Best EI for street photography?

[Juan Valdenebro]

If you had to pick a single exposure index for all you street shooting, which one would you consider the most appropriate, and why?

 

[sebastel]

auto ISO.
and don't tell me that it does not exist in film - think XP2.

;-)

but, why should i limit myself to one selection? even for the mind game, i don't accept the limitation.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

auto ISO.
and don't tell me that it does not exist in film - think XP2.

;-)

but, why should i limit myself to one selection? even for the mind game, i don't accept the limitation.

Because absence of limits is the enemy of photography and other things? 😉

Seriously, even though you want to see it as a mind game, and I respect your view, perhaps it's not a mind game... Sometimes reality pushes us... Sometimes I don't carry 2 bodies and several kinds of films, and if I have to shoot quickly in sun / shades with the same roll and lens, moving and still subjects, I prefer not to change rolls every 2 shots... 😀

Cheers,
Juan

 

[Tom A]

I find 400 iso or thereabouts works well for me. I don't have to meter and it is fast enough to shoot even in deep shadow and slow enough not to exceed the 1/1000s of most mechanical rangefinders.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

More than the poll results, what can be really interesting is each and every why...

Thanks Tom!

 

[sebastel]

Because absence of limits is the enemy of photography and other things? 😉

Seriously, even though you want to see it as a mind game, and I respect your view, perhaps it's not a mind game... Sometimes reality pushes us... Sometimes I don't carry 2 bodies and several kinds of films, and if I have to shoot quickly in sun / shades with the same roll and lens, moving and still subjects, I prefer not to change rolls every 2 shots... 😀

Cheers,
Juan

ok, got it.
400 for me then, with an extra roll of fomapan 100 just in case.
because it has enough reserve for most situations, and because i like the film (ilford).

 

[Colin Corneau]

Depends on the street, I guess. A bright one would be great for 100...not so bright, 800 or 1600.

Street photography isn't a monolithic thing, it's an approach rooted in place and of course each photographer's approach.
I remember a photographer who fashioned a hand-held pinhole camera and wandered the streets of Los Angeles -- odd, dreamlike images but way more compelling than a thousand wannabes frantically trying to imitate Winogrand or Klein.

FWIW, I use EI 800 since it's fast, allows stopped down depth of field and usually fits where I usually am, in terms of ambient light.

 

[Lauffray]

I like 800 (in BW) because I often shoot at hyperfocal during the day, it gives me a little bit more margin in the shadows and early evening. If I did colour more often I'd vote for 400 just because I like portra so much

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

OK...
My vote was 800 because:
-After trying 400 for some time I felt it was a bit slow for me: I wasn't used to focus quicly with a RF... Then I started using 1600 a lot, but lately I think it's kind of contrasty in general, you lose too much on direct sun, and the grain can be too present...
-Most of my shots are OK with a bit of contrast because overcast is the common thing, so 400 at 800 is a good option...
-Shooting 100@200 wouldn't allow me, in overcast light, to keep f8 on my 28 for shooting without focusing, because of low shutter speeds when light is so so... With 800 I use 1/2000 for direct sun at f/8 (yellow filter), and I can go 5 f-stops below that, down to 1/60 before I use f5.6, and that covers nearly everything. So with 800 I focus with f4 only, and that requires low light.
-Grain and tonality are fine at 800.
Cheers,
Juan

 

[maddoc]

Usually about 400 EI but anything labeled "street" requires knee-jerk-like reaction to what actually happens so no time for setting exposure, focus or even compose.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

400 is winning now... 800 had its 15 minutes of fame at the beginning...
As an exception, I can do street with ASA100 in the most relaxed and pleasant way, but only with my Konica Hexar AF, because its autofocus is totally reliable and ultrafast, and its no delay shutter is less noisy than any rangefinder... And with its great lens, the detail is there using ASA100 film... But most street photography doesn't require that, and soon it makes me miss grain, so I can't help going back to other cameras and Tri-X with the 28 prefocused...
Cheers,
Juan

 

[bonatto]

400. As Tom A said. Plenty of latitude if you need to push the film, but I think most importantly, it's a mid-road approach that satisfies 80+% of lighting conditions on the street with the right lens. In constant bright light, with only 400 film, I've also used an ND filter to good effect. But I've never really used anything else, so I'm partial to what I use. 🙂

 

[Ko.Fe.]

ISO100 for Sunny 16 street play with my classic RF cameras. Like Leica with collapsible 50mm.
1/125 -1/250 f5.6-11. DoF isn't ocean deep at 50mm, but focus tab is the deal for fast focusing.

Quick&Dirty street shots - sure, ISO 400 with aperture priority and 35mm lens.

If ISO 400 isn't fast enough at 1/125-1/60 and f.2.8 it is time to leave the street for me.
I"m chasing dreams, not zombies. 🙂

 

[Takkun]

I shoot almost exclusively TMY400, and pull it to 200 in the summer to try and control contrast.

as the saying goes, YMMV. I get the urge to try different emulsions and played around with ADOX this past summer, but I'm almost too lazy to try experimenting again. Stuck with Tmax since I bulk load, more out of convenience than price.

Of course, experimenting is half the fun of photography.

 

[splash_fr]

TX400 pushed to 1000 - 1600 when shooting people while walking in daylight to get fast shutter speeds. Think of carnivals, street parades etc.

400 otherwise.

I voted for 1600...

 

[ruby.monkey]

At the moment I'll say 100, because I have 500' of polypan f to eat up and that's what I'm rating it at.

 

[f16sunshine]

I start with 400 usually HP5 or Tri-x.
Both can be held back to 100 or pushed to 1600 depending on conditions .
I have often exposed 100 and 1600 on the same roll of HP5 and ended with ...not perfect but, quite usable results (usually developing with a stand method).
Such versatility is a blessing don't you think ?

 

[Richard G]

I voted 400. It's interesting for me using the M9: I can have a higher ISO, but I need it for digital. I'll use 800 on the the street with the M9 sometimes, but my usual film shutter speed preference for digital on the street is 1/500 rather than my habitual 1/250 preference with film, so the advantage is negated. The Monochrom is another story: 1/1000s and f5.6 and whatever ISO up to 3200 is required without much concern. A bit cheaty.

 

[shortstop]

400 iso, most used HP5 (years ago HP4, do you remember?), then Tri-X and recently Tmax400, the latter has less grain. But I want experiment Tmax400 at 200 iso with HC110 plus Rodinal...

 

[Takkun]

I voted 400. It's interesting for me using the M9: I can have a higher ISO, but I need it for digital. I'll use 800 on the the street with the M9 sometimes, but my usual film shutter speed preference for digital on the street is 1/500 rather than my habitual 1/250 preference with film, so the advantage is negated. The Monochrom is another story: 1/1000s and f5.6 and whatever ISO up to 3200 is required without much concern. A bit cheaty.

Cheater! 😛

On the M8, I'll keep it at ISO 320.

I know what you mean though, on FF digital you sometimes end up with a much higher EI then you'd otherwise shoot with film.