Which film for Paris in September?

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alexnotalex

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Dear friends,

i'm off to Paris for a few days at the end of this month, and taking my trusty Canon P, Summar and Nikkor HC with me of course!

I've been shooting mostly Fujifilm Superia and C200 with sunny16 helping me estimate exposure- nothing too sophisticated - and have been marvelling at your results with Ektar, Reala and Porta...

Now what would your recommend for street shots under cloudy bright Parisian skies? Expecting some portraits, architecture, unusuals and cliches... inside St Eustache, Paris rooftops from Montmartre, cafe life, Baiser a l'hotel de ville, tuileries, vue up Champs Elysees... pont des arts, place Sully, Marais... the usual stuff...

Suggestions welcome,

best,
Alex
 
In all honesty I would shoot with what you know, rather than risk getting results that disappoint on a trip like that; and then when you get home, try out some new stuff to experiment and find out what works for you when it's less important to get the results right first time.

You'll find Ektar fickle without a light meter.
 
alexnotalex said:
Dear friends,

i'm off to Paris for a few days at the end of this month, and taking my trusty Canon P, Summar and Nikkor HC with me of course!

I've been shooting mostly Fujifilm Superia and C200 with sunny16 helping me estimate exposure- nothing too sophisticated - and have been marvelling at your results with Ektar, Reala and Porta...

Now what would your recommend for street shots under cloudy bright Parisian skies? Expecting some portraits, architecture, unusuals and cliches... inside St Eustache, Paris rooftops from Montmartre, cafe life, Baiser a l'hotel de ville, tuileries, vue up Champs Elysees... pont des arts, place Sully, Marais... the usual stuff...

Suggestions welcome,

best,
Alex
Click to expand...

That depends on what effects you are happy with...

When you take in account that you will expect some cloudier scenery, also possibly taking shots in the evening, 400 ISO should be available.
Tri-X would here be one classic film with a distinctive look.

Other things that are new are films with enhanced Red-sensitivy, derived from traffic-surveillance, like Agfa ASP 400S.
The Rollei Retro 400S ist similar to that film, or its slower brother, the Rollei Retro 80S.
Here is the advantage that they "cut" through light fog and mist and you get still good pictures.

Or the new Rollei Retro 100 Tonal...


(ahem- first think, then post... for Color the choices are basically Kodak oder Fuji- when you cannot measure light correctly, Ektar and slides like Kodachrome are out of way. Then I personally would grab some lots of rolls of Kodak Gold 200 from the local drugstore, mostly relaballed stuff for real cheap...
 
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How is Paris different from where you live?

What are you planning to photograph in Paris?

How is Paris similar to particular seasons and subjects where you live?

I first visited Paris in about '74 and have never seen any reason to use different films from those I'd used at home at the time.

Cheers,

R.
 
September is bright enough for anything, so bring along your favourite. If you don't have one, just about any Kodak or Fuji consumer CN, Astia or E100G (Slide) and TMX/TMY (black and white) would be the safest films to start with - save more fancy films for some opportunity which you can redo with less effort than a (presumably) intercontinental trip.
 
I guess Paris is just Paris. i lived there for a decade.... now in England... so weather and light is much like home. It won't be my last trip, but it's my first one with my rangefinder and rediscovered love of film photography and I guess i have HCB and Doisneau in my head.

From the posts above, I'll keep the experiments with slides and unforgiving film for another time, pack some Superia, buy some decent consumer Kodak (thanks ohoyer, lilserenity) some 400, and remember my wife and kids would like some of my attention as well...

Sincere thanks everyone for the tips, and the reality check!

best,
Alex
 
my advice, as Paris has mixed lights and you surely will shoot in the evenings and at night, bring a grey card with you... it will help correcting the colour balance. Otherwise Fuji films would be my preferred, along with K400 NC.
 
I remember buying Tri X film in Paris back in the summer of 1977 and it worked as well there as it did in Toronto.
 
I might be tempted to bring along some Kodachrome for fun. It's going away and it might be a cool last hurrah if you have some around or can find some reasonably.

Tri-X always is great for me in Paris when I use it, also like Tmax 100 for daytime B&W.

Kent

PS- I actually might be going to Paris in October to do just that, shoot off my remaining Kodachrome :)
 
If I were you...

If I were you...

Don't be shallow... be bold... take the risk.
Take 40 rolls of efke KB 25 and shoot 10 rolls per day.
Think Brassai (Gyula Halasz)... not RFF.
Your pictures will be better than most.
 
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Roger Hicks said:
What's the other sort? At least, once they're back in Paris.

Even my Parisian friends (currently in their maisons secondairesin my village) admit that Paris isn't France.

Cheers,

R.
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Agreed. I love Paris more than anywhere else in the world, and especially the Parisians.
salut!
Alex
 
Light can be unstable during that month so a light meter will help you an awful lot.
I would plan to use what you know + a 400 or 800 film in case cloud cover is quite heavy
 
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