pureanalog
Newbie
I am a long time medium format user and I love night photography.
I love how I can shoot negative and have minimal noise.
Into the digital era, I own a Nikon LS-30 scanner 35mm scanner although I shoot very little 35mm :bang: . I don't have the ability to get a medium format scanner and I'd enjoy having a lightweight camera (RF).
I also liked waist level finders but oh well, I can't have everything I guess.
So having not much experience in night photography in 35mm I would like to ask for your advice.
I am especially interested in black (night sky) and shadows being as grainless as possible without post processing. I want this smooth colors as the ones I get with medium format.
If you can post images (yours or of other people) that are good examples of smooth night photographs of high resolution I'd appreciate it.
I love how I can shoot negative and have minimal noise.
Into the digital era, I own a Nikon LS-30 scanner 35mm scanner although I shoot very little 35mm :bang: . I don't have the ability to get a medium format scanner and I'd enjoy having a lightweight camera (RF).
I also liked waist level finders but oh well, I can't have everything I guess.
So having not much experience in night photography in 35mm I would like to ask for your advice.
I am especially interested in black (night sky) and shadows being as grainless as possible without post processing. I want this smooth colors as the ones I get with medium format.
If you can post images (yours or of other people) that are good examples of smooth night photographs of high resolution I'd appreciate it.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Fuji Acros is the best film for low-light work with high resolution and grainless shadows. It is only a 100 speed film, so be prepared for long exposure times, but it requires only 1/2 stop of reciprocity failure compensation for exposures longer than 2 minutes, and none for shorter ones.
This is not actually a night photo, but light is similar. 5 minute exposure!
Was so dark i could barely see.
This is not actually a night photo, but light is similar. 5 minute exposure!
Was so dark i could barely see.
Peter_Jones
Well-known
Seconded for Fuji Acros - especially with classic lenses, gives them a nice contrast boost, and very little grain. Easier to work with regarding reciprocity failure than Pan-F for instance, you can almost ignore it for all practical purposes.
pureanalog
Newbie
How does it compare to T-max?
I forgot to tell I am mainly interested in color negative. I'd go for slide film only if I could have much less grain on dark areas.
I forgot to tell I am mainly interested in color negative. I'd go for slide film only if I could have much less grain on dark areas.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Tmax 100 and 400 are great films, but for very long exposures, they experience significant reciprocity failure, and they also increase in contrast with longer exposures, which Acros does not do. I prefer Tmax for normal lighting, I think it has better tonality, but for low light, Acros is better.
For color, Provia 100F allows very long exposures with little reciprocity failure. I don't know about any color neg films.
For color, Provia 100F allows very long exposures with little reciprocity failure. I don't know about any color neg films.
icebear
Veteran
Welcome to the forum,
your name suggest so but you have not explicitly asked for film only so here it comes :
I have no experience in medium format film photography but RF, small and possibly rivaling medium format IQ when you want to shoot handheld? With 35mm film that will be difficult to achieve. For a 5 min. exposure with low grain Arcos, there is only the sturdy tripod option. And I assume it will not really compare to what you love in medium format IQ. It's just too small in terms of area real estate...
The shot above is with the Monochrom at ISO 2500.
It is head and shoulders above what I know from e.g. TMY pushed 1 stop.
your name suggest so but you have not explicitly asked for film only so here it comes :
I have no experience in medium format film photography but RF, small and possibly rivaling medium format IQ when you want to shoot handheld? With 35mm film that will be difficult to achieve. For a 5 min. exposure with low grain Arcos, there is only the sturdy tripod option. And I assume it will not really compare to what you love in medium format IQ. It's just too small in terms of area real estate...
The shot above is with the Monochrom at ISO 2500.
It is head and shoulders above what I know from e.g. TMY pushed 1 stop.
gb hill
Veteran
Check out Mando's flickr stream. He shoots quite a bit of night shots on color film. mostly 120 but some 35mm. good stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewhiteelephant/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewhiteelephant/
maddoc
... likes film again.
I have shot quite some film at night time (probably up to 90 % of my photography when I lived in Sapporo) and founded two groups on flickr. One is general about "dusk til dawn on film" and one about "colors at night on film" They are not restricted to 135 or absolute darkness but you can an impression what is possible.
mervynyan
Mervyn Yan
Second to provia 50 or 100. At night I shoot mostly the slides, b&w at long exposure is hard to tell if you miss the exposure time. With slide, I bracketed 3 shoots, a good lab can tell me if I got it or not.
Rom
Established
nice photo ! may i ask how do you determine the right exposure time in the darkness ?
thanks
Vincent.G
Well-known
You may like to check out maddoc's Flickr.
Nothing seem impossible to him... King of The Night!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I took a spotmeter reading off the brightest part of the floor (about the only thing I could get a reading from without hitting the meter's low-light limit) and gave a stop more exposure to place it on Zone VI. I still didn't know if the shadows would come through, so I bracketed. The 5 minute exposure was a stop over the exposure I originally calculated, so I'm glad I bracketed. In a situation like this, best you can really do is an educated guess.