film recommendation

[jasmine_clark]

I plan on shooting at night a lot and I was wondering what would be the best

film for it. For now it's just 35mm then during the summer when I actually get

a new camera either medium format or large format film.

 

Also any books/guides that would help.

[williams_gallery]

I'm a Kodak man, so I would suggest Tri-X 400 developed in D-76 1:1 and push it (set your ASA to 1600 or even 3200 while shooting, then process for that ASA.) There are data sheets on the internet that will give you the processing times for pushing Tri-X in a number of developers. That way you get an extra 3 stops right off the bat. This is assuming you're not using flash and only using available light at night. If you have real good lighting you may not want to push that far. If you don't like grain, completely disregard my opinion though! :)

[luke_ballard]

I was gonna say exactly what Matthew said in the end of his post, if grain is an issue, you might want to reconsider that.

 

Honestly, when I do night or very low light photography, I use Ilfords HP5 400ISO, or an 800ISO if I really need it. Honestly we need a bit more info from you about your shooting. Are you shooting action, or things that are moving and are you wanting to stop that motion, can you use flash? All of these things are pretty impt. If you arn't shooting motion and just objects and archetechture, then you don't need even 400 or 800 ISO, you could shoot FP4 125ISO on a tripod, but chances are, you arn't doing that. So my reccomendations if you arn't use to push/pull processing and uprating or down rating your film in your camera, then I would maybe stay away from that until you get some practice. 400-800 ISO should do you ok. Just try and use a good lens, like a 1.2 or 2.8, if DOF isn't a huge issue, then you can open those lens' up and get some decent shutter speeds, but it will compromise Depth of Field.

As far as books, Ansel Adams "The Negative" also "The Photographers Handbook" by John Hedgecoe and Alfred A. Knopf, that book will take you from A-Z about film photography and cameras and everything in between.

 

Good Luck and maybe add a few more details about your night shooting so we can offer some more specific advice if you can.

Good Luck! Happy shooting!

 

Luke B.

[fourthst]

As Luke said, more specifics on your style or subject matter would help in answering your question. Based on your comment about the new camera being medium or large format I would guess you would be doing cityscapes or some such thing. If that is the case I would recommend a sturdy tripod and longer exposures. For longer exposures film speed usually become less of an issue. You could also shoot a slower film with improved reciprocity characteristics and almost negate the advantage of a faster film.

[willscarlett]

As Paul said, don't forget reciprocity. Fuji Acros 100 is quite good, needed no corrections for

up to a two minute exposure

[fourthst]

Jasmine you may be interested in this post if you haven't already seen it. <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Ow4e">Link</a>

[the world in black white]

I cast my vote for Fuji Acros 100 for the same reasons mentioned by John-Paul.

[jim_appleyard]

A hand-held light meter (Gossen Luna-Pro; ebay) can give you shutter speeds up to 8 hours. That's quite a bit more than your in-camera meter can do. Just a nice tool to have on-hand.

[machts gut]

If your subject allows a tripod, use one and you won't need to push your film. Sometimes it can be good to shot not at night, but at dusk or dawn. In b&w you can adjust the grey and blacks so you'll get dark skies, but it enables you to get more details and handle the contrast better.

[grain]

...But the great yellow father has turned his face away from his children. Stick to Fuji.

Neopan SS gave me this last week:

Neopan SS, ?11 15seconds.

ID-11 1:3 80˚f 9:45sec.<div></div>

[grain]

Last line should read f-11, 15 seconds. ID-11, 1:3, 80 Degrees Fahrenheit, 9min 45sec.

 

PDN's html doesn't like Mac key options I guess.

[john_elder1]

I don't do night photography. However, I know what i would do if I was going to do it. "Pushing" film (underexposing and overdeveloping film)should be a last resort to aquire an image, because it will result in a loss of shadow detail. If you are shooting on a tripod, there is probably no reason to push the film. What you want to do is follow the old maxim, expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights. Since you have an incredibly high contrast situation in most night sceens that are artificailly lit, you want a long exposure to expose for the shadows. However, NORMAL development will totally blow out the highlights. Solution: less than normal development, contraction, often refered to as N-1, ot N-2. Shadow detail is what enables a negative to be printed well. A good spot meter would help to determine the contrast range of the scene.

[larrydressler]

Get a bulk loader and a 100 foot roll of Plus-X or Tri-X HP4+ and HP5+ are just as good. D-76 and shoot away.

 

Larry

[ted_gofferenger]

I wouldn't use a highspeed film at night, I would use a tripod and a slow speed film.

 

If you leave the shutter open long enough you can eventually turn nighttime into daytime.

 

I'd suggest FP4

[jasmine_clark]

I completely forgot to say what I was shooting.

 

I plan on shooting landscapes at night in the desert during full moon. Probably some cityscapes also.

[robert_landrigan]

If shooting landscapes and such, then I'd experiment a bit. Try a roll of FP125 or TMAX100 -

being careful of reciprocity failure, and then try a roll of TMAX 400 or TriX or HP5+, etc -

something in the 400 range.

 

If you want to shoot cityscapes handheld, which is sometime required and ofttimes safer,

Neopan 1600 or Neopan 400 shot at 1600 is a fun, fun look, almost film noir. The really

high-speed films like Delta 3200 or Tmax 3200 are probably too low contrast and grainy for

what you want.

[willscarlett]

There are some good films and recommendations here, but I'd still say to go for Fuji Acros

100 for what you're talking about shooting. It's a great film and its biggest plus for

working at night is that you won't need to correct for any reciprocity as long as your

exposures are two minutes or less. Even tho your camera is on a tripod, be careful for

wind... you never know what slight motions could blur your image during a long exposure.

 

Besides that, suppose you want to shoot at f/5.6 for good depth of field. Suppose Acros

says your exposure time is 2 minutes, so you shoot for two minutes. Now for argument's

take, suppose you're shooting Agfa 25, where you would have to compensate an

additional two stops for that long of an exposure. If I'm thinking properly, that two minute

exposure now becomes an 8 minute exposure, providing you want the depth of field of

shooting at f/5.6. You could always open your lens to a f/2.8. Suppose you wanted to

shoot at f/8, then your shot becomes a 16 minute exposure.

 

Not all films have reciprocities that severe, but definitely look into the reciprocity of the

film you choose!

[oistrakh]

As most of the posters have suggested, since you are using a tripod and shooting things that aren't moving too much, you only have two things you really need to worry about:

 

1. Reciprocity failure of the film. As others have mentioned, Fuji Acros 100 is an excellent film in this regard. I would highly not-recommend Ilford films for this type of photography because the reciprocity failure of most Ilford films is really bad.

2. Controlling contrast. Pushing film is the last thing you want to do in this situation, because you already have high contrast in your scene (the moon is far far brighter than the desert landscape it is illuminating). What you probably want to do is try to LOWER the contrast of the scene. If you know zone system, then (as John mentioned) you will probably be doing N-1/N-2 development after you have exposed for the shadows. If you don't know zone system, try PULLING your film: overexpose your film by setting the ISO lower than the film's rating, then underdevelop the film by 20% or whatever is recommended for your film. In either case, it will be important that you expose for the shadows. If the scene has extremely high contrast, you may even want to do semi-stand or stand development.

 

Chris

[maddog50]

I used Ilford HP5 at 400 asa for 1 min and 45 secs for this attachment f/32<div></div>

[fourthst]

Jasmine,

 

Landscape, cityscape it is all the same. Just do it and make the appropriate adjustments as you go along.