Film selection for urban landscape and street shots

[Steph_B]

Hi everybody!,

I was wondering whether you could help me choose a film suitable for urban landscape and eventually BW conversion.

As a long time user of Velvia and Provia for landscape, I am prettily much unfamiliar with any other film out there. I will be going to Paris and Brugges at the end of the year. I expect overcast/tourmented skies, and public lighting. I would like to pack some film with me that will be easy to use, ie. without tripod. Hence, I need something rather fast, but still high quality with low grain. I am also contemplating converting some of the urban shots into BW.

After reviewing the Film section on PR, I was left with the feeling that the Ektachrome 200 remains the best choice for street shooting. I used it in the past and was relatively happy with it. Should I stick to it, or would you advise me something else? Maybe I should use print film instead of slide?

Given the locations and so-so weather, what would you pack?

Thank you for your help!

Cheers,

Steph.

[Franglais]

Hi everybody!,

I was wondering whether you could help me choose a film suitable for urban landscape and eventually BW conversion.

As a long time user of Velvia and Provia for landscape, I am prettily much unfamiliar with any other film out there. I will be going to Paris and Brugges at the end of the year. I expect overcast/tourmented skies, and public lighting. I would like to pack some film with me that will be easy to use, ie. without tripod. Hence, I need something rather fast, but still high quality with low grain. I am also contemplating converting some of the urban shots into BW.

After reviewing the Film section on PR, I was left with the feeling that the Ektachrome 200 remains the best choice for street shooting. I used it in the past and was relatively happy with it. Should I stick to it, or would you advise me something else? Maybe I should use print film instead of slide?

Given the locations and so-so weather, what would you pack?

Thank you for your help!

Cheers,

Steph.

It can be really dark in Paris in winter. Days are short, the sky is often overcast and in the streets you get a sort of canyon light from being down among the buildings., even though they are only 5 stories high.

I would pack a 400 ISO colour negative film (Fuji NPH Pro is my favourite but you might be happier with the brighter colours of the 400 ISO Xtra consumer film). 800 ISO is more comfortable with a zoom lens, but the colour is really a step down compared with slide film.

Having said that - why not wait till you're here and see what the weather is really like, then buy the film that best suits your needs? If the weather's bright and sunny you could use Provia at least during the daytime.

Charles

[another view]

E200? Ugh... Not one of my favorites! Like Charles says, with tall buildings the middle of the day can be pretty dark in the middle of town - but you may find something to photograph in direct light around the corner.

Provia 400F is my favorite slide film of anything I've tried over ISO100, but it is expensive. How about bringing some B&W neg film? Personally I'd bring Tri-X which is a 400 speed film. It also works well at 800 (no change in development time IIRC).

Working with low light and no tripod, I'd want 800 and 1600 (Ilford Delta 3200) available as well as fast primes.

[racingpinarello]

Hi,

I think that ISO 400 C41 film would be the best bet if you wanted to buy your film before you came over. Having said that, when I went to Paris at the end of December I still shot with Provia and Velvia using a tripod, and Delta 100 and 400.


With a weak dollar the film over there will be mighty expensive, so plan on bringing some options before you arrive, and then buy additional film when you get there.

For C41 film, I use NPH400 and then boost the saturation after scanning. The lower contrast of this film will make conversion to BW easier, then you can boost contrast in PS.

Loren

[Steph_B]

Thank you guys for your input. I guess I'll pack a little bit of everything. My concern with BW film is that the lab MUST know how to deal with it. I heard lots of bad things about T-grain films being badly exposed and difficult to handle. But we will see!

Here is what I will try:
Delta 400 for overcast days BW work (I am looking forward to take wide angle pics at the Place des Arts which is always so crowded!)
Tri-X if I'm lucky enough to get a foggy day in one of the French garden with statues around. I guess a little bit of grain will not hurt!
Velvia+tripod for night shots

I've never tried BW fim before (really!). Anything that I should absolutely know before being trigger happy? Can I trust the ISO number with my F100 or should I rate these films differently. I know that for Velvia an ISO 40 is better (I learned this the hard way!).

Thanks for your help! Really appreciated!

Steph.

[another view]

Can I trust the ISO number with my F100

Yes, that's the best place to start. I know a lot of people shoot Tri-X at 250 (just like Velvia at 40) but I haven't really figured out if I need to do this yet. Those people develop and print their own in a darkroom. I'm looking at scanning most of the time, and not sure if that would help or cause a problem. So I use 400 and life is good. The F100 is very accurate (not foolproof, of course) in matrix and there's tons of latitude, especially compared to Velvia.

B&W processing/printing is as much art as science and the only thing I've learned is how much I don't know! I develop my own for most personal work but have a great lab that will do custom "real" darkroom prints. It's a whole different experience than slides. With E6, the film is either developed right or wrong. With B&W, different developers at different dilutions at different temperatures at different development times... give different results. ISO rating is just one piece of the puzzle, but start at what the box says. OTOH, I love TMax 3200 and Delta 3200 but usually shoot both at 1600 (less grain and 1600 is usually fast enough).

[Franglais]

Thank you guys for your input. I guess I'll pack a little bit of everything. My concern with BW film is that the lab MUST know how to deal with it. I heard lots of bad things about T-grain films being badly exposed and difficult to handle. But we will see!

Here is what I will try:
Delta 400 for overcast days BW work (I am looking forward to take wide angle pics at the Place des Arts which is always so crowded!)
Tri-X if I'm lucky enough to get a foggy day in one of the French garden with statues around. I guess a little bit of grain will not hurt!
Velvia+tripod for night shots

I've never tried BW fim before (really!). Anything that I should absolutely know before being trigger happy? Can I trust the ISO number with my F100 or should I rate these films differently. I know that for Velvia an ISO 40 is better (I learned this the hard way!).

Thanks for your help! Really appreciated!

Steph.

Paris in winter is really suited to night shots. The monuments are all lit up and there are lots of interesting lighted places what with the Christmas lights and stuff. Even rain and fog just adds to the effect.

I was down on the Champs Elysees this evening. It was a cold, misty night, all the trees have fairy lights in them and it was all very pretty.

Example : from New Year last year