Best Color Film for Long Exposures

[David Solow]

I posted earlier about a specific film and thought about it. I'm not tied to any particular film. I just want to know what other folks experiences are with color film for long exposures: reciprocity factors, color shifting, contrast, etc. It would be great if someone had some experience shooting architecture at night with color film.

I have a client who wants a shot of a downtown building at night. It's about 15-20 stories tall. I will be shooting with a 75mm f/4.5 apo-grandagon lens on a 4x5 Sinar P2. If I want to have the building and the forecourt in focus, I'll need to stop down to at least f/16. Depending on the film speed and depth field range, the exposure reading could be in minutes.

Thanks in advance for your help,
David

[vinny]

tompaiva.com

[dave_whatever]

Provia is pretty good for long exposures as far as slide film goes. Generally reciprocity failure is negligible up to about 20mins ish.

[johnmsanderson]

Really love Ektar 100. I don't even think about reciprocity with it. For example:

This was something like ~8 minutes exposure. This isn't commercial work so don't hold me to a high "color accuracy" standard...



Also this was Kodak 160NC at a few minutes



I didn't really worry about reciprocity much with either. I just aimed to overexpose a bit. Ektar is considerably less grainy than the 160NC film.

Haven't shot many transparencies in awhile, but I would agree Provia is a good bet, although very blue.

[MumbleyJoe]

If you're considering Provia (which seems a good choice given its fantastic reciprocity characteristics) I'd try Astia too. It behaves similarly, but I think looks a little nicer at twilight, based on these side-by-side comparisons (not my own).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gulleve...es-mumbleyjoe/

[David Solow]

Thank you all for your recommendations. I really like the Astia over the Provia in the side by side. The Provia is a little blue. The Kodak 160 NC looks fantastic, too. I guess I'll try a few different ones in side by side comparisons to see their different characteristics. I just shot a some Velvia 100F, because that was what was available locally. Also, they were quickloads, which I am digging.

David

[dave_whatever]

I don't think the provia in that example looks any bluer than the astia, more that those particular shots are blue and provia has stronger saturation.

[Kirk Gittings]

It would be great if someone had some experience shooting architecture at night with color film.

They are twilight shots-not night shots. Buildings look like crap at night. How about 33 years of experience making my living shooting twilight shots? See my sites.

IMO I actually have preferred color negatives for many years-much more flexible, less bracketing. I assume you are delivering files and will be scanning the film? Shoot color negatives.

[rguinter]

They are twilight shots-not night shots. Buildings look like crap at night. How about 33 years of experience making my living shooting twilight shots? See my sites.

IMO I actually have preferred color negatives for many years-much more flexible, less bracketing. I assume you are delivering files and will be scanning the film? Shoot color negatives.

Kirk:

If I may ask: which color negative films do you prefer for your twilight photos these days?

Bob G.

[Kirk Gittings]

I've long prefered the Fuji films. They IME are a bit better in mixed light situations-particularly with green component in fluorescents and metal halides. So I use 160NS. Film type doesn't matter as much as it used to since everything gets scanned and the greens can oftentimes be cleaned by adjusting the saturation and hue of the yellows and greens.