What's your best super-low light formula for small formats?

[Roger Cole]

Oh yes - I recall seeing some photos posted here of LF images on HP5+ pushed to 1600 in Rodinal. Lots of searching didn't seem to turn them up. I'm interested in that combination both for medium format and for LF. In LF the grain wouldn't be an issue at all and there are times I would at least really like to experiment with that kind of effective speed in 4x5.

[Roger Cole]

Thanks Asher,

It was a realization of an image I held in mind for a long time before it came up in front of me with less light than I wished for.

Roger,

Mine is 4x5, and I know Paul works LF and is able to do this.

By way of explanation Bill, I didn't mean to pick on you at all. The OP did ask specifically about small formats, and I have a relevant image (more than one actually) to show TMZ at 3200, but hesitated to post.

In my case, I used to be in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval group, and shot a roll of TMZ at a medeival event, all shot by torchlight. This was in the 90s. Experimenting in the darkoom a certain inspiration struck. It wasn't a new idea but I'd never done it and the usage seemed perfect - I printed them in color on RA4 paper with the filtration adjusted to yield a very pale yellowish look. They look somewhat like they were shot in color under very yellow torches.

[atlcruiser]

I have shot tons of arista edu 400 and 100 in MF and now a fair bit in LF. I keep to the same times on my roller for both formats.


Grain can get rough in rodinal on longer dev times. I keep the temp down to about 18' in a waterbath and that seems to really help the grain issue.



I have a box on HP5 and a box of arista edu 400 on hand in 810. If I get time I will shoot a few frames of each at 1600 this week and post them up. I will need to figure out a way to keep the jobo 2830 tank cooled down and my darkroom is at about 80' this time of year.

[Bill Burk]

I wasn't even thinking that way at all Roger,

Just thought we could keep the discussion LF and on-topic if we tried.

Your shots sound very interesting and might be good to spontaneously post in the safe haven thread...

[Roger Cole]

I wasn't even thinking that way at all Roger,

Just thought we could keep the discussion LF and on-topic if we tried.

Your shots sound very interesting and might be good to spontaneously post in the safe haven thread...

Well *coughcough* that's a startlingly obvious idea and a couple of them just happened to appear there.

[Frank Petronio]

I'm in the dslr camp now, I used to shoot low-light 35mm a lot and while I wish for the purity of a Leica, Noctilux, and TXP, it just ain't going to happen anytime soon.

Some of the older, "obsolete" DSLRs have very nice noise patterns that resemble grain and degrade nicely. I usually amp the contrast and blacks, turn off noise reduction, emphasize clarity and sharpness... cameras like the old Nikon D80 look great this way at ISO 800-1600 (CDD rather than CMOS sensor) and I even used my lowly Panasonic G1 at 1600 to good effect. And auto-focus is usually helpful too.

Also don't forget that the little on board flashes really work great for cleaning things up at higher ISOs. I never liked on-board flash but it can work really nicely once you adjust your attitude. Or look for alternative existing light sources, street lamps, mirrors, bar signs, etc.

35mm B&W still has legs but they are getting shorter ;-) Mainly I just like shooting it. But I get better results from digital.



That's from a Nikon D80/50mm f/1.8 AFD

[Brian C. Miller]

Google Books has The Darkroom Cookbook, and there's a couple of techniques for intesification. (link)

One uses hydrogen peroxide to "steam" the film, and the other is to expose it to glacial acetic acid vapors. Personally, I've used Tmax 400 and Xtol 1:3.

[Mike Anderson]

I know this is a question mainly about film, but Ken Rockwell has a shot with his Fuji X100 (scroll to the bottom of the page):

http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/x100/sample-images.htm

The picture of his 2 kids watching a movie. ISO 12,800, f/2 at 1/5, claimed LV -3.

The latest digital tech is such a game changer for low light photography.

....Mike

[Jay DeFehr]

I agree digital has a technical advantage over film in low light, but that assumes one wants their low light images to look like images made in less-low light. Sometimes blank shadows, grain, and subject movement work really well. By way of example, look at this digital image

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmce...fehr/lightbox/

I marked this photo as a favorite yesterday, and when reading this thread today, thought it was a good example of how film can still work in low light if one's expectations and intentions are aligned with the limitations of the media. When I went to link it, I noticed it's a digital image. Oddly, my point still stands.

Really love this one, Paul.

[Asher Kelman]

I'm in the dslr camp now, I used to shoot low-light 35mm a lot and while I wish for the purity of a Leica, Noctilux, and TXP, it just ain't going to happen anytime soon.

Some of the older, "obsolete" DSLRs have very nice noise patterns that resemble grain and degrade nicely. I usually amp the contrast and blacks, turn off noise reduction, emphasize clarity and sharpness... cameras like the old Nikon D80 look great this way at ISO 800-1600 (CDD rather than CMOS sensor) and I even used my lowly Panasonic G1 at 1600 to good effect. And auto-focus is usually helpful too.

Also don't forget that the little on board flashes really work great for cleaning things up at higher ISOs. I never liked on-board flash but it can work really nicely once you adjust your attitude. Or look for alternative existing light sources, street lamps, mirrors, bar signs, etc.

35mm B&W still has legs but they are getting shorter ;-) Mainly I just like shooting it. But I get better results from digital.

That's from a Nikon D80/50mm f/1.8 AFD

Frank,

This is such an exceptional picture. It brings humanity, grace, and beauty to us. There's no technical conceit, craft or brilliance in composition that calls attention to itself and distracts from the photograph. When this happens, it's a winner! Also the girl is lovely.

Kudos!


Now for the low light with film, how about the preflashing under the enlarger, or with a gray card in the field for extending the use of film in low light conditions? Why not even add this extra step to the other techniques? Which combinations might work best?

Asher