Pushing low speed film vs. using high speed? Differences?

[bml]

I need some advice.

I'm interested in trying some night shooting, but instead of going out and buying high speed (800? 1600?) color film, what might I expect from pushing something like Agfa Optima Prestige 200 to a higher speed? What kind of differences should I expect in quality, compared to buying 800 or 1600 film and using it at that same ISO? Is it "better" to use high speed film in the first place, or will pushing low speed film suffice?

Thanks for the help.

 

[40oz]

I've had great luck with TriX, HP5, and TMAX400 rated at roughly 1600 in both TMAX and D-76. I preferred the results in D-76, personally. I say "roughly 1600" because my methods are not precise enough to tell you exactly how to duplicate, but I can say that if you follow Kodak's recommended times, you'll get good results.

Here's one from my gallery:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=50227

I've got others, but since they are more examples of adequate exposure and developing than works of art, so they aren't online. To be fair, the one I posted could have used a slower film with a longer exposure, but it was not a planned photo - I was shooting an art opening in a dark room, hence pushing TriX to 1600.

Kodak says that you get finer grain pushing a 100 speed film to 400 than using a 400 speed film. They actually suggest that for sports and other situations where shadow detail isn't as critical, pushing slower film is better than jumping to a faster film:
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/o3/O3wp3.jhtml#1271356

I've never tried a film faster than 400, so I can't say what you will find there, but I like my results pushing TriX in D76 best so far. I'm guessing you'd get more shadow detail with a faster film, but more grain as a trade-off. I'm sure others can give you more insight than I.

 

[kaiyen]

Pushing C41 color negative film is generally not a good idea, as it's hard to find a lab that will do the push processing properly. The beauty of c41 color is that the process is so standardized that even your local Walgreens can get it right (the process, not handling, etc).

There isn't a good general rule about pushing a slower film vs shooting a faster one. For instance, Fuji 800 pushes well to 3200, and looks better at that than Fuji 1600 pushed 1 stop. Sounds crazy, right? But such is the case.

With B&W film, it is better to use a slower film in a speed-increasing developer than a faster film at the same speed in a speed-decreasing developer. But that's not the same as what you're asking about, either.

allan

 

[kaiyen]

Oh - but if you do find a good lab that will do the push processing properly, _and_ you figure out which color films push best in which ways, then it's not a bad idea. But that's a lot of stuff to figure out and identify.

allan