digitalirony

Fair enough Donald,

Though to be fair you didn't give the details of why you could not use a tripod in your earlier post. Personally I find he level of grain in most of the faster films overbearing in (most) landscape shots, but I have used Natura in social settings like pubs and restaurants and prefer it to Supra 800 or the Fuji 800 which I was using before.

I haven't tried the Konica so I can't comment, but if you can get the the Natura (I got mine from Dirk Rösler - http://www.unicircuits.com/shop/) in time for your hike, you may wish to do a side by side comparison with the Konica emulsion (and post your findings of course) before you use it on the hike.

Happy shooting,

Jon

Whilst I like Natura myself I would suggest that as you are shooting landscapes and can use longer exposures than if you were shooting moving subjects, that you get yourself a small light tripod to take on your hike.<BR>

<BR>

A tripod would allow you to use a fine grained slower film

<I>(whatever you prefer - Fuji Superia Reala, Kodak UC100, Agfa Ultra, Velvia, Provia, etc.)</I> and you would be able to set the aperature at whatever you require to achieve the depth of field that you need for your landscape photos.<br>

<br>

Also you could use other, longer lenses to selectively frame your view without worrying about the shutter speeds. It would also allow you to use filters when necessary.<BR>

<BR>

Something cheap and cheerful like the <A href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=247935&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation">Sunpak Compact SXL Tripod with 2-Way Panhead - Supports 3.00 lb (1.36 kg)</A> at only 1.36Kg and only $21.95 may be what you are looking for. There are bound to be

many other options as well.<BR>

<BR>

Whatever your choice I am 100% sure that you will be much happier with your photo if you were to get yourself a tripod and use a slower, finer grained film.<BR>

<BR>

One final thought, if your exposures do get very long <I>(more than a few seconds)</I>, remember to be aware of the possibility of <A

href="http://www.photo.net/learn/nature/reciprocity">reciprocity

failure</A>, and add the correct amount of extra time to counteract it if necessary.<BR>

<BR>

Happy Shooting,<BR>

<BR>

Jon

Hi All,

Well after the excellent results with the Elite Colour 400 I had the Supra 800 processed normally as well - BIG mistake. This roll could definately have benefitted from a push, but at least now I know!

Other thoughts are that without at least a little light in the sky the shots with the Supra 800 wern't really worth taking, much less processing. If I could have got closer to the stage it might have been aanother matter though!

Also the Supra 800 is much grainier than I would like. So I'll probably stick with colour films up to 400 ASA from now on, with black and white films and certain subjects I quite like the grain so will keep using the fater B&W films.

Thanks for all of you help,

Jon

Nice Photos. I particularly like the third and fourth ones.

How did wou protect the camera from the salt air and potential splashes? I haven't taken my slr to the beach yet for fear of damage!

Hi All,

I had the UC400 processed and printed normally by my local 24 hour lab. decided against the push as it was very expensive and I wanted to see what a 1 stop under exposure would look like.

Well they were all fine, every single frame was fine (with the exception of the two frames where I handed the camera to a complete stranger to take a photo of us).

I'm still thinking about what to do with the other roll. The results so far are tempting me to just have it processed normally. I'll keep you informed of the results when I make a decision.

Thanks for all of the advice though.

Thanks Rowland and Bill,

I'll ask them about "push2", is that pushing two stops? If so wouldn't that be too much for the correctly exposed frames. I have overexposed by one stop before so I know that pushing 1 stop and essentially overexposing the correctly exposed frames by 1 stop will be okay, but I have never gone as far as two stops.

Hi there,

I have a question which will probably get me flamed but here goes!

I received a (literally) last minute offer last night to go to a

Meatloaf concert at Leeds Castle and didn't have time to pick up any

film. I had my camera bag with me and shot what I had, namely a roll

of Koday Elite Colour 400 & a roll of Kodak Supra 800. I wish I had

something faster in the bag but I don't usually carry anything

faster than 400 ASA and was lucky to have the Supra.

I shot both rolls on average 1 stop under, I had to because I wasn't

close enough to the stage to let the stage lighting fill most of the

frame and I still wanted to get some of the abience of the crowd

(not to mention a shutter speed that was remotely hand holdable! I

was shooting at about 1/45 at f1.8 up to a reasonable 1/60 at f2.0).

I used the 400 when there was still some ambient light about, the

800 when it was virtually pitch black except for the stage lighting

and a few big screens.

<< Now for the bit that will get me flamed for being stupid. >>

I know that 1 stop under isn't the end of the world but there will

be frames that are up to +/- 1 stop around that value. I also know

that maybe I should have just shot the 800ASA film and shot one

roll, but when I got there there was just enough light for the 400

and I didn't realise how quickly the light would fade.

So to recap; there will be about a dozen frames correctly exposed or

thereabouts, and about a dozen frames in the region of 2 stops

under, the remainder about 1 stop under exposed.

Now by my reasoning if I can find a lab willing to push process 2

rolls of c41 film I will have a better change of getting some decent

prints. The only lab i could find willing to push C41 is Metro Lab

and they will charge ?11.50 for print and processing, which is 2 - 3

times what I would usually pay to have a roll processed.

I'm thinking of getting one roll done and seeing what the results

are like before deciding on the other. So as the subject says - is

it worth it? Please let me know what you think or better yet what

your experience tells you.

Also if anyone is aware of any other reliable labs in Central or

West London (or even wet of London) that I could get the film pushed

for less money than at Metro I would appreciate a heads up.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

BTW - Meatloaf concerts are definately an experience! The fans are

diverse and the show is a bit like a mini rock opera. Even if you

are not a fan I would recommend going to see one if you have the

opportunity, just for the experience!!!

Hi everyone.

I'll be on my first trip to Turkey in about a month and was

wondering if anyone who has been there before had any advice on

where to go what what to see (and of course photograph) in the Olu

Deniz/Fethiye region.

Also any advice on local customs and attitudes towards photography

would be greatly appreciated.

Also is it worth getting my C41 film developed over there, is it

safe. Not too worried about the quality of the prints as I can have

them reprinted but worried about the negs deteriorating after being

exposed as it is quite hot over there. Mostly shooting Reala, Portra

160NC and Elite Color 400.

Had a search through the previous posts but didn't find much.

Any tips and advise appreciated.

Faster than the speed of sound, well almost.

Thanks for the superfast responses. I'll have to fork out for a ST-E2 then, and maybe another unit like the 580EX further down the road.

Many thanks,

Jon

Hi there,

I have been experimenting with flash photography and have few basic

questions about wireless flash.

1. Are there any transmitters other than (cheaper than) the ST-E2

that I can use to trigger my 420EX wirelessly?

2. Does the ST-E2 require a direct line of sight with the flash

units? Could I for instance hold the flash unit above my head whilst

looking through the viewfinder for example?

3. Can the ST-E2 trigger non canon flash units? If so which ones?

4. Are there any non Canon flashes that can be used to trigger the

420EX that will also maintain E-TTL? I know that some of the Sigmas

will but will they project the right focussing pattern for an EOS

300V? I was looking at the 550EX but it has the wrong pattern.

I know that for many of you that these are basic bread and butter

questions but I'm new(ish) to flash photography and looking to learn

more.

Cheers in advance.

Thanks Mark,

The film was processed at Jessops in Richmond and they are the best printers in my neck of the woods by a fair margin. Although the manager and some of the staff are ignorant and rude the two guys (and occasionally a lady) who run the Frontier machine are quite knowlegeable and dedicated and do a really good job.

I've had nice prints that I had processed and printed somewhere else reprinted (and ocassionaly enlarged) by them and although it costs more the results are always a pleasant improvement.

In any case my brother in law was well chuffed with the results (it was his birthday bash), he's more interested in recording the memories than spot on exposures and prints :)

I'll try manual mode next time round as I could really use the extra DOF and I may have the negs hand assessed and see if there is a noticable difference.

Once again... many thanks for your input.

Cheers,

Jon

Thanks for those responses Paul & Mark!

I don't know why I didn't notice the section in photonotes. The explaination of how to use manual sounds so simple I don't know why I haven't tried it before. I definately will give it a go next time round.

Regarding the hashness of the flash I was using a stofen diffuser but the subjects were quite close and highly reflective (pasty white faces arms and occasionally tee shirts).

I had thought of the FEC trick of changing the ISO but not beeing sure of what the results would be like I didn't want to risk it.

I had a close look at the densities of the negs and they seem just about right, I don't use slide film as I make lots of prints for friends and family and give them away and the cost using slides would be prohibitive.

Once again - Many thanks,

Jon

Hi All,

My question relates to setting the aperture of the lens.

I was taking some photos last night using my EOS 300v, 420EX a 50mm

f1.4 (and occasionally 100mm f2.0 or 24mm f2.8) and Kodak UC 400. I

was very pleased with most of the results. Well done canon!

It was very late, after 22:00 and we were outside in the garden with

a few candles. I tried using program mode and auto everyting mode

(previous experience with aperture or shutter priority mode at night

has taught me not to use these in pitch black conditions).

Regardless of the mode or lens the camera set an aperture of f2.8,

and a speed of 1/90th second (flas synch spped).

I knew that in certain circumstances that this wouldn't be small

enough to get enough depth of field but try as I might I couldn't

get the camera to change the aperture to f4.0. I know that I may

have been able to set f4.0 and 1/45th in manual mode, but as I am

very much still learning how to use flash and I'm not so familiar

with manual mode I hose not to do this.

Looking at the results of my efforts I may have to learn how to do

this as the flash was just a little hars and the body doesn't do FEC

so I'll have to do it manually in the future.

now that I have outlined the situation, back to the question. Does

anyone with more experience know if I should have been able to

change the aperture using program mode and if so how to do it? I had

a look at my favourite eos flash site

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ but couldn't find what I

was looking for.

Any help of suggestions appreciated.

Cheers,

Jon

A relatively good source for kodak information is the kodak website, <a href="http://wwwuk.kodak.com" target="_blank">http://wwwuk.kodak.com</a>. The replacement for KODAK portra 400UC is wait for it.... KODAK <a href="http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/ultraColor/main.jhtml?id=0.1.18.14.13.16&lc=en" target="_blank">>PROFESSIONAL ULTRA COLOR 400 Film</a>. I believe that this is marketed in the UK as <a href="http://wwwuk.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/films/eliteColor/main.jhtml?id=0.1.18.14.13.18&lc=en" target="_blank">>KODAK PROFESSIONAL ELITE Color 400 Film</a>, and is available cheapest (from the places I searched) at <a href=

"http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=99946" target="_blank">7dayshop.com</a>.

Hope that this helps, other people in the forum will be more knowledgable about this than I am.

All film has grain of some sort - which becomes more obvious in large areas of similar colour, especially shadows. If the grain is bothering you you could use some software to reduce it after scanning.<br><br>

<a href="http://www.neatimage.com/" target="_blank"><b>Neat Image</b></a>, and <a href="http://www.picturecode.com/" target="_blank"><b>Noise Ninja </b></a> are two popular applications. I haven't used either but I'm sure that they are people in the Digital Darkroom Forum who can answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for the replies. I was looking for a slow fine grained print film. I guess I'll stick with reala or something similar. Its just a shame that the choice isn't there any more. From what I've read there were problems with the slower films but when used in the right light conditions they were very good. Reala (or maybe UC100) it is then.

Just another little point - has anyone noticed that the films offered by manufacturers in the UK often do not include the 100 ASA versions any more. I was looking at the uk version of the kodak website and comparing it to the US version, the slower emulsions have all but dissapeared off the UK website. It isn't really that dark and dreary over here all of the time :(

Hi there. The subject line sort of says it all really, I have never

used a really slow print film, but having read a lot about the

benefits of the slower print films I thought that I might give one a

try, particularly the Konica Impresa 50.

However after much searching I cannot find anyone selling any 50 ASA

print films from any manufacturer anywhere. Where have they all

disappears to?

some examples:

<ul><li><a href='http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=465654' target='_blank'>Alexander Gabrysch</a></li>

<li><a href='http://www.pibweb.com/ross/rgb_IR.jpg' target='_blank'>Ross Alford</a></li>

</ul>

I have seen an lot of photographs taken on a range of digital

cameras using the Heliopan RG715 IR filter and a few taken using the

Hoya IR R72 filter that I really like. Does anyone know if it is

possible to acheive a similar effect using these filters on regular

C41 colour film?

If not these particular filters will any others work? I have a film

camera, but the manufacturer's instructions say that I cnnot use IR

film with the camera. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Regarding ordering the film from Amazon Japan. You can view the pages with a bit of english by clicking on the link that says "Display in English". While this isn't such a help on the Natura pages it makes the basket and ordering a lot simpler, as these pages are completely in English.

The price isn't bad 1,659 Yen for 3 rolls of 36 exposures but as far as I can tell they won't deliver the film to anywhere outside of Japan.

http://www.crumplerusa.com/products/camerabag.html

http://www.crumpler.com.au/

There are loads of places in Cuzco where you will be able to burn the images onto CD. I was there ealier this year and saw loads of them, most near the main square, on the streets leading towards it near the banks. There are even some places where you catch the coach at the base of the mountain to get to Machu Pichu.

I think that you will find Bogota has many places as well.

Happy shooting.