Best color film for urban night shooting?

[cablesnarl]

What color film do you like to use to shoot night scenes in the city (where there is a lot of artificial lighting?) Should I be using tungsten film?

 

[MatthewThompson]

Really depends on your output media and desired effect.

 

[cablesnarl]

The output media would be traditional C Print on matte paper. One desired effect would be: lights clear and in focus surrounded by very dark areas. (High contrast?)

Another effect would be: individual subject with out of focus lights in the background.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I use Fuji Superia 1600 in that situation.

 

[MatthewThompson]

Often times, you will find that night shots have a strong color cast.

I should have been more clear with my questions, when I asked about desired effect, I was inquiring about color cast. Even when shooting digital, I'll leave a cast of the photo to ilicit a mood or feeling. Sometimes the "correct" white balance isn't the "right" white balance.

 

[dmr]

I use Fuji Superia 1600 in that situation.

I second this nomination. I also use the 800 and 400 for night shots and have had good luck with all. The Fuji films seem to be very forgiving of the nighttime color balance of the various lights you find in urban settings.

 

[kaiyen]

Just a note - most lights at night, outside, are not tungsten. Then are some kind of vapor, and even inside you're dealing more with flourescents anyway. So tungsten film isn't as useful as you might think.

I actually prefer Fuji 800 pushed 1 stop to Fuji 1600...

allan

 

[kshapero]

I use Fuji 400 pushed to 800. You will get some pleasant surprises.

 

[Finder]

Go with daylight film for mixed lighting. I would say any 400 speed film is good - I use both Fuji and Kodak. If you are using a tripod, you can go slower. Over 400 ISO and I find the quality drops off too quickly - grain, saturation, and contrast. I would not push the film.

 

[RML]

When I was still shooting film and at night (both I don't do very often anymore) I simply used iso400 colour neg film. IMO it doesn't matter much which film you use. What you know, will usually do. And why iso400? Because I had tons of it, was regularly available, and with a tripod or a steady hand longish shutter times aren't a problem.

 

[kaiyen]

Actually, I do find that the 4th layer on the Fuji film stocks to have a noticeable effect on dealing with artificial lighting. It doesn't cut out the color cast, certainly, but it seems more flexible.

allan

 

[rogue_designer]

provia 400f - either at 400, or pushed (as far as 1600 in my experience, but I know others that have gone further with it).

For C41, I like the Portra 400UC - but it doesn't deal very nicely with underexposure.

 

[40oz]

Kodak MAX 400 is great for well-lit areas, but MAX 800 might be better depending on the light level of the urban area. Color rendition is brilliant and accurate, grain is minimal, and cost is low. Those two are my favorites, anyway.

 

[dmr]

Actually, I do find that the 4th layer on the Fuji film stocks to have a noticeable effect on dealing with artificial lighting. It doesn't cut out the color cast, certainly, but it seems more flexible.

I'm not a Photo Engineer<tm> by any means, but I have been told that this 4th layer is not all marketing hype and does indeed help in odd lighting situations. It really fascinates me that they can do things like this and get it to process and dye correctly in the standard color chemistry. Way above my head, but I do find it intriguing.

One other little bit of trivia I was told was that back in the 1960s, the color balance of the Kodacolor film (at least the consumer versions) was shifted to be between daylight and tungsten, thus giving latitude to do both.

This corresponds to what I remember way back when I had my Brownie Starflash and went to buy a roll of Kodacolor and BLUE flash. I was maybe 10 at the time. The druggest corrected me and said I should use CLEAR flash with the "NEW" Kodacolor. This was back when the people who worked in drug stores knew quite a bit about the stuff they sold.

 

[sepiareverb]

There was a thread with some good examples a few weeks ago (a month maybe?). I like what the Fuji Pro 400H does in the dark. Like Allan I find the 4th layer in the Fuji stock gives a more natural look to the various color lighting. Neon is very nice with this, and flourescent isn't as sickly as with Kodak (in my experience, limited admittedly).

Blue flashbulbs! Now that brings back memories...

 

[adonf]

I use 400UC@400 a lot at night. You'll find exemples in my web page (nearly all colour night shots are 400UC). I agree with Rogue, though, that a great care must be taken with exposure, or the shadows will be muddy.

 

[angeloks]

Provia 400F pushed or NPZ pushed !

 

[Sparrow]

EDIT
Blue flashbulbs! Now that brings back memories...

I remember the blue bulbs smelled different after they’d been fired

 

[dmr]

Blue flashbulbs! Now that brings back memories...

I remember the blue bulbs smelled different after they’d been fired

I remember that the large flash bulbs had a distinct smell right after they were fired, like a melted plastic smell. Not unpleasant, but definitely not fragrant. I don't remember any difference in the smell between blue and clear, however. There was also a crackling noise that persisted for a fraction of a second.

The blue bulbs I remember were about the size of a ping pong ball with a push-turn bayonet connection that went into an adapter that screwed into the standard lightbulb size socket of the flash. I remember clear ones that were about the size of a refrigerator light bulb with a screw base. I don't remember any blue ones that size, however.

Oh well ...

 

[keithwms]

For shots with a lot of artifically illuminated buildings, I am a devout fan of fuji 64T, which can be pushed quite a lot. In terms of exposure and white balance, the applicability of the film is in a rather narrow window, but the colour and grain are awesome if you get it right. I recall that I rated it at 200 once without any obvious major issues- don't be afraid to push the limits and experiment!

If you need faster exposures then how about fuji npz (perhaps with a colour filter to adjust to the artificial lighting if necessary- but that really may not be needed). I would rate it a half stop or so slower than 800. I also like nph very much but always rate it at 320, I dunno offhand how it would respond to a push if the colour temp is closer to 3200K. Try it!