What's the best high speed C-41 film?

[sirius]

I'm really tired of underexposed 800 ISO shots. What's the best high speed C-41 film, fujifilm natura 1600? I'd have to order a brick because no one sells high speed film here anymore. Please help me make the best choice.

Any advice on shooting fast films? It seems like everyone rates their film slower than the box speed.

Thanks in advance for the advice everyone!

 

[clarence]

Unless you're planning to make huge enlargements, you could just decrease shutter speed by a few stops.

Clarence

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I use Fuji Superia 1600 as it's the only fast one I can get. I'm not sure how it differs from Fuji Natura 1600. Surely not too much?

There is considerable grain, so I use it for gritty night life photos only and the grain suits the subject.

In my opinion most C41 film is best rated slower than box speed. I think the technicians make an ISO 320 film, but the people in marketing think ISO 400 sounds sexier so that's what is printed on the box.

Also at night I'd under expose anyway because it's dark and I want the photo to look dark, not gray.

 

[sirius]

Thank-you both. Clarence, even hand holding ISO 800 at 1/8 sec at f2 with my 35mm lens can give me underexposed shots. If I go much slower than that the subject blur gets pretty crazy.

Can anyone comment on the difference between fuji superia 1600 and natura?

I'm looking for the best quality grain I can get. I'd like to use this for wedding photos and candids in doors.

Ian

 

[clarence]

In My Humble Opinion, you might as well use pushed black and white film if you're shooting in conditions that dark, since the illumination would usually be artificial (i.e. electrical) and create colour casts that you might not like.

Clarence

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

In My Humble Opinion, you might as well use pushed black and white film if you're shooting in conditions that dark, since the illumination would usually be artificial (i.e. electrical) and create colour casts that you might not like.

Clarence

A good pro lab can correct the white balance while printing, if you use a color negative.

There are not too much options in the ISO 1600 color negs. As far as I know, Kodak no longer makes an ISO 1600 color negative. So the Fuji Superia 1600 and Natura are the only options I can think of. For smaller grain I would overexpose Superia 1600 by 1/3 stop, i.e. set the film speed at ISO 1350 or use +1/3 stop exp. compensation.

If you really need to shoot a LOT of color in very dark spaces, you should perhaps consider getting a good digital SLR. High ISO is really digital realm these days. A Full Frame digital SLR will produce acceptable results at ISO 3200 and even the APS-C sensor (1.5x & 1.6x crop factor) cameras are quite good at ISO 1600.

 

[sirius]

Thanks Dr. Strangelove,

Yes, I covet the low-light abilities of cameras like the Canon 5D and others that are coming into the market now. I agree that DSLRs are really the best tool for the job now.

I enjoy my leicas and am trying to find better ways to use them in low light photography such as weddings. I don't really want to give up on all the nice things about the Leica cameras and lenses.

I appreciate your advice, it was just what I was looking for.

Do you think a 1600 film rated lower has a better result than using an 800 speed and push-processing it?

cheers

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Do you think a 1600 film rated lower has a better result than using an 800 speed and push-processing it?

The C41 process is usually fully automated and so push processing is not possible. You may get lucky and find somebody to offer, but I doubt it.

 

[btgc]

What Strangelove said ! agree heartfully.
Another film I found to be good is Konica Centuria 1600 - like it maybe even better than Superia 1600 (exhausting my small stock, and it's discontinued), though if you open wallet for Natura, it will shine over rest.

I'm not very familiar with pushing c-41, little bird told a few are doing this and costs go high, most of processors make word-based pushing to charge more. I guess that you'll have to find person who does manual processing unless you do it yourself.

 

[sirius]

Hmm, I've never tried it before, but at London Drugs they told me it could be done. I'll have to confirm that.

So Natura is the best, eh?

 

[fgianni]

Grab yourself an used R-D1, they go for about £800, $1500 now, so you can enjoy your Leica lenses and shoot pretty good ISO 1600 pictures (definitely miles better than any ISO 1600 C41 film), or even decent ISO 3200 (just underexpose 1 stop and let the RAW converted do its magic)

 

[sirius]

Ooh, that would be nice...I've thought about that fgianni.

 

[mackigator]

Iso 1600

Iso 1600

I've had good results pushing 400x (slide film) two stops to 1600. Less grain than the Superia or Natura I've shot in the past. Lots of examples of this on Flickr, so I'm not the only one noticing the versatility of 400x.

 

[dmr]

I've had good results with the Superia 1600. Slightly more grainy than the 800, but in my experience a true full f-stop faster. Here are a couple with this film, but it does appear lighter than it was. These were late dusk shots ...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29046&d=1151453275

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29047&d=1151453420

IMAO, you should shoot at the box speed unless there's a very particular reason to do something else.

 

[Trius]

The only roll of Fuji Superia 1600 I shot recently, I liked. I shot it at 800, but that was overkill. I'd say it's true speed is 1000-1250. It might work OK @ 1600, but the grain might be emphasized more. At 800 the grain was quite acceptable for a high speed film.

 

[sirius]

I can't buy natura 1600 here. I found a seller on eBay. I think I'll get some and post the results for you here...

http://stores.ebay.com/Alpha-Pro-Camera_FUJI-ISO1600-film_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ9894547QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

[wray]

I shot my first roll of Superia 1600 (can't find any Natura locally) last week at an "El Día de los Muertos" art exhibit. I was pleasantly surprised at the results!

 

[venchka]

I must be doing something wrong. Or the processing/scanning lab I used was terrible. I didn't like Superia 1600 at all. The samples here are way better than what I got. I guess I need to try some more and a different lab.

 

[mackigator]

Some samples of my results as I played with these films:

Natura 1600, some shot at 800
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=natura+1600&w=95742421%40N00&s=int

Superia 1600
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=superia+1600&w=95742421%40N00&s=int

400x at 1600:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=95742421%40N00&q=400x+push+to+1600&m=text

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

IMAO, you should shoot at the box speed unless there's a very particular reason to do something else.

For faster than ISO 100 color negative I believe exactly the opposite: you should always overexpose at least 1/3 stops unless you really need the speed or want the grain. Overexposing modern color negatives by less than 2 stops from box speed will not affect the dynamic or tonal range significantly, but it will always give you smaller grain. One of my best results ever with color negative I got when I accidentally overexposed a few rolls of Agfa Vista 200 by 2 stops (i.e. exposed as ISO 50). Grain as small as Reala 100, really nice colors and good dynamic range.