallow DOF would work fine. A fast 50mm should be relatively inexpensive and could help you out here, though a longer lens may be needed if you need to stay back/away from the hired shooter (I'd make sure your cousin clears this with the photog ahead of time). Can you get into the church and take a meter reading ahead of time?

 

You should easily be able to handhold using high speed b&w film. I shoot mostly Kodak (TMZ rated at 1600) and love its grainy look. I find Neopan a little too contrasty and Delta too flat, but I don't do my own developing, so YMMV.

If you are going to scan the negs then by all means use the C41 B&W film. Scanning C41

allows use of Digital Ice if you have it for your scanner. A LOT easier and faster since you

don't have to clone out all the dust (there whether you clean the negs or not). Real B&W

films, especially fast ones tend to gain contrast and accent the grain when scanned,

(unless you are a super expert at scanning). The gain in contrast with C41 film just makes

it look like normal B&W grain.

 

If you're worried about speed, get the 50/1.4. Since you aren't the pro, and actually a

guest, sit at the end of a left side pew on the aisle about 1/4 of the way back from the

alter and get the bride and her dad passing, then hang out from time to time to get a few

ceremony shots with the 50. At that distance, depth of field even at 1.4 won't be much of

and an issue.

 

Good luck.

Most well lit churches are around 1/30 sec@f2.8. If there's lots of light coming in through the windows you may get up to f4. I would look for a fixed 50mm. There are probably lots of used f1.7 (half stop slower than f1.4) lenses out there for way under $100.

 

The Kodak C-41 B&W is a very nice film. The big advantage of shooting it is that most places can make good looking B&W prints from it so you don't have to do the scan/PS bit to see how they look in B&W.

Thanks for the responses,

 

I could probably get into the church for some meter readings...if I had a meter :-/ (might have one by the time of the wedding... depends on when I get my refund checks from school...) but I guess I could use my camera's TTL meter.. it's better than nothing

 

The main reason I want to use the Kodak B&W400 is because it is c-41, AFAIK there are no labs here to do the true B&W work (I live in a very small area)so I'd probably have to mail them off, something i'd rather not do.

 

As far as me staying out of the way of the hired, yea I'll try, I'll not be jumping in front of his lens or anything or sneaking into the formal shots and what not.. But I do plan on getting the shots I want while trying to stay out of his way

If you don't want to spend the money on a light meter yet (I recommend you get one eventually) then go and buy a grey card (about $5-$10) and take a reading of that through your camera. Also, rate your film at about 250-320. It adds a little room for error and increases the contrast a tad. I usually rate at 250 fwiw.

I know you don't really want to use T-Max but I have gotten better results with it, I have shot both B&W films and have gotten better contrast with the T-Max. I like the look of T-Max 3200 rated at 1600, gives you plenty of room for lighting. I do have to rate all my film 1 stop slower to get good ecposure. Since you have a month to play try both. Mailing out is a hassel but for your own satisfaction before you try a fast grainy film you might want to test it out first. I am not a proffesional so please take what I say with a grain of salt

 

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The Kodak chromogenic films are a better fit with th eminilabs both in terms of having the orange mask for better printing and the bar codes for easire system control, frame imprinting on the thumbnail, little extras like that. Otoh if you are going to be printing it yourself, I woul use a more tradiitonal chromogenic like XP-2.