ISO 200 film quality

[paul_di_biase]

Like many amateurs I enjoy photographing wildlife. But I am finding that the combination of relatively slow lenses like my 400mm f/5.6, slow films (ISO 100), and reduced light (clouds, early and late in the day) gives me shutter speeds that won't stop the motion of the subject. I am already using a sturdy tripod and ballhead and I just can't afford the the f/4 or f/2.8 lenses that would allow me to use higher shutter speeds. Therefore, I am considering moving up to an ISO 200 film in order to be able to shoot at higher shutter speeds.

 

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I am considering Fuji Sensia 200, Ektachomre Elite II 200 and Kodachrome 200. How do the ISO 200 slide films compare to each other in terms of sharpness and grain? Did I leave out any better alternatives?

[russ_arcuri]

I've heard it said that Elite II 100 pushed a stop to 200 is better than most ISO 200 slide films. I haven't tried it though. It sounds to me like you're going to need more than one stop in those lighting conditions though.<p>

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You might try shooting some Fuji Super G 400 neg film. It has remarkably fine grain for ISO 400 film, and vivid colors. Super G 800 is one of my favorite films, because it's a stop faster still, with only slightly more grain -- almost unnoticeable.

[Brian P Bower CamraScapes]

I assume you want to use slide film for publication. Even as the quality of 200 speed films improves, they still do not match the 100 speed films for quality. If you cannot justify the expense of the fast super tele's, just try to shoot alot more 100 speed film. You will trash most but the ones you keep will make your effort worth while. It's much better to have one or two quality keepers from a roll of 36, than to fill your files with alot of mediocre, grainy garbage.

[don_baccus4]

Kodochrome 200 is relatively grainy, but very sharp with (by today's standards) relatively subdued color. I've got a coyote photo on my web site you can check out to get an idea of what I mean by "subdued", though jpegs are useless for evaluating grain. It's at http://donb.photo.net/photo_cd/c/b62.html.

 

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ISO 100 speed Sensia pushes well, and the new E100S and E100SW films are said to, also, though I've not tried these yet myself. The ISO 200 films themselves, unfortunately, don't seem to be a priority of the manufacturers at the moment. Any of these ISO 100 films pushed a stop will show a little increase in grain and contrast, but not bad. Those of us with fast lenses tend to push in situations where there's not much light, like on overcast days, where a little increase in contrast is not necessarily a bad thing. Most working nature photographers I speak to carry Velvia and one or two kinds of ISO 100 film, and freely push when necessary. This may explain why manufacturer's don't pay much attention to ISO 200 films - the professional market is a big chunk of the slide market, and most working photographers don't want to carry several kinds of film,

which perhaps limits the market for these faster films.

 

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The suggestion to burn film at ISO 100 is OK, but there's not much point in doing so if your shutter speed is so low that you know camera shake or subject movement will blur the result.

 

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I suggest you buy a roll of each of the ISO 200 films, and a roll of your favorite ISO 100 films. Push the latter and shoot the former at their rated speed, and compare the results and see which you like better. One advantage of the faster films is that your lab will charge you a $1 or so to push the slower film.

[bob_atkins]

I've tried the available ISO 200 films you mention, plus I've

pushed Fujichrome 100 to ISO 200, and I just keep coming back

to Kodachrome 200. There is just something about it I like.

The grain is significantly more noticable than the grain of

current ISO 100 films and it does have a slight warm tone, but

it is very sharp (i.e. it <em>looks</em> sharp even if the

absolute resolution numbers aren't as high as ISO 100 films).

 

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Of course it is not a saturated color film. I would not use it

for flowers or other subjects where color is the main focus

of the image, but for wildlife (mammals) I like its color

rendition. It does well on "earth tones", but the greens are

often dull. You have to learn just what subjects it does well

on.

 

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In your position, the obvious answer is to buy a roll of each

film and shoot them all on the same day with a variety of

subjects and compare the results. See which <em>you</em> like

best.

[vijay_ramakrishnan]

My standard film for shooting wildlife with my 200mm and 100-300mm

lenses is Kodak 100SW pushed one stop.

To me, the colors have that Velvia-like saturation, and the grain has been better than Elite 200. I would caution you against using it for

people though...it imparts an orange cast to skin tones.

Before I settled on this 200 speed solution, I used Kodachrome 200.

Like some of the other people who have posted answers here, I actually

like the sharp but grainy look it gives to pictures. In fact, if you are after neutral colors, I'd take this option over the pushed 100SW.

[paul_di_biase]

Thanks to all who have offered advice on ISO 200 slide films. I have purchased 4 rolls each of Fujichrome, Ektachrome Elite II, and Kodachrome, all ISO 200 speed. I plan to expose the rolls over the next few months. I only take about 1 roll a week in the winter and spring due to work, lack of daylight and poor working conditions. So it will be a while until I can report back on my conclusions.

 

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I will test them "in the field" since lines per inch resolution type information is available from other sources. I plan to take photos and examine them closely to see which ones come out the best for me.

I'll let you know what I decide and why in case it is of interest to others.

[glen_johnson]

Here's another two cents. Two bad its too late. I don't care for any of the ISO 200 slide films. I would rather push 100 one stop, or just go on and suffer through ISO 400. 50 and 100 aren't close in grain and detail. There is a big degradation when you jump to 200, but not much further change when you go on up to 400.

 

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I recently bought some of the new 200 speed emulsions to see if I would have the same feelings, and I did.

 

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Still, you'll have fun with your experiments. I will look forward to your report, but I would like to see you do some comparisons between straight 200, 100 pushed a stop, and 400. This would be more helpful for you as you decide what you want to do. If you just compare one 200 speed film to another, you will find the best 200 speed film, but you may decide that the best 200 speed film isn't that great when you compare to some of the other options that you have.

[glen_johnson]

Typo. I meant to type that 50 and 100 ARE close in grain and detail. I prefer 100, not just for the extra stop, but also because of what I perceive to be truer color.

[paul_di_biase]

A few weeks ago I promised to report back the results of my test of various ISO 200 films. Here is my preliminatry conclusion. I have tried the following films to date: Fuji Sensia 200, Elite II 200, and Kodachrome 200. I examined several slides taken with each film under an 8x loupe.

 

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I found that while all of the films were very sharp, the Kodachrome 200 produced a visibly superior image. (Hats off to Bob!) It was a bit sharper, and the grain was noticably finer. Even a casual glance under the loupe showed that the grain on Kodachrome was much better. This really gives an impression of sharpness!

 

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I have not tried the Sensia 100 or Elite II 100 pushed to ISO 200 yet. That's why my conclusions are preliminary. When I do I will let you know what I think.

 

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Keep in mind that I am only looking at sharpness and grain structure. I am not evaluating color or any other film qualities.

[glen_johnson]

I spent the day today at a work shop with Maria Zorn. I will review the workshop for photo.net later, but for now, on the film issue, she uses Provia and pushes it one stop for much of her work. She also uses Agfachrome, including their ISO 1000 emulsion - and she also has this pushed one stop quite frequently. Slides taken with the ISO 1000 and pushed were quite grainy, but the slides shot on Provia and pushed on stop were quite nice.

[outdoorphoto]

I have the same problem Bob Atkins has. I REALLY like Kodachrome 200 but have trouble explaining exactly why. Colors are great but I think maybe it's the super sharpness contrasting with the somewhat noticeable grain that makes it so inviting!

 

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As for pushing 100 speed emulsions, I have pushed both E100SW and Sensia 100 one stop with excellent results. I've even pushed Kodaks Elite II 100 *two stops* with some success.

[dan_sapper]

Kodak just announced a new 200 speed Ektachrome.

It's called Kodak Professional E200 Ektachrome. It has stronger color than all previous 200 speed slide films, excellent grain and sharpness. It will push 1, 2, or even 3 (!) stops with phenomenal results.

It was announced this week (10/20/97), so it should be coming to professional dealers now.

[merijn_wijnen]

On a recent trip to Australia I shot sensia 200, elite 200 and elite 100 pushed 1 stop. The difference between the elite 200 and the elite 100 +1 is only slight. Both are good in color and sharpness. However the sensia 200 really a lot less sharp, and much more grainy. Did I get a bad batch?

In Australia slide film is much more expensive than in Europe, and the 200 film is almost 1.5 times the 100 film. So pushing elite 100 did work out very wel for me.

 

Merijn Wijnen

[dan_sapper]

Merijn,

 

In response to your question about the quality of Sensia 200 compared to Elitechrome 200 or 100 (push 1):

 

You probably did not get a bad batch of Sensia 200. It is a very grainy film, really a 400 speed film which has been modified through in-film filtration to be a 200 speed film. If you compare the specifications, you'll find it has the same granularity as Fuji's 400 speed slide films.

 

Elitechrome 200, on the other hand, is a newer generation film with much better granularity and color saturation than the previous Elite II 200. It is a true 200 speed film. Its "professional" counterpart is Kodak Professional E200 Film, which has outstanding push-processing capability up to 3 stops (EI 1000). I like it very much at EI640 with a 2 stop push.

[great lakes photographer]

I have shot airplanes landing taking off and flying at 200 mph with 5.6 and 1/500 and got extremely sharp results with my Fuji Sensia II 100 when you are photographing moving animals wind your body up then follow through following the animal or somthing with your lens and it releves most tension, use this technique with a shoulder brace.

~William

[raul_lithgo]

200 speed films have improve a lot in the last few years. Gold 200 is almost as sharp and grainless as Gold 100. E200 is nearer to its 100 speed brothers than its 400 speed brother. Of course, the Provia F line is setting new standards which I assume will be implemented in the 200 speed group also.