Best film for indoors

Im takeing a trip to Indianapolis this weekend for a motorcycle show I would

like to use my 1A but it is all indoors and flash is not an option it is all

floresent lighting what would be the best film to use for these conditions? I

would allso like to take some outdoor shots day and night Would asa 400 work

out ok for this??You all do this for a living any guestimate would help for my

ancient equipment..

Fujifilm Neopan 1600, Ilford Delta 3200, or Kodak TMZ 3200, in that order, and a good light meter. Expose at ISO=640. For outdoors use a medium yellow filter.<P>For color use a digital camera and flash.

<i>For color use a digital camera and flash.</i>

<p>

Well said. I will second that.

For color, Fuji Professional 800Z. But an f/3.5 lens is sure a limitation in this application. Expect lots of motion blur, but you'll get crisp colors with this film, and the Fuji films tolerate that sort of non-incandescent lighting better.

 

You're going to have to overexpose anything shot outside on the 800Z, but it can take it. (1/500 at f/18 is overexposing in bright sun.)

 

As for flash, it's going to take a beast of an electronic flash to throw light far enough to mean anything at an arena. About as pointless as all the audience folks using the teeny flash on their P&S cameras at a baseball or football game.

Drew, I shoot Ilford Delta 3200 at 1600 with my 3.5 elmar -- works for me with similar conditions you describe. By the way, do you have the Leitz rangefinder "stick" on your 1A?

Drew, I've noticed you mostly shoot colour. Therefore I would recommend Fujifilm Superia

800 (known where I am as "Venus"). It's an excellent film for night/indoors with only

artificial light. Here's a Leica-shot <a

href=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/2254801890_0cd5325665_b.jpg>example</a

> that was taken in what I guess will be similar conditions. Most of<a

href=http://flickr.com/photos/japanscape/sets/72157603307062576/show/>

these</a> were shot with the same film. Don't bother with a flash.

 

<P>For black & white use one of them digital Ricoh GR things.

<<Flash is not an option>>

 

If you're trying to shoot color, including digital, flash could be a nightmare. You'll end up

mixing light sources and the resulting color likely won't look natural. So I agree on that

point.

 

For color, so long a you're not looking to capture action, the Fuji 800 film should work

nicely. 400 will be a bit slow for your needs, I think. The fuji neg handles flourescent and

mixed light well, and the results should be opleasing.

 

For black and white. I've always liked tri-x, but it might be a bit slow for your needs. So I

would try kodak TMZ 3200. Shoot it at 800 if the light is sufficient, otherwise move up to

1600.

Do you have a string monopod? If not, make one for yourself (search here ..) and you will

gain another stop of hand holdability beyond the high ISO film.

Clive, great photos. Anyone compare Fuji 800Z w/ Superia 800? The former is a bit more

expensive, but I always thought it was good for indoor artificial lighting.

Have fun. For the next time, and if you are using colour film, I would invest in a

fluorescent correction filter (FL-D).

When you guys pull Neopan and Ilford, how do you develop it? At the rated speed (1600 or

3200) or the pulled speed?

 

Thanks.

 

Mikal

Mikal, developed in Pyro (PMK), the "real" speed of 640 seems about right for Neopan 1600.

Drew

 

Try Fuji Superia 1600. It's a surprisingly good film.

I like to use TX400 @400ISO developed on D76, if I need more speed I go for TMZ3200 @800ISO developed on XTOL.

 

Usually, standard or listed developing times are too much developing to my taste.

Delta 400 pushes very well to 800 using ID-11... you can barely tell... nice stuff.

If the show is well lit, I bet normal-processed 400 speed film and a reasonably fast lens of f2 or better will suit.

400 speed film is the fastest film that can be comfortably used both indoors and out. If you look at studies of film grain vs. sharpness vs speed, you also find that certain makes of 400 speed film are almost as fine-grained as 100 and 125 speed films, and that if you go above 400, you start to lose sharpness and grain performance very quickly. So, in a lot of ways, I tend to see 400 as the sweet-spot. Performance deteriorates quickly if you go higher, and going two stops slower adds little. If you go color print, you also find that you don't need to fuss so much about color temperature indoors and out.

It's all a matter of taste, of course, but I would politely disagree with Frederick's comment. I

think there are some great 800 asa films out there and, as I said before, Fuji Superia 1600 is

worth checking out, or not.<div></div>

I used TMZ at various settings developped in Tmax (Kodak's recomendations) that was fine, f3;5 seems heresy to me...

There are some great 800 speed films out there, and I keep a small stock of Superia 1600 in my fridge along with 5 years worth of Superia 400 and Agfa 400. It is about taste, but it's also about objective quantification. Consider the following curves for Superia and Agfa where each incremental RMS relative grain number indicates a doubling in graininess. (Source: Modern Photography)

 

 

Superia 100 Grain RMS 4 Resolution 125 lpm

 

Reala 100 Grain RMS 4 Resolution 125 lpm

 

Superia 200 Grain RMS 4 Resolution 125 lpm

 

Agfa 200 Grain RMS 4.3 Resolution 130 lpm

 

Superia 400 Grain RMS 4 Resolution 125 lpm

 

Prof 400 NPH Grain RMS 4 Resolution 100 lpm

 

Agfa 400 Grain RMS 4.5 Resolution 130 lpm

 

Superia 800 Grain RMS 5 Resolution 115 lpm

 

Superia 1600 Grain RMS 7 Resolution 90 lpm

 

PRESS 1600 Grain RMS 7 Resolution 90 lpm

 

 

Relative grain is flat from 100 to 400 and resolution is flat from 100 to 400. Grain DOUBLES just one stop faster, and resolution drops 8 pct. At 1600, grain is EIGHT TIMES that at 400, and resolution drops 28 per cent. 400 is the inflection point where the curve starts doing the hocky-stick and performance begins to deteriorate at an increasing rate.

 

In my view, one stop difference in speed isn't worth the inconvenience of carrying two types of film, but two stops might be, and the trade-off in performance is so stark that you KNOW what you are getting and what you are giving up.

Andrew, that's a beautiful morning shot. <P>There's also Fujifilm's Natura 800 & 1600,

although I've found the 1600 overly grainy. Drew, I'd be interested to know what you go with

and am looking forward to seeing some of the results.

The guy at the photo store talked me into the fuji superia 1600 probably because thats all they had but he also recomended shooting it at 1200 does this sound about right..following is my bare bones setup I will be takeing Im such a glutton for punishment..Thank you all so much for your advice..<div></div>

Frederick,

 

Thanks for those figures. Of course, the 1600 has grain but, IMHO, it's beautiful as opposed

to coarse and I am not normally a fan of grain. This is why I called Superia 1600 'surprisingly

good'.

The Fuji Professional 800Z is excellent, especially under fluorescent light conditions.

Drew, be aware that over-exposing film is a guaranteed method for increasing grain. If 1600 speed film has eight times the grain of 400 with proper processing, over-exposure will degrade its performance even further. I'm not knocking Superia 1600 ... I love Superia and I use the 1600 somewhat regularly, but you must be aware of its limitations. I suggest you shoot a couple of test rolls before taking it to subjects that count. If you are satisfied with the results, go for it! Happy snaps.