Success with Fuji superia 400 ?

I have now become a full-fledged M6 man (Camera comes tomorrow!!!!)and I am interested to know if anybody uses Fuji superia 400 and what results you have had with it. I used this in my F5 and was pleased with the results this being in the totally automated shooting mode, it was my all-round film day/night and it was pushable without to much grain distortion.

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Do i need to re-think my use for this film in the M6 and if so what should i be doing, shooting from dawn to dusk the leica way ??.

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I will be using the 35/2 ASAP lens.

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Any help in the above would be greatly appreicated

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As a point of interest I find this message board to be excellent and it helped me in the crossover to the M6.

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KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.

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Paul

MISTAKE: Should read ASPH instead of ( As Soon As Possible )i must of

been thinking of the postman coming with my leica tommorow !!!!!!

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Paul

It has become my standard film and I have some nearly grainless 8 X

12 prints made from it. I like it becasue it holds together fine if

I am shooting outside in the sun (which I do rarely)but can also

allow me to shoot at 1/60 f2.8 to 4.0 inside the house during the day

without flash for great natural lighting shots. I found I usually get

better results than with the 200 or 100 speed films for the type of

shooting I do. I usually meter at 320. I also like the new Fuji

NHGII 800 speed film, and don't notice much difference in quality

between it and the 400. By the way, is there an easy way for us to

post photos here like we can at the photo.net site? I often want to

attach an example (so you guys can see I actually do know how to use

my camera) and would be interested in seeing other's images as well.

Not like the image upload capability with photo.net. You can post

images here, but they have to be published on the web some place and

they must be referred to by their URL inside an HTML image tag, or

they can be linked to with their URL inside an HTML link. The people

photography forum has many examples of this.

First posted shot should be required self-portrait so we can see who

all we're talking to...or maybe not.

If you are looking at C-41 film you owe it to yourself to try some

Kodak Portra. I have used the 160 and 400 in both VC (saturated) and

NC (softer color)in 35mm and medium format as well as the 800 in

35mm, and I love them all. I used to use Royal Gold 100, Agfa HDC

400 and Fuji 800. The amazing thing is how little difference in

grain or color saturation there is between the 160 and 400, with the

800 very close behind. Unless you are making huge enlargements

(20x30 or beyond)from 35mm negs, the 400 is a universal film. For

outdoor shots the VC has the color punch of Agfa Ultra with much

greater sharpness and a much broader tonal range. You can shoot the

film at high noon.

I hope your entry into the Leica world is satisfying. Be patent, and

don't expect miracles. You won't reach nirvana on your first roll of

film... there is a bit of a learning curve changing from an SLR.

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I think that in the last ten or so years, one of the best advances in

film has been color print ISO 400 films from both Kodak and Fuji. It

is IMHO better than even 100 ISO, (or ASA back then), from 20 years

ago. I use color slide film for my serious travel type pictures, but

for candids, people is their environment, and semi formal portraits I

use ISO 400 speed print film in both my Nikons and Leicas. I can

produce 11 X 14 inch prints that I don't have to apologize for as far

as grain, and I believe the faster shutter speed or more mid-range

aperture allowed by the extra speed gives me a better image

overall... trading some grain for more optimum settings.

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If I am in Japan, I use Fuji, in the States I go with Kodak. I find

the labs are using the correct color filters for processing in these

locations using this criteria. If you have a good lab, they can

adjust, but some of the 1 hour labs just process everything with

whatever setting is in the machine.

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I also agree with Andrew, and set my meter for ISO 320, giving me a

bit more detail in the shadow area, as well as a bit of grain

reduction.

I think Fuji Superia 400 is a great multi-purpose film, and I prefer

it to Kodak's offerings. I shoot Superia 400 as rated with no

problem. I also like Fuji NPH rated at 250. To tell the truth, I

can't tell much difference between the two, although some users pan

Superia while raving about NPH. To complete my standard film and

processing recommendation, try to locate a lab which prints with a

Fuji Frontier. In terms of print quality, my best results have been

from the combination of Superia or NPH printed with a Frontier on

Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Enjoy your M6!

I like Fuji Reala myself. However just wait until you try B&W (say

TMax 400) with that 35/2 ASPH. It will blow your socks off.

"they must be referred to by their URL inside an HTML image tag, or

they can be linked to with their URL inside an HTML link" I'm not up

on how exactly you do this so that a reader doesn't have to copy the

URL and paste it, but just hits it as a prompt. For example, Here is

a URL of an image I took with window light and the 400 speed Fuji

Superia print film of my 5 year old.

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http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/kyle2001LKYA/$file/kyle2001.jpg

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Exactly how would I enter this so it would be easier for readers to

pull up the image. I apologize if this has already been dealt with

before.

Here is another portrait taken with Fuji NPH, which has less contrast

than the Superia and probably a bit less grain as well.

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http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/DemiJHPQ/$file/Demi.jpg

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I was really happy with the results I got with NPH for portraits, but

liked Superia more for landscapes and other nature shots.

Andrew, those portraits are STUNNING!!! Very beautiful. You can

even see the soft kid-skin-fuzz on the sides of their faces.<p>

OK, here's what you do. You take what you have, that is, the URL,

and make it look like this:<p>

<tt>

<a href="http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/DemiJHPQ/

$file/Demi.jpg">Your Picture</a>

</tt>

should render like:<p>

<a href="http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/DemiJHPQ/$file/Demi.jpg">Your

Picture</a>

Beautiful pics Andrew. What lens were those two portraits taken with

if you don't mind me asking?

Nice work, Andrew. I think these pictures answer the original thread

question better than a thousand words could.

Thanks everyone for some excellent info and images, I am in the

process of putting the first ever film in my M6 a strange experience

to say the least, it seems to have worked (got a tip from Andrews

post on a entertaining view leica M6. Link below.

http://www.butzi.net/reviews/pleated.htm

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After the initial sick feeling of departing with hard earned cash and

lots of it and creeping in with a (look darling an OLD FASHIONED

CAMERA !!!!!) carefully put, she would hit the roof if I told her the

actual cost, maybe leicas are made to look old fashioned so the

photographers that use them get away from the F5 big bodys big lens,

HOW MUCH WAS THAT!!!!!syndrome.

I now feel like a boy at Christmas and im off to shoot the leica.

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Thanks paul