Best film for Grand Canyon?

[claytontullos]

I am going to the Grand Canyon, specifically the Tanner Trail on the

South Rim. I would like to hear suggestions as to what type of film to

use. I am a relativly inexperienced, I would take to heart any

suggestions you might have.

 

The Camera that I will be using is a Canon Elan 7n with a 50/1.8 lens.

 

I will be there for about 5 days.

[alan_chan4]

Velvia 50 (rate at 32 or 40) + tripod.

[steve_levine]

Velvia 50? Didnt they stop making that two years ago?

[alan_chan4]

Still available in many parts of the World.

[vrankin]

Answer depends on your final form. A naturalist at the Grand Canyon told us that with the extreme ranges of light most people do best with a slower color print film. I'm wondering whether Velvia 50 rated lower wouldn't blow out highlights. I'm interested in seeing some of Mr. Chan's Velvia work. Could he direct us to a link?

[nanziano]

I process film from the canyon all day long. The best film in my opinon is the Velvia 100.

I really like the 50 but sometimes it is too magenta. The new 100 doeasn't see to have

this same magenta overcast. It's reds are very true and that id what you need in the

canyon. I say try some of both.

[david_henderson]

"Velvia 50? Didnt they stop making that two years ago?"

 

I suspect you know this isn't right. They promised to make the film available through 2005 and seeing as I can still buy fresh stock, I guess they've done that. The longest date I have is 10/2006.

 

If you are going to use slide film in the Grand Canyon and you're not very experienced with it, make sure you take a neutral density grad filter so you can even up the exposure necessary for sky and ground.

[gary_watson]

Keep in mind that that the Canyon looks very different depending on the time of day. What's muted at midday can look very vibrant at sunrise/sunset. I'd go with a neutral looking film for midday and something with bumped-up saturation for early/late shooting. You didn't state a preference for print or slide, though. Which?

[Glenn McCreery]

I have been on three private river trips through the Grand Canyon and have shot several dozen 35mm rolls each trip using a Canon F1 and a Nikonos II underwater camera, which fits nicely under a life jacket(as well as Super-8 movies, using Kodachrome, on the first two trips). On the first two trips in the 80's, I shot Kodachrome 64 exclusively, which worked fairly well. On the most recent trip, in 1999, I shot both Velvia and Kodak Gold 200. Guess which one worked best? Gold 200, by far! The reason is that the contrast in the canyon, and especially in the side-canyons is usually extreme. Most landscapes and river running photos will have both sun-lit sections and deep shadows. So the combination of wider exposure latitude and faster speed favors negative film. Of course, if you confine yourself to well sun-lit areas near the rim with stationary subjects, Velvia would be the better choice. This question has diverted my attention from work and I will now stare at the several 11x14 enlargements of the last trip that I have hanging on my office wall and contemplate how I can find another private Colorado river trip to invite myself on. Next time I will bring the F1, the Nikonos, my Fuji GS645S medium format rangefinder camera plus a small digital camera and shoot nothing but negative film, including lots of 120 Ilford XP2 black and white which has wider exposure latitude than conventional B&W, and digital. What I would really like to do is take along a 4x5 view camera and lots of Tri-X on a river trip, but that would be rather impractical unless someone reading this post has a private permit and would like my river running and photographic expertise.

[flying_tiger]

I just went to Grand Canyon South Rim this May and here is a link to a couple of photos I took.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=541595

 

I used Velvia 50(120 format) for most of my shots and a few rolls of Kodak 100VS, Provia 100F on a tripod with MLU. Beautiful results! You may also want to try a roll of Scala 200 B&W slide. Very nice!

 

Bring plenty of films with you. I burnt almost 40 rolls of 120 format on my trip to Vegus, Grand Canyon, Antelop Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. There is nothing that can compare to a 120 format slide projected on a 60x60 inch screen.

[jordan2240]

Clayton,

 

As an all-around nice film, I always liked Fuji NPH (or whatever it's called now). The 400 speed will give you a lot of flexibility, and as a lower contrast film, it might help with shooting in the harsher midday light so you don't have to be real particular with your setup. Colorwise, I always found NPH to be very pleasing. Just make sure you get it processed at a lab that knows what they are doing with it; otherwise, you may well lose a lot of shadow detail because of the tendancy to process film at a high contrast setting (like Walmart does).

 

Have a great time.

 

Bill

[claytontullos]

Well I would like to make some decent sized enlargements and from what I understand slide film is better for that. However, I am afriad to mess up the exposures and ruin the slides.

[ichavel]

Probably the most important question is: Are you taking a tripod or not?

If yes, there are loads of options, as stated above. If not, then the NPH is excellent, as just suggested.

 

If your saying that you are relatively inexperienced is not just an exercise in modesty, but is closer to reality, then my suggestion is to keep it as simple as possible. NPH for hand-held and a slower but wide latitude print film (to handle the high contrasts) for the tripod.

 

Worry about enlargements later. You'll easily be able to go to 8x12, even 12x18 (for the truly spot on shots).

 

Most of all, enjoy.

[claytontullos]

Yes, I am planning on taking my light weight tripod with me.

[bill_tuthill]

For the Grand Canyon with all its red-rock, I would choose Kodak

Ultra Color 400 (400UC) instead of NPH, due to 400UC's stronger

red response. Both are as fine grained as most 100 speed films.

You can get a good deal on 4-packs of 400UC at Walmart.

[25asa]

You'd want a film with latitude, high color saturation, and lower contrast. This basically sums up Fuji Reala 100. Velvia is good, but the contrast may be a problem in extreme sunlight to dark situations. Keep in mind that there is a haze that covers the canyon which makes getting decent shots difficult, so a high color saturation film plus polarizer is a must.

[jordan2240]

Clayton,

 

Bill T. has more film knowledge in his little finger than I have in my whole body, so I wouldn't hesitate to follow his advice. I believe the Kodak also may have the advantage of being easier for most labs to develop. Past discussions have noted that the Fuji requires a Fuji Frontier or Agfa lab for best results, while Kodak does ok on most machines. I shot both NPH and UC on a Williamsburg trip once, had them developed on an Agfa machine, and couldn't really pick a favorite. The Kodak did have a bit more contrast though, if I remember correctly. Perhaps you can shoot a roll of both before you go (should you decide to use 400 speed film), and judge for yourself.

 

Bill

[joseph_smith3]

If you use slide film, make sure you get the built in camera meter checked by a local repair shop before you go. Many camera meters can be off by as much as one full f stop. With slide film, one third of a stop can make a difference between proper exposure and under or over exposure. If checking the meter is not possible, they bracket your exposures for those really good shots.

 

I prefer Velvia 50 rated at 50 to get those beautiful saturated colors especially in the morning and late afternoon. I would also take some Provia F100 especially for when the sun is out during the day. It handles contrasty light better than Veliva. Also use some of the new Velvia 100 or Velvia 100F. Try out the films before you go and bracket to get an idea as to what you like with that particular camera and lighting conditions. You need to know if your camera will expose the scene properly before you get there.

 

Bracket means to take the same image but at a different exposure, usually underexposing by one third of a stop or one half a stop. Or overexposing by the same margin.

 

Definitely use a tripod and get a double bubble for your flash shoe to get those horizons absolutely level. Also use your lens hood at all times. I would have a warming filter on the lens, an 81A or an 81C. If it is a B+W filter, a KR 1.5 or a KR 3.0. Joe Smith

[nolan_ross]

Since you are relatively new to photography I would skip the slide film. A good print film would be very adequate. I would suggest Fuji Reala. It has good color, nice skin tones and is inexpensive to purchase. It is a fine grain film and will enlarge very nicely. You can have very nice prints made and also you could have your pictures placed on a CD for computer use or to fiddle with in Photo Shop or some other program like that. There are many other films that are nice also but Fuji Reala is a very good all around film. Enlargement from 35mm film does have limits but with the excellent lens that your are using and a tripod you should be able to go to 11x14 very well. Some people like to overexpose routinely but I prefer to make that decision on a shot by shot basis. Have fun and shoot lot's of film. If you are taking shots of family try to move in close for a light reading and then back off some to avoid getting tricked by back lighting.

[randrew1]

I was very pleased with Kodak HD 200 (It was Royal Gold 200 at the time). I have a 20x30 print on the wall from one of my shots. Here is my illustrated trip report from 2002:

 

http://home.rochester.rr.com/andrewsfamily/GrandCanyonTrip.html

[claytontullos]

I ended up buying 6 Velvia 100 rolls. I do however have 5 rolls of Gold 200, I can use those as back up.

 

 

Any particular setting's (shutter/f-stop) recomendations?

[claytontullos]

My mistake, I bought Reala.

[bill_tuthill]

Most people feel Velvia 100 (non-F) is brighter than Velvia 50 as

rated but darker than Velvia 50 at EI 40. For the best scenes, you

might want to bracket 1/3 stop over and under. I'm glad you got

Reala because Gold 200 is very grainy for its speed. Don't bother

bracketing Reala Superia, it has wide exposure latitude. Hopefully

it will be clear and breezy, but if it's not, a polarizer and a

haze filter are the only way to combat coal-burning haze, and they

don't really help much.

[claytontullos]

I hope that too, but I already have a polarizing filter which I leave attached.

[nolan_ross]

Any particular setting's (shutter/f-stop) recomendations?

 

Decide that on a shot by shot basis. f16=maximum depth of field or maximum in-focus related to depth. f1.8 minimum depth of field. Probably more scenic shots are done at f11 to bring in sharpness and in focus throughout a maximum range but you have to decide what would capture your shot. Running water looks good at less than 1/15th of a second. It gives a nice movement to it. Use your tripod for sure with speeds under 1/30th. Every shot will be the best with a tripod but you may not want to do that especially if you are with someone that wants to keep moving.