 - Jyan L. Crayton Contact Jyan L. Crayton Jyan L. Crayton's Gallery |
Using a Lens Hood ... and 400 Speed FIlm Does a lens hood need to be used at all times, even indoors? Also, If I'm shooting indoors, would the Fuji 400 Xtra Superia film be good enough? It's supposed to be for indoor, outdoor, low light, and fast action. I'll be shooting indoors and just wanted to get the right speed. Would it be playing it safe if I used manual setting 125-250 speed @ 8.0 f-stop with 400 speed? Or should I open my aperture more? Thanks.
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Kevin Ekstrom |
First off, take some metered readings. Then go from there. Film speed is the light sensivity of the film. The higher the number (400) and so on, the less light it takes to activate the silver halide crystals in the film. 4oo film is 4 times as sensitive to light as 100 film. 100 is twice as fast as 50 or sensitive. Do you get the picture? No pun intended ... lol
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Michael H. Cothran |
99 percent of the time, the lens hood is of no service to the lens. It is effective ONLY when there is extraneous light striking the surface of the lens that could cause flare. There is no harm in keeping it on the lens. It does act as a pretty good protector in case you bump the lens into something, and some of the newer-style hoods simply look "cool" on the end of your glass. Wide-angle hoods are even less effective, and pretty much a waste of good plastic! OK, some are metal. Since I shoot on a tripod always, I can tell when there is the potential for flare, and in that case will shade the lens with my hand or body. I can physically see when the lens is "shaded" that way. Michael H. Cothran www.mhcphoto.net
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John P. Sandstedt |
Really, using a lens hood at all times is a good idea. Obviously, they are designed to restrict stray light, something that may not be a problem indoors. And, the hood provides lens protection! Often, I use it rather than a Skylight filter. Fujicolor 400 (Superia,) like any ISO 400, is a good general purpose film (in fact, I standardize on it). It's good outdoors; of course, my Canon EOS 3 allows really fast shutter speeds to 1/8000th sec., so sunlight really isn't a concern. That being said, indoors - one may have a problem with any film. That is, ISO 400 may not be fast enough (there's Fujicolor ISO 800 and Kodak and Konica have films with speeds of ISO 1600 and 3200. Grain can become a problem, however.) So, as Kevin says, use your meter and, perhaps, you might want to bracket. Remember, the exposure the meter gives you is "averaged." You may want to make changes for photographic and/or esoteric reasons. And, now, the killer! Make sure you can hold your camera still when shooting indoors. In my experience, even with ISO 400 film, shutter speeds generally sink to 1/60th or slower. At such speeds, it's tough to hold the camera steady - so you need to be thinking about a tripod, a unipod, a bean bag, or using the time delay feature of your camera (if it has one). And, one other thing - indoor lighting plays havoc with color rendition. Incandescent light will cause an orange cast in your slide or negative, halogen and fluorescent lights will cause a blue or greenish cast. You can address these issues using an 80A filter (for incandescent lighting) or a FLD filter for fluorescent. You might also try Tungsten film - it normally has an ISO 160 speed.
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Samuel Smith |
I'm with John on the 400 Superia. It will cover a lot - low light, indoor, outdoor, just about anything. You probably don't want to go past 8x10, but a great film. Sam
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Maria Melnyk |
No, no, don't use 1/125 - 1/250 for indoors. You need to bring out the background light. With flash, I use 1/30 speed, or at most 1/60. Also, most cameras can't handle flash-sync at 1/250. Superia 400 is fine, and you can even make 11x14 enlargements. However, I choose film based on what I am photographing. For weddings, for example, it wouldn't be Superia; I use Fuji NPH (also 400-speed), or Kodak Portra 400. I also love Kodak Royal Supra 400 (but not for weddings.) It's a professional film, and the colors are awesome! Same with Kodak Ultra 400. There's nothing wrong with 800-speed either, but Superia's is too grainy. Use professional Fuji NPZ, or Kodak Portra 800.
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- Jyan L. Crayton Contact Jyan L. Crayton Jyan L. Crayton's Gallery |
Thank You everyone for your respond. I used fuji 400 with my flash, and yes my built in camera meter pretty much read 1/60, 5.6. The pictures came out fine, only a few were bright on the face from side shots. Thanks
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