Film question in low light?

[ernie_tangalakis]

What is the best low light no flash color film to use in a dark

church. I have tried fuji 800 and it looked bad. To dark. If you use

this film what is a general manual setting to make this film work? Or,

what other choices are there. I like to use kodak portra 400 with

flash thru out the whole wedding and reception if possible.

[EricM]

NPZ 800 is the top of the line. Or a 5D at 3200 iso looks better than any 400iso print film...

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3774768&size=lg

[EricM]

"If you use this film what is a general manual setting to make this film work?"

 

camera/meter set 500iso for N (800)dev, camera/meter set at 1000 or 1250 depending on scene contrast for a +1 push (1600) in dev, camera/meter set at 2000 for a two stop push (3200). but i don't reccomend +2

[blakley]

If you're using Portra 400 during the ceremony, save yourself processing trouble and use Portra 800 when you're not using flash; it prints on the same channel as the 400 and my experiences with it in low light have been good. Under tungsten light unfiltered it gives a very nice reddish-yellow cast; this shot won't give you much to go by for wedding poses, but the hats on the right are the same color black as a tuxedo. 1/60 @ f/2 on Portra 800.<div></div>

[fxdonny]

Actually, for high ISO, DSLR is the answer to me. High ISO film such NPZ 800, can have a nice result if a bit over exposed, so the effective ISO is either 640, 500 or even 400. At the end, it is hard for film to go beyond 640, making a DSLR really attractive in that area. I still like to shoot color film in not so dark area.

[EricM]

Cool photo Bob!

[lex_jenkins]

Even Fuji Superia X-tra 800 is a terrific film for low light shooting. It's the same emulsion as Fuji Press (CZ), it's just not kept in the fridge at pro shops. NPZ is better but both are fine.

 

However, no film can help if it's underexposed. Sounds like the church was simply too dark even for 800 film.

 

There are (or were) faster color films but I haven't seen one I liked. When I need faster film I shoot Delta 3200 or push Tri-X or T-Max 400 to 1600 (sometimes more when I'm feeling daring).

[lou korell]

This question makes me wonder what the heck we've been doing all these years with film in low light? I used to use TMZ 3200 @1600 for extreme low light without flash but didn't have the digital tools to minimize the grain. Of course now you can have the negatives scanned and use a program like Neat Image or Noise Ninja to remove some of the grain. In any case it does look a bit artsy with grain and black & white but sometimes a church can be too dark for even that. Ilford 3200 is also very good and it comes in 120 for medium format shooters. Another problem in some churches is trying to shoot a processional where flash is not allowed and the wedding party enters through extreme backlit doors. Sometimes you just can't open up wide enough. So, you need to find a sweet spot where you can get a little light on the wedding party and the background isn't too ugly (exit signs, etc.)and use wide apertures.

 

That's where digital cameras become a fantastic tool. I shot with my 20D in a very dark church with 1.4 and 1.8 lenses at 1600 & 3200 with very little worry about grain. Even when the processional was backlit with tons of glare I found a place further down the middle of the aisle where I had just enough light to shoot at f2.8 @1600 to get some better exposure and actually see faces!

 

This is a good reason to stop arguing about film vs digital and start praising film AND digital! Use all of the tools necessary to get the images you want.

 

Lou