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How do I choose film?


I am going to Alaska. All over the state. So I got this Canon Rebel 2000 camera with filters and lenses and straps..you get the picture here? Anyway. I have to learn how to use it before I get to Alaska since this is a one time shot at the entire state. Going places not usually visited by the normal visitor up there. Anyway, my question is..what type of film? I know this sounds dumb, but not much is offered as to correct film and I thought this was important. I need help.

thank you.


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March 29, 2001

 

John A. Lind
  Sue,
I am envious of your being able to travel much of Alaska. The "correct" film is a tough question. There is no "right" film for everyone under all conditions. How you will use the film will influence which ones may be more suitable than others.

Some questions that will help us give you advice on films:
1. How "fast" are your lenses (what are their widest apertures; this is the part of a lens description just after its focal length)?
2. What do you intend to photograph? Scenic? Wildlife? Plantlife? People? All of these?
3. Do you intend to do most of your photography outdoors? Will there be a significant amount of photography indoors?
4. Will you be photographing in low light levels without flash (night scenes outdoors, indoors without flash, or something similar)?
5. Do you want color, or black and white, or both?
6. Do you want to make large prints (8x10 and bigger) of your photographs? If so, is it just a few, or many?
7. Do you intend to do slide shows with your photographs?

-- John


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March 29, 2001

 

Timothy A. Oppor
  sue, In my mind for all purpose use go with 400 speed film, thy are good for bright light fast moving objects, and will do for landscapes. Iff you are planing on enlarging these photos to 8X10 of larger mabey you would benifit from a slower speed film, I rcomend buying a bunch of different speed films, taking pictures and see what kind you feel most compertable with.


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March 30, 2001

 

John A. Lind
  Sue,
First, your idea of practicing with this camera before finding yourself in remote Alaska is excellent!

You might try a roll each of Kodak's Royal Gold 200 and Fuji's Superia 200. There are ISO 400 equivalents to each one. Royal Gold is Kodak's premium consumer color negative and finer grained than "Gold" is, and both ISO 200 films are finer grained than their faster ISO 400 counterparts. Color response is slightly different between the two, but both are high quality, general purpose consumer films. You may want to try some others along with these. Pick which you like best, but keep in mind how well the lab prints the negatives can confound evaluation of color negative film performance. Select a lab that has done excellent work for you in the recent past.

Some of the scenery in Alaska is a little different. Although ISO 400 would easily work, it could have you shooting landscapes with glacial ice or snow on a clear sunny day with an f/16 lens aperture and 1/1000th shutter speed. I try to keep lens apertures at f/11 or f/8 for general landscapes, scenics and architecturals. Most 35mm lenses are at the edge of being diffraction limited at f/16 which starts to degrade resolution; the upper end of their "sweet spot" for resolution is usually f/11. The reasons are based on the physics of light and camera optics (the aperture diaphragm).

ISO 200 gives you a little more room for a wider lens aperture under extremely bright outdoor conditions. On the other end of the brightness scale you can still shoot in very heavy overcast or deep shade with apertures of f/5.6 or f/4 and shutter speeds of 1/60th or 1/125th. Also should be good for about 10-15 minutes before sunrise or after sunset at f/4 and 1/60th. (f/3.5 and f/4.5 are only 1/3rd stop faster and slower than f/4, so I tend to think of them as f/4 apertures.)

I would be tempted to have some ISO 400 film in the event that opportunities for available light shooting at very low brightness levels arises. Canon makes a GR-100TP grip with a table-top tripod in its base. Even if you don't use it on a table top, it can help you brace the camera against something for slow shutter speeds. You might consider this and a light weight monopod if your luggage weight and size permit. Along with plenty of film, _don't_ forget to take plenty of extra batteries.

If you are going to be out in severe cold (below about 20 F), always keep a warm set of spare batteries in your pocket! Severe cold reduces battery voltage and if they get cold enough, it will drop too low to operate the camera. Been there; done that. By switching out to warm batteries you can continue shooting. Put the cold ones in your pocket to warm them and get their voltage back up, then keep switching them as necessary.

-- John


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March 31, 2001

 

Jeff S. Kennedy
  There are a great deal of factors that go into the choice of film.

1. What are you going to shoot?
2. What is your experience level? IOW are you competent enough with exposure to use slide film?
3. Will you use a tripod? (I hope the answer is yes)
4. Why are you shooting? Do you just want to record the moment? In that instance then by all means use ISO400 film. Or do you want to make beautiful images? In that case, use the slowest film you can.
5. What films have you used in the past? Why not stick with one you are familiar with?
6. What is your style? Do you want to record colors as they looked to you or do you want to saturated them to convey the beauty you experienced? Do you want to emphasize form with b&w shots?

I could go on but I think you get the point.


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April 01, 2001

 
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