What print film for Sunset/Sunrise

Since my final product will be a print, I was thinking that it makes sense to use print film.

I have used Sensia 100 and Elite II 100 with great slide results but converting to a print

is costly. I would like to cut down on the experimentation of trying this print film and that...

could someone recommend a few that would give good results for this subject?

I was thinking Fuji Reala 100 or perhaps Kodak Royal Gold 25.

 

<p>

 

Thanks,

Dennis

 

<p>

 

PS I do realize that with Sunsets and such processing is critical, but that notwithstanding

what print films should I consider?

I'm not a print film user - I maybe shoot a couple of rolls a year, but since printing is such an

important factor in the final image, I'm not so sure it matters all that much. I assume you

wouldn't want to use Vericolor if you want saturated images, but apart from that, why not

go for a slow, very fine grain film? Royal Gold 25 sounds like a good bet, but I'd think that

any of the current "regular" Kodak/Fuji emulsions would be fine, depending on whether you

prefer the green or yellow box! You might want to

check out the <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/film.html">

photo.net film page</a>

 

<p>

 

I expect that getting the processing you want might be a good deal more difficult than getting

the right film. With a slide, you have a reference, but with a negative you don't.

 

<p>

 

I'd also question whether printing from a slide is all that much more costly then printing from

a negative. It depends on what kind of print you want and where you get the work done. A

contrast masked Cibachrome, will be more expensive than a machine print from a negative,

but it may look better too. On the other hand, for a high contrast scene (which sunsets often

are), it might be easier to get a good print from a negative than a slide.

It depends what you mean by "good results." I wouldn't say that I've ever gotten "good results" from a straight sunset on print film, or at least not if I was trying to capture both landscape and sky simultaneously. If you're willing to use a graduated neutral density filter to bring the contrast more in line with what photographic paper can hold then Royal Gold 25 or Reala will be fine.

If you want to get a decent print of something like a sunset, you really have to do your own darkroom work - and this is anything but cheap. Cibachrome starts to look quite reasonable.

 

<p>

 

Another idea is to shoot the sunset on Sensia RD100 or E100S or whatever slide film you have mastered for these scenes, and shoot the print film in a second body at the same time. Swap the same lens to the second body and adjust your exposure to accomodate the difference between your print film and slide film ISO ratings. Then you will have a negative AND a slide for your processing lab to work toward.

 

<p>

 

If you don't have two bodies, an interneg or cibachrome really isn't really that big a deal. I wouldn't characterize conversion of a slide to a print as "costly" in the grand scheme of the photographic hobby.

Being strickly and amateur who uses nothing but print film, I can certainly recommend Royal Gold 25. I also shoot 6x7 Medium format and in my opinion RG 25 in 35mm comes very close to the tonal, color, and grain qualities of 120 film. I have never used Reala in 35mm, but in 120 I like it. However, I don't believe that it has quite the color saturation the RG 25 has. The main thing to consider when working with print film is that if you don't do your own printing, find a lab that is willing to work with you in getting the colors and exposure on the print to what you feel is right.

I shoot quite a bit of print film and several sunsets. I have used both kodak and Fuji with good results. I like to shoot when the sky is at a darker point. I use 400 so I can get detail in the dark clouds, plus some of the bright colors. I have gotten shoots where you can see the red lines (for example) in all the differnt textures of the clouds, cool stuff. Plus, now that Kodak/Fuji is making 400 film with APS tech, it just get better and better. I also overexpose by 1/2 to 1 1/2 stops to help saturate the colors and pickup that royal blue sky, you can see it, I have a few shoots of it. Hope this helps, Good luck!