Q. Film suggestions for January in Vietnam

[Hibbs]

Hi…I am heading to Vietnam in January and am thinking of taking my Oly Pen FV rig with equivalent 35mm, 50mm and 85mm lenses.

I'm told to expect more even overcast conditions than the bright sun they may have in summer.

I plan to shoot mostly 400 print film but will take some 100 as well. May even shoot a little B&W there too.

Given the half-frame, does anyone have suggestions as too film choice? I was thinking of using Kodak UC for the 400 and, perhaps Superia Reala for the 100.

I'd be open to other suggestions/recommendations etc.

Thanks in advance...

~hibbs

 

[Hibbs]

Thanks for all the comments. I've decided to take Sockeyed's advice and take some NPZ800 and shoot it @ 500ASA. I too worry about making Asian skin too yellow.

I'll also take some Reala, a little 400UC + a few B&W emulsions.

~hibbs

 

[wlewisiii]

Asian skin? I'd suggest Fuji Reala then, as I've found that, consistantly, it does the best with my son (just shy of 5 years old and adopted from Phan Thiet, Vietnam). The rest are balanced a wee bit towards caucasian skin tones for my tastes (& yeah, I & my wife are caucasian ourselves). So this has been a film issue I've been very well aware of over the past couple of years.

Only use that UC for highly colorful jungle shots. I consider it to be _violently_ too punchy for anyone's skin tones. It gets scarey ugly really fast...

Hope this is of some help,

William

 

[Abbazz]

I second Sockeyed's suggestion: take lots of NPZ800 and overexpose it 1/3 to 1/2 stop. The night comes early in Vietnam and you will have many opportunities to shoot in dimly lit places (markets, narrow lanes, temples, old shops, museums). You will not have much sun north of Danang in January (BTW, take some winter clothes, as the temperatures are quite cold, especially if you plan to go to the mountains north of Hanoi or to Halong Bay).

Have a nice trip, bring back lots of pictures and don't forget to share them here...

Cheers,

Abbazz