North Coast Surfing just got better

[Outdoorsman]

I think if I can get a fast enough shutter to stop action, then I'll have no choice but to go into business for myself. I'll call it "North Coast Surfing" and I'll make a fortune! Well, maybe not... ;) But at least I've got the ability to get my dear brother the shots he's been begging for over the last couple years. This one just came in today- I forget to mark my film with what the subjects/dates are... I had to guess which rolls to send out this last go-round, and I guessed right.
My main question with this post is about film. I need to get a couple stops back to account for my 2X TC. The loss in light is costing me crucial shutter speeds, as you can see from this pic. I want to try out the Fuji Provia 400, but I was kind of wondering if anyone's shot it before and what they thought of it. My main worry is too much grain- would I be wasting my time? Should I just sell my car and get an f/2.8 lens or will Provia 400 work for me? Any comments on the pic are more than welcome, too!
Shot with Elan 7N, Sigma 70-300+2X TC on Kodak 100VS.

[another view]

Cool shot, but yes I agree that a couple of stops would help you here. Provia 400F is an amazing film - the results even in bright sunlight are hard to tell from Provia 100F. Only downside is that it's expensive and hard to find. I've shot it at 800 too (with a one stop push at the lab) and the results were very good for 800 speed slide film.

Going to guess here - the lens is probably 300mm at f5.6 - with a 2X converter you're losing two stops so that's an effective f11. Sunny 16 rule would give you 1/250 at f11 but maybe you're opening up about one stop so that's 1/125... You could definately use those two stops!

[Outdoorsman]

Cool shot, but yes I agree that a couple of stops would help you here. Provia 400F is an amazing film - the results even in bright sunlight are hard to tell from Provia 100F. Only downside is that it's expensive and hard to find. I've shot it at 800 too (with a one stop push at the lab) and the results were very good for 800 speed slide film.

Going to guess here - the lens is probably 300mm at f5.6 - with a 2X converter you're losing two stops so that's an effective f11. Sunny 16 rule would give you 1/250 at f11 but maybe you're opening up about one stop so that's 1/125... You could definately use those two stops!

You are dead on right! Now would you like to try for the bonus round, where the prizes geat really big?
I do indeed have f5.6 at 300mm, and yes, with the TC I get f11, and I usually open up a half stop to a stop to account for the wave shadow on the surfer and the reflection off the whitewash.
Your info on the Provia is good news. I've been curious about the faster slide films for a while, but never had the need to use them. B&H has Provia 400 for $5.95, but it's back-ordered. I could pay $9.99 and have it now... but I think I'll wait.
Is the grain really that small? And what size enlargements do you think I could make? Thanks so much!

[mjm]

slightly faster shutter and this would ROCK.

[another view]

Is the grain really that small? And what size enlargements do you think I could make?

Blew me away the first time I used it. I didn't know it could be found anywhere for $6/roll, I've always paid $10-12 so I haven't shot it unless I needed it. Enlargement size is a hard question to answer but I'd say that whatever you feel comfortable with using E100VS will work with Provia 400F.

I'll find a couple of examples (I remember a shot in bright sunlight with it so I could see how bad it would be - but it wasn't) and post them in Viewfinder tonight. Other people might be interested in seeing it than might find it here so I'll post it over there. BTW, Provia 100F exposed at 320 and given a full two stop push at the lab isn't bad either. Provia 400F exposed at 400 is better though and works out to about the same cost per roll (add a few bucks to the lab bill for push processing or add a few bucks to the cost of the film and use regular processing).

I'll be watching the mail for that Cubano...

[another view]

OK, couldn't come up with the Provia 400F shot in bright sun, but here's a quick scan of one exposed at ISO800 with a one stop push from the lab. Not a great scan or shot, but the original is pretty impressive for 800 speed slide film!

[berrywise]

Even at $9.99 a roll of Provia 400F is sure a lot cheaper to try than a 2.8 lens ;o) That shot would be spot on if ya had that extra bit of stop action. I shot 400 on my trip to Europe last summer and I had great results (when viewing in my slide projector) but not as great of results when I scanned it. I am going to see about having some of it scanned elsewhere to see if this holds true or not.

-scott

[berrywise]

OK, couldn't come up with the Provia 400F shot in bright sun, but here's a quick scan of one exposed at ISO800 with a one stop push from the lab. Not a great scan or shot, but the original is pretty impressive for 800 speed slide film!

See now that scan is a lot better than what the results I have gotten. I really need to find someone with a good scannr or find some place to scan my stuff for me. Shooting digital like I do I can't justify buying a scanner but since I took film on that trip I'm up a creek right now.

[another view]

See now that scan is a lot better than what the results I have gotten. I really need to find someone with a good scannr or find some place to scan my stuff for me. Shooting digital like I do I can't justify buying a scanner but since I took film on that trip I'm up a creek right now.

Really, and I think it's pretty bad! The original is a lot better. My scanner is cheap too, an Acer 2720S that works on SCSI (but for some reason they made an XP driver). I'm in about the same position, most of what I shoot now is digital so I have a hard time justifying a better scanner like a Nikon Coolscan V for about $600. Days when I scan a few frames make me think about it though...