Pushing the limits

[Jehu]

(LF newbie alert)

I'm going to be at the Great Reno Balloon Race at 5AM for the Glow Show and Dawn Patrol.

This digital exposure was ISO 1600, 1/8 second at f4:


I have a two films I can use: 160VC and E100VS. Can I push these 3 stops? Does that mean that I can shoot the 160 as ISO 1280? Will that alter the contrast much?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ole Tjugen]

I won't recommend pushing film - ANY film.

If you absolutely don't have enough light, in my experience you get better pictures by exposing as much as you can, then getting a GOOD scan and using software to extract as much information as possible.

Only a few years ago this was very different, but with modern computer enhancement you will get better results with the method I mentioned. Regardless of pushing you still only get nominal speed out of a E6 or C-41 film; all you acheive is increasing the contrast.

[Bryan Lemasters]

Don't know whether you can push 160VC at all. E100VS is probably "pushable" but you would end up with a very contrasty image. Fuji Provia 400 is supposed to be pushable to 3 stops but, again, you end up with excessive contrast in an already constrasty situation.

Just my 2 cents. Others may disagree.

[Gordon Moat]

Kodak Portra 160VC does not push that well, though you could try underexposing and then trying to print. Many labs do not want to do push nor pull with C-41 films.

Kodak E100VS is a different story. Many labs will do push processing on this. The best performance you could hope to get would be two stops, or ISO 400. Using your above shot as an example, that would mean roughly 1 second at f8.0 (assuming most LF lenses and a usable aperture). I have shot tons of E100VS, and I would be comfortable at those settings, assuming that you 1/8 second at f4.0 and ISO 1600 were true transferable settings (sometimes digital cameras not relate well to film in settings; these are rarely a substitute for a light meter in tough conditions).

Ideally you would get Kodak E200 or Fuji Provia 400X, both of which push very nicely. Unfortunately, both are only available in 35mm and 120 film sizes. So to use on large format you would need a rollfilm back. These are the only two E-6 films that push well beyond two stops without extreme contrast changes.

Whether this will be a paid shoot or not, I recommend testing low light imaging prior to attending that event. Push processing is very lab dependent in results, and if you are off more than 1/3 stop in exposure, then the results might look not so great. Recall that you will also need some filtration to compensate, like an 82A or 82B for E100VS (80A is often too strong when exposures equal or exceed 1 second); digital cameras often compensate through Auto White Balance; this can add to your exposure time.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography