High ISO (ASA)

[DCB]

Just thinking...

What did photographers do back in the day shooting in dark environments to get a good picture (not using flash)?

I have seen some pretty amazing pictures that were taken in low light locations. I know that they had more high ISO films (1600, 3200) but some of them look great without much in the way of grain.

That is one feature that I like a lot in digital cameras...press a button and boom, any ISO you need.

Thanks

Peace

 

[furcafe]

How long ago do you mean by "back in the day"? When Tri-X was introduced in 1940, it was ASA 200 & that was considered blazing fast.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I used Kodak Tmax 3200, and after it was discontinued I switched to Ilford Delta 3200. I still use a lot of Delta 3200. Beautiful films; grainy compared to slow films, but not bad.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Ilford HPS, true ISO 800, 1950s.

Ferrania 1000

Agfa 1000...

Cheers,

R.

 

[willie_901]

In ancient tines (1970s) I pushed TRiX 400 to 800. That's about it.

Around 2005-2006 I experimented with higher ISO films (>800) and found 800 was still my limit. Perhaps if I was a skilled and experienced at development I could have used faster B&W films with success.

Coincidentally, with early digital cameras (D200, Lumix DMC-G1) I found ISO 800 was the acceptable maximum ISO as well. Even the Fujifilm X100 (Bayer) had minor issues in shadow regions above ISO 800 for color work in low light. For B&W I found ISO 1600 was practical.

Today my limit is ISO 1600 (with raw files) for color. I can push them one or two stops in post-processing. But this is only useful for small-sized output.

 

[pschauss]

When I was in college in the late 60's I shot a few concerts and coffee house performances with my Aires 35 III L using Tri-X. I am guessing that I probably shot everything wide open (F 1.8) and, since it was a leaf shutter, I could get away with 1/30if I needed to. I used high contrast paper when I needed to handle thin negatives.

 

[jsrockit]

High grain of high asa 35mm film didn't allow for huge prints...and small prints mask a certain amount of motion blur when using slow shutter speeds. Couple that with fast lenses and you can get away with a lot.

 

[Mark Wood]

Kodak Royal-X Pan at 1250 asa was around a long time ago but rarely seems to get any mention at all, so I've no idea how popular it really ever was. As far as I know it was only ever available in 120 and sheet film formats but it certainly still existed into the early 1980s.

It was almost impossible to track down in the UK and I used to make a point of asking in every camera shop I came across. (Note, very sad individual there!) I finally tracked a roll down in Harrison's in Sheffield (in 1985) but although it was well in-date when I bought it, it was expired by the time I tried it as I think I spent more time staring at the box in disbelief that I'd found it! I've still got the box and backing paper....

Does anyone know whether it was a "true" 1250 asa film?