Shooting in a church w/no flash

[nikon grrl. . .]

Hi everyone! I had a question regarding shooting with high speed

film, which i've never done before. i'm getting my dog blessed

tomorrow, and would like to take pictures of the service. it's in st.

john the divine, which gets pretty dark. would 3200 ilford film be

good? and what difference would i see if i shot it at 1600 vs. 6400,

which i see people here doing. how do i know where to set it?! any

answers are super duper appreciated! thanks : )

[aravind raman]

You carry different rolls, and check the lighting.. and see for yourself what shutter speed you need.. you can set the ISO @ the church

 

Aravind

[frank.schifano]

You need at leat 1/30 sec with a wide to normal angle lens to get decent hand held photos. Use the fastest film you've got and set your EI accordingly. Fix things up in the darkroom with appropriate development. I'd say carry some Delta 3200 or TMZ for the job. A fast prime lens is a must. Forget the consumer grade zoom lenses. They are usually f/4 or F/5.6 at best, slower when used at their longest focal length, and are just too slow for the job.

[philip_glass]

I had the same miserable conditions a couple of years ago. Fortunately, the couple were illuminated in a spot. I couldn't get close enough to use a wide lens so I used a 200/f2.8 lens wide open at 1/60th. I shot Fujipan 1600 at 1600 and used a monopod to steady the lens. I got a few good shots though they didn't look good enlarged beyond 8x10. As I remember I developed the film in DDX, though I would now probably use XTOL. In my opinion, for 35mm, Fujipan 1600 is better than both Ilford and Kodak's 3200 speed films because it offers snappy contrast and slightly more pleasant grain. I think the stuff would look awful if pushed to more than 1600. You might also investigate "hypered film" which you can buy from Edmund Scientific.

[stephen hazelton]

I'd avoid shooting it at 6400 unless you just had to. It helps if you're familiar with your camera enough to know slowest shutter speeds you can shoot at reliably. I'd vote for a fast lens wide open (or close to it) with the film at 1600 or so, rather than a slow lens with film at 6400.

 

Now, why a church would bless a dog but prohibit flash photography is beyond me, but that wasn't the question...

[darkprints]

Tri-X + tripod.

[ned1]

Try a monopod and cable release.

[h._p.]

"You need at leat 1/30 sec with a wide to normal angle lens to get decent hand held photos."

 

I and many others have hand held down to 1/8 of a second or even longer with good results. It depends on the subject, the camera, the photographer and the technique. Blanket statements of this nature are less than helpfull and need to be carefully qualified in order not to mislead.<div></div>

[jtk]

With a 50mm lens on 35mm you can reliably shoot at 1/15 if you're careful and if you shoot enough careful frames at 1/4 you're likely to get a few good ones. You probably don't want a shorter lens if you want to emphasize the doggie.

 

Alternative suggestion: A religion that likes nature and daylight.