How does one shoot with a slow film say iso 50 to 100 ?

[Roger Hicks]

Go about half way down http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps rf.html and you will find a picture with the following caption:

Girl on an elephant, Kelvinhall Circus

Roger shot this in the early 1970s with a 1930s uncoated 90mm Leitz Elmar wide open at f/4, using ISO 50 home-process Barfen (honestly!) film.

Unsurprisingly he does not recall the shutter speed but it cannot have been shorter than 1/30 second and may well have been as long as 1/15 or even 1/8. He leaned back in his seat; braced his elbows on the arms of the seat (as far as he recalls); and breathed out slowly while shooting, a time-honoured technique for reducing camera shake, much more effective than holding your breath.

Today, he'd hesitate to attempt the same shot with a lens that is four times faster (his 90/2 Summicron) and film that is twice as fast (Kodak Elite Chrome 100 EBX): he'd probably go for at least ISO 400. But this does show you what we mean about hand-holding rangefinder cameras: this was probably his old IIIa, the very first Leica he ever bought.

If you don't play, you can't win.

Cheers,

R.

 

[jsrockit]

I'm just going to walk the streets of NYC like this... If I use a black one, it'll be "stealth" enough I think...

 

[Taynt3d]

What ND filter is that? I was just wondering about maybe getting one of those variable ND filters, but they can sure get expensive. However, if I do get one, would want a good one that's not going to flare too ridiculously, if that's possible....

Just a standard 3-stop B+W ND filter I screw into my Nokton SC.

Sometimes I use it almost like a lens cap actually...

When I'm outside, I just take off the lens cap to shoot. When I walk indoors, I unscrew the ND with the lens cap on it still and shoot away three stops brighter. Back and forth like that as I move from street to indoors and back again (on certain adventures at least).

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

So to bump the thread abit...

let me ask a somewhat related question:

Are there cameras that works better with slow film ?

Which small format camera would you choose for hand-held slow film shoots ?

a. rollei 35 with tessar f3.5 b. olympus xa zuiko f2.8 c.leica m4-p d. leica cl e. yashica t4 with tessar f3.5

while the xa has a faster lens, i found it less stable to hold than compared to then rollei 35

thanks

 

[Thomas78]

So to bump the thread abit...

let me ask a somewhat related question:

Are there cameras that works better with slow film ?

Yes, cameras which have or can use a fast lens and that give low camera shake while used at low speeds.

You will benefit from (at least in principal):
- leaf shutter over focal plane shutter (less effective forces on camera body)
- no moving mirror (RF or TLR vs SLR)
- good ergonomics (that you can hold the camera steady in your hands; that you can release the trigger without inducing to much camera shake)
- a TLR can be stabilised pulling it a bit down while it is hanging at the neck strap at your belly

Which small format camera would you choose for hand-held slow film shoots ?

a. rollei 35 with tessar f3.5 b. olympus xa zuiko f2.8 c.leica m4-p d. leica cl e. yashica t4 with tessar f3.5

while the xa has a faster lens, i found it less stable to hold than compared to then rollei 35

thanks

I would take c) or d) together with a fast lens. (About f/1.4)
A fast lens will allow you to use shorter shutter times with the same film.

The Rollei 35 has a plus because the leaf shutter produces less body shaking than a focal plane shutter.
But the small and light body is not so easy to hold it stable and with scale focusing it is not so easy to get good focus at small distances at f/3.5.

My standard ISO for a Rollei 35 is 400 to be able to use it at apertures of f/8 or f/11 most of the time.



I have some problems using my (converted) Polaroid 110B with slow shutter speeds (1/8 or 1/15) because I am not able to hold the camera still enought while operating the very non-ergonomic shutter release.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

thomas78,

thanks for the reply. this week i managed to test a - d with slow iso 100 film.

i found the rollei 35 a joy to use for slow speed. the only thing which bugged me was that to be useful, i had to bump up the dof and stop down to f5.6, for an iso 100 film, anything at 1/4 and slower caused problem.

the XA felt a bit too light for handheld, but i shot quite a bit of 1/2 and 1/4 without issues.

the m4-p felt more stable than the CL for slow speeds. The CL's compactness was a comprise to stability.

cheers!

raytoei

 

[sepiareverb]

Smaller cameras are fantastic- I just shot the T3 tonight at some pretty long shutter speeds (the VF doesn't tell you exactly, just the abbreviation LT for Lonnng Time), but seemed like 1/4 and 1/2. Experience tells me to expect them to be pretty fine at 1/4, as long as I'm not going real big with the prints.

I have to ask is it impossible to change films? I have a tail puller in my bag at all times, the few skipped frames when reloading a partially shot roll (as insurance against double exposures) makes shooting indoors or outdoors all the more simple. Just a thought.