Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Rick wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Need your thoughts on neg films. On Monday I'll be shooting a number of groups of people wearing kilts (35 people in each group). The venues range from steps outside halls to inside the halls, with high ceilings. Given the range of light I'll be in, indoors and out, and that its looking like being a sunny winter day for the outdoor shots, I was thinking of using Fuji NPH400 in my R8, with 50/2 and Metz 50. So, do you have a favorite 400 speed neg film, for an application like this. Has anyone used Royal Gold 400? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For group shots of 35 people, you really want the sharpest film you can get. 400 is fine if you are shooting a couple people at close range... but you want to be able to recognize all 35 of them... So I'd use 100 whenever possible, even more so if it is going to be sunny. On the other hand 400 can be nice to keep ambient light indoors from turning to night..... but... Ambient light isn't always a good thing if there is fluorescent lights on one side of the group and incandescents on the otherside with a couple of windows to really mess stuff up.. But if you put the camera on a tripod.... (best solution for group shots anyhow so you can concentrate on people instead of framing, focus and tech matters..) you can use a slower sync speed 1/15 or 1/30 with 100 ASA if you decide you want more ambient light. I use a remote release so I make sure I'm not bumping the camera during exposure as well. I wouldn't recommend handholding slow synched flash images... But I'd use a tripod either way. The big thing to watch is that you have enough depth of field to keep everyone in the group sharp. If it were me, I'd take both kinds of film and only use 400 as a last resort after metering stuff. But not being able to see the lighting or levels puts us at a disadvantage.. I'm using Fuji Superia 100 and 400 for most of my work these days... I recently had some 30x 40 inch prints made off of them and I was blown away by the quality... The Fuji films seem to handle mixed lighting better too.. The Kodak rep has tried to get me to switch...but I haven't been too impressed with what's available here in Ecuador.... but there are some newer Kodak pro neg films that are supposed to be nice... But at $9 a roll they should be. Duane Birkey