my very first Yashica roll

[lilin menyala]

here are two photos from my first roll with my newly acquired GSN. i bought it particularly to shoot at low light, e.g gigs. sorry, the scans are a bit dirty. i adjusted the levels a little and the contrast in photoshop. i still have to get to grips with the focusing / RF patch which i find harder to use than on my oly.

anyway, i am generally very pleased with the performance of the GSN at low light because the stage was literally bathed in a very dim red light and it coped fine for the most part. i think any shortcomings are due to my lack of experience / ability rather than the camera. 🙄

please tell me what you think. particularly with regards to improving shooting in low light... thanks!

 

[Tom Harrell]

They look pretty good to me! I'd say just experiment with different types of films to produce the image look that you are after. I aquired an Electro 35 not long ago and have not had the occasion to try it in low light situations as yet. I've heard though that they can be pretty good.

You might try different speed films too! A slower speed will render slower shutter speeds and exhibit more action where as the high speed film stop action as you already know!

I liked your photos, thanks for sharing and good luck. I'm sure others will have more suggestions.

Regards,
Tom Harrell

 

[lilin menyala]

i went with a bogstandard 400 film. next time i might try pushing to 800 and experimenting with closing the lens a little in order to capture more movement.

 

[NickTrop]

The issue with low light photography is motion blur - subject movement, at slow shutter speeds - 1/30th and below. Sometimes people think their photos are out of focus but it's motion blur. Also camera shake. You have to brace yourself (elbows on the table... forget Ms Manners : ) Also, try to time shooting around natural human subject "pauses" in motion.

Try a higher speed film. If you develop your own black and white, try Tri-X at 1000 in Diafine. This might allow 1/60th which will minimize motion blur and to a degree camera shake. Also, take more pics. Your "spoiled" ratio will always be higher when lighting conditions aren't optimal.

This all said, the pics you posted are pretty good.

 

[payasam]

You're doing well. In the first photo, did you deliberately focus on the drummer?

 

[lilin menyala]

Also, take more pics.

ha ha that pretty much sums it up for me. 😉

payasam - yes, i focused on the drummer. he's very expressive when playing, so a good photo opportunity... 🙂

 

[payasam]

It meant that the two larger foreground figures were out of focus. Your decision, of course.

 

[lilin menyala]

yeah, i think it was inevitable because i had to have the lens wide open and therefore the DOF was extremely shallow. because the two others frame the drummer though it seemed like a good composition...

 

[shadowfox]

Not a critique, just a suggestion, on the second photo, maybe you should wait for the moment when the singer's eyes are not looking down. I know this is harder than it sounds, but it's an additional challenge for me especially when the performer is rather shy.

On a related note, this one is also from an Electro 35, the shot seems to be brighter than the actual light condition, and the camera seems to have selected quite high shutter speed, because these musicians were moving (they're playing Salsa, for goodness sake 🙂 ), but in the picture they looks like they're standing still, nice smiles, but still ... :bang:

 

[daaris]

Your photos look good! I just aquired the same camera and have the first roll off for developing. It is a nice camera to shoot, hope mine turn out okay. There is a bit of a learning curve I have found with this camera. Not being able to choose shutter speeds makes the game of aperture vs. film speed a little more important.

 

[lilin menyala]

shadowfox - that's a nice photo. i love the way the light in the trees is red. great to see some topic-related shot from the same camera!

daaris - yes, i found the handling of the GSN to be quite a steep learning curve, too. i use the oly 35 RC otherwise and find it a bit easier to use. i think though that once i've got a bit of experience with the GSN it will handle beautifully. *fingers crossed*

 

[Superbus_]

I like your photos and i agree with you that after using an olympus the focusing with yashica electro needs more concentration: my situation is the opposite: now I'm triing my olys after using electro GSN, so it is so bright 🙂)

I can not share with you my advices because usually I shoot film like an idiot. But a happy idiot. 🙂))

 

[PetarDima]

keep on shooting 🙂 low light photography with rf's is my point of view, too 🙂