Which film(s) for my photoday ?

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percymon

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Photoday at the local Bird of Prey centre is fast approaching.

1. Part of the day is indoor 'studio style' shooting - the location is described as barn, so i'm not too sure what ambient light and or studio lighting may be provided (its an organised photoday so i assume the BoP centre will be providing some sort of 'floodlighting').

Indoor shooting will be Bronica ETR-SI 75mm (and 150mm lens for some detail shots hopefully) , for which i have the following 120 film in stock..

Kodak Ektachrome E100VS
Kodak Ektachrome E100G
Kodak Ektachrome E200
Fuji Provia 400X
Fuji Velvia 100F
Fuji Velvia 50

and

Ilford PanF+ 50
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 400
Fuji Acros Neopan 100

I have 2 film backs so i can mix n match a bit.


2. Outdoor shots will be mainly inflight so i'll be ditching the Bronny in favour of EOS5d (tut tut!) and EOS30 SLRs, using a Canon 24-105 IS Lf4 lens in the main i suspect.

What 35mm film should i consider for additional indoor shots, and also outside (assuming its a normal early October overcast day) ??

Many thanks,
David
 
Having seen the discussions on the extreme saturation of Velvia i think my best bet out of my stock is probably the Provia 400x, the most obvious choice for accurate colour rendition and a decent ASA to boot, should cover any lighting inadequacies.

35mm - just ordered a range of Astia 100F, Provia 100F and Sensia II 400. Coupled with some Provia 400x i have already this again should cover low/normal indoor lighting conditions, and the 400 is fast enough for outdoor inflight images.
 
It's been a long time since I used film as now digital. But I would go for Provia 400x if I was in your position. Looks like you haven already reached that conclusion anyway
 
percymon said:
Provia 400x i have already this again should cover low/normal indoor lighting conditions, and the 400 is fast enough for outdoor inflight images.
Click to expand...

Provia 400 is a good choice, I dunno that it will be fast enough though, depends on the light.
I mean, what are we looking it, 1/500th minimum for birds in flight, cos they don't half shift sometimes, I'm not really sure :thinking:
There are faster colour neg films, and there are push options for the Provia, but you need to decide about pushing before you shoot.
 
joxby - you have a poitn about the speed of flight, i'd forgotten about those pesky hawks and falcons; they're a bit faster than a vulture !

Seems like i'll be ordering some faster film then today - choices become a bit limited once you get up to 800asa or more though.

Any recommendations ?
 
Well been back on 7dayshop and ordered some 800ASA Portra and 800ASA Fuji ProH. And a roll of Fuji 1600 in case any bats are out :D
 
I dunno really, you need some advice from an experienced fast shutter film shooter.
Personally, I'd probably be considering the push route, choosing a 400 film with good pushing characteristics, maybe a couple of stops, and obviously shooting the whole roll at the speed I chose on the day.

:shrug:, where's all the birdy's, who have shot birds in flight for 40 years ?
 
Well i had a great day out yesterday at Gauntlet Birds of Prey Centre, Knutsford, Cheshire.

Some fantastic birds - weather was pretty rubbish, so a lot of time in the 'studio' and a few dashes ouside when the monsoons subsided (poor light still :( ).

First mistake was loading the cameras before i got there. Had loaded Fuji Pro400X and Ektachrome E200 into the MF backs. Even with the studio softbox or Bowens lighting i was down to 1/60th at f4 - not ideal !. Didn't take many on MF, amybe 16 shots in total; the 150mm lens still wasn't getting me in close enough for most of the birds (6 feet closest distance you could get without worrying the birds).

35mm bodies had been loaded with Fuji Pro800H and Kodak Portra 800. Should have been good but the studio lighting (didn't expect this !) had been set up for ISO100 for the digital users (me included). So a bit of phaffing about to correct for the iso differences.

Was good to be hooked up to the studio lighting *** - first time i've done this and very useful to see the results (advantage of digital was being able to see what effect my settings were having before i messed up the film !)


Outside shots with the Fuji 1600asa film are pretty disappointing - colour saturation and detail are poor compared to Fuji 800asa. I knew i'd lose some detail, but the colour was a bit of a surprise - 1600asa was always an oddball film anyway. Light was really poor for any sort of detailed shots in flight. Even had the digital iso up to 800asa to get enough sensitivity to achieve any sort of shutter speed even at f5.


SO lessons learnt...

1. Call the venue first to ask about lighting and set-up
2. Don't expect to get any half decent shots of birds in flight on a dull wet October day unless you have some serious f2.8 glassware and a glimpse of sunshine !
 
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