N75 and tmax 3200

[avellan]

Hello all. Had a party last night and I didn't want to use my hassy since I wanted to have

fun and just be able to snap away. Didn't want to deal with metering. So I

used my Nikon n75 and bought tmax 3200 film figuring it was going to be low lit and I

wanted to have as much latitude as possible. Also I just wanted the camera to be on auto

mode and use its auto focus. But I didn't want the flash to go off since I really don't like

the flash look in photos. Hence why I picked the 3200 film. Well, my first doubt as to

something was wrong was when I took the first picture - the flash went off. OK - now I

had a choice, either switch to another mode and force the flash to be disabled or stick with

the flash hoping the camera was smart and it knew what it was doing. I went with the flash

cause I didn't want to risk the pictures not coming out. So here is my dilemna. What is

going to come out? Should I do a clipping test to make sure or is everything all right.

 

Don't understand why the camera felt it needed flash for 3200 film. I am so used to a

complete manual system of things - measure for exposure in a controlled lighting

situation and take the picture with my hassy. with the n75's auto settings I feel stupid. Not

sure of when auto settings will not work. I know I need more time with this camera to

learn it, but I bought it as my own point and shoot. So should I have doubts? or should I

just take it to the lab and get it developed. BTW I only go to Duggal since I never had

problems

with them. I never go to a local walgreen type shop to touch my film. Thanks for any help.

[elliot]

Taking into consideration the fact that you don't like the flash look, I would have used bounce flash off of the ceiling, and normal speed film. It helps to know your camera, whatever the case. Just use it more, and then, in the future, you can just nap away like you said you wanted to. I don't know what to say about your results. Since you don't know what to expect, if it was color, I'd just say "screw it" and bring it to a cheap lab, but cheap labs don't do b/w, they only do c41.

[elliot]

"nap away" = "snap away"

[mskovacs]

What exposure was the camera suggesting? How fast is your lens? The general rule for handholding is shutter speed 1/focal length of lens or faster. Sometimes I find myself in the 1/30 f/1.4 range with 1600 speed film. Shots are hit and miss in this range with a 50mm lens, especially with an SLR.

 

You have to be careful with flash and high speed films. If you don't stop down, your flash may not be able to cut the output fast enough to prevent overexposure.

 

Good luck with the processing. High speed films are not easy to develop and I doubt tmax 3200 is really 3200 without a push.

[chris haake]

I assume you put the camera on "auto" mode, which will select flash for you. If you use "program" mode, the camera will recommend flash but the flash unit will not pop up automatically. Program and auto are basically the same thing, the differences being that with program you have to manually activate flash but you have the flexibility of changing aperture and shutter speed via the command dial.

 

Also, what lens did you use? A 35 f2 or 50 f1.8/f1.4 would be ideal for this situation; I've also heard very good things about Sigma's 28 f1.8's, which I'm thinking about picking up myself. If you don't have any of these, they can be had used pretty cheaply.

[avellan]

Mike, the camera was using I believe 1/60 f5.6.

 

Chris, I was using the Sigma 70 - 300mm F4-5.6 macro zoom and you are correct it was

on full auto.

 

So I guess I will have to so a clipping test. But can someone explain as to why there was

flash used anyway since the film was fast. I read a lot of good things about the N75 and

that is why I bought it as my fun camera. Don't understand why it didn't recognize that the

film was fast.

 

And Elliot you are right have to play with it more. Just thought I covered all bases with the

choice of film so I can just snap away.

 

Thanks everyone.

[chris haake]

Ivan, the camera used flash because, fast though the film might have been, your shutter speed as metered was below 1/90 sec. If that is the case, the camera would "rather" use flash. Had a fast piece of glass been mounted on the camera, it would have skipped the flash.

 

Also, the automatic flash function of the camera's programming probably assumes people want to use around f5.6 or f8. Obviously, the camera can't understand what you're trying to accomplish, so it has to guess, and its guess is often somewhere in the "medium" aperture range. Therefore, now that I think about it, the camera still might have wanted to use flash even with fast glass. But like I said, if you skip "auto" and go with "program" mode (or M, A, and S, for that matter), you won't have to worry about it.

[armando_roldan]

I think you are making a bigger deal out of this than is called for. SO you think you screwed up? have it developed and deal with it. Last year I was in Australia and shot 6-8 rolls of Fuji, Scala slide and Velvia and 3200 T-Max. I shot the T-max first and manually changed the asa to 6400...AND NEVER SET IT BACK FOR REST OF THE FILM

 

Now that is something to stress about.

[chris haake]

Armando, Ivan is just trying to learn how to use his camera. Nothing wrong with that.

[avellan]

Thank you Chris.

 

Armando - yes I do have to deal with it and I will have to work with my lab so I can save

the pictures. However, the reason I posted this question was for insight as to why the

camera behaved this way. Like I mentioned, I am used to shooting completely manually on

my hassy. I don't even use any flash or strobes - only hotlights. When I shoot with the

hassy I have to think everything through. I was hoping the nikon would have taken away

some of the thinking being that I definitely was going to be sloshed. I took a lot of of good

pictures and I want to save them, hence the post. I don't use this camera regularly and I

don't know it. I assumed some features would work a certain way and we all know what

assuming means. And yes I would have been stressed about what happened to you, but I

am sure someone out there has a worse story to tell. So thanks anyway for the insight.