a stupid question about film

[Jasper Street]

I'm a little embarrassed to ask this, but. . . I'm going to ask.

I was given some 3200 ISO film, but the film speed selector on my M3 only goes up to 1000. So what would I need to do in order to expose this film properly?

Thanks for your help.

 

[elshaneo]

The film selector of your Leica M3 is just a notice which film you put in the camera. The Leica M3 does not have a lightmeter built in, you have to use your lightmeter set at ISO 3200 instead and use it to get the proper exposure settings 🙂

 

[benmacphoto]

well, that dial on the M3 is just to remind you of the film.
The M3 has no lightmeter, so you would have to set your own to 3200.

 

[jpberger]

If it's Ilford delta you'll get the best results if you expose it at 1000-1600 anyway. 3200 is a bit of a fudge-- if you rate the film at 3200 you'll have ok midtones but very little shadow detail. The difference between shooting the 3200 films and pushed 400 is that the nominally faster films have lower contrast so they are less critical of exposure. I haven't used tmax3200 but my understanding is that it works in the same way.

 

[Jasper Street]

thank you all for answering my dopey question with no sarcasm at all! 🙂 that's exactly what i wanted to know.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

I use those little round sticker dots you can buy even at Walmart in the office supply section. Write the film and speed on it, and stick it to be bottom of the camera. Keep extras in my camera bag. Change film type, just rip off the dot, put another on, and write the new film on it. They even come in bright colors if you like to color code stuff.

 

[johannielscom]

Not using the dial either here.

If it has a flash shoe, jam a piece of the cardboard box your film came in, into it. You get to see film speed brand and type of film, all in the blink of an eye. I also do this with my Mamiya C330. Even with the Yashica GS, which has a slot on the back to stick it into, just so used to seeing what film's in there on the top plate.

 

[MartinP]

Oddly my M3 seems to have 1300 written on the ASA dial, but maybe these things were changed throughout production.

In any case, the 3200asa films are made to be 'pushed' to that speed and are rather flat if you shoot-and-process to follow the ISO rating (about 1000 or so, depending on brand etc).

The pushed result should then be more acceptable than a specifically slower film which has been pushed a few stops more - but that judgment would depend on what you, personally, want to see from the film. It's all a bit vague sounding . . .

 

[Tim Gray]

I find that TMAX 3200 looks great at 1600. It's true speed is somewhere between 800-1000. I've shot it there (mostly out of date film) and it looks good, but it can be a little flat. It's very useable at 3200, but you do start giving up a noticeable amount of shadows, giving it that pushed look.

I'm sure Delta 3200 is essentially the same (though it's supposed to be a hair faster, 1000-1200).

 

[Vincenzo Maielli]

Use a modern hand held exposure meter!
Ciao.
Vincenzo

 

[Jasper Street]

thanks for the help, guys.