Color film for night photography?

M

minoltist7

pussy photographer
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Which to choose from (in terms of best color rednition)?
Available are: Portra 160VC, 400NC, 400VC, Elite Color 200, Elite Chrom(E-6),
Portra 800. Application: night shots in the city with tripod and long exposure.
As an option - handheld too (but only Portra 800 is suitable for that)
I tried Portra 800 for night city shots (without tripod), not developed yet.
 
Any of those films will work.

Try some and then settle on one and learn and grow into it.

Personally I would only ever hand hold, as I don't think a 35mm and a tripod is right.

But you may differ.

Also I do not mind a bit of blur and shake. In fact I like it a lot.

You may differ.

Post photos here when you're ready. I'd like to see some.

For me, the best night photographers on RFF are nico and cathytoth.ca
 
I've had very good luck with the plain old off the shelf Fuji 400-800-1600.

I wouldn't recommend any slide film, as night scenes tend to be very contrasty.

ClaremontPhoto said:
Try some and then settle on one and learn and grow into it.

Personally I would only ever hand hold, as I don't think a 35mm and a tripod is right.
Click to expand...

Agree. Tripods are a pain in a certain anatomic region! :)

But you may differ.
Click to expand...

Hey, if we all thought the same, and did the same things, and took photographs the same, the world would be a very boring place! :)

Also I do not mind a bit of blur and shake. In fact I like it a lot.

You may differ.
Click to expand...

I do (differ that is) I dislike blur and shake. In fact I dislike it a lot! :)

I've found I can handhold very reliably at 1/30 and often at 1/15.
 
My preferred color films for low-light conditions are Fuji Pro 400/800. Uncanny quality when scanned, with little in the way of touch-up required.

Indoors (Fuji Pro 800):

attachment.php


And outdoors (Fuji Pro 400):

attachment.php


Yes, they've shown up here before, but they are two of my favorite examples.

At some point, I'm going to try out Kodak's new Portra 800 (I've tried their reformulated 160/400 Portra films, and like them a lot). Up till now, for me, Kodak seized the day while Fuji ruled the night, but that might well change.


- Barrett
 
Last edited:
amateriat said:
My preferred color films for low-light conditions are Fuji Pro 400/800. Uncanny quality when scanned, with little in the way of touch-up required.
[ .. ]
At some point, I'm going to try out Kodak's new Portra 800 [ ..]
- Barrett
Click to expand...
Also posted before (Porta 800, though I may have posted the B&W conversion):



I found the Fuji Pro800 acceptable, though it was never really a favourite. I do like the Fuji Pro400, which I consider equal to the Kodak Porta 400s (VC and NC). I tend to mix the three as each has subtly different rendering that I like for different subjects. But I have been thoroughly converted to the Porta 800.

Fuji Superior 1600 does quite a nice job, too.

...Mike
 
Mike: I like. A lot.

Are you referring to the "new" Portra 800? I never tried the old version, mainly because I was put off a bit by the grain of the 400 Portra (now revised).

I'm with you about the subtle differences between the Fuji and Kodak emulsions, which is why, for me, Kodak worked best in almost any level of daylight, while twilight/artificial light situations seemed to be Fuji's forte.


- Barrett
 
I shot roll of Portra 800 (new). Didn't have time to develop yet.
Is it much more grainy than 400VC/NC, or the same?
I think, this film can be also useful for shooting inside of a churches.
 
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