Current Color films for LF night photography

[Noah A]

Just an update to this thread as information has come to me from one of my instructors at college....he recommends that I use (get this....) Tungsten Color Slide film. Says that it doesn't suffer the same issues with RF law. Now...as you probably gathered...where in the world does one get Tungsten film anymore? Has K and F (or any other film manufacturer) got an alternative? I think I've come across a few but in 35mm...but in 4x5....not a chance.

I'm still ok with the Provia...but the new Portra 400 has me curious....has anyone had the opportunity to shoot with this yet?....and hopefully at night...

Fuji still makes Fujichrome T64 according to their website. Kodak has recently discontinued Ektachrome 64T. I doubt you'll find either one easily especially in 4x5.

I don't know about it's reciprocity failure characteristics, but it would make sense that it was optimized for longer exposures I guess. Personally I wouldn't bother.

I shot my first test sheets (in daylight) of the Portra 400, and they're at the lab now. Hopefully I'll have them back early next week and I'll post results. I started a thread about that film recently but didn't get a lot of responses.

I have two more sheets of the new 400 loaded up...so maybe later in the week I'll try some night work with it.

The old Portra 400NC was great at night though, so I don't expect the new film to be worse.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Your instructor's advice seems a bit dated? It's mostly a question of availability, few tungsten options anymore. No fast ISO ones, AFAIK; and the slower films once known for this don't really have any great improvement in reciprocity over more recent E6 or print film emulsions. Worse, the color temperature of tungsten film is not balanced for moonlight(sunlight reflected)/starlight so it would need filtration for direct viewing; filter and filtration factor might screw the possibility of reasonable exposure times at night.

[grafnik]

Yes Ivan...that bit about the info being 'dated' is correct. Coming from the instructor who said it though is not surprising. A very experienced photographer...who's teaching a college course...while still attaining a Master's at a University 130 miles away. Tend to take the good with the bad on that...LOL I knew the answer before I asked it, but there was a tiniest sliver of hope that maybe something would come of it.

Will eagerly await your results Noah...my first exposures through my Graflex turned out blurry...only just....and I attribute that to camera shake as I negelected to remember to bring my shutter release cable. Have more film loaded and will be attempting to do some Edward Weston style still life's tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get those scanned and uploaded sometime in the week.

Thanks again!

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Re your blurry exposures, what aperture were you using?

[BetterSense]

I have also heard that the tungsten color slide films were the best slide films to use for long exposures. I don't know if they were good for long exposures, period, or if they were just the best out of slide films in particular.

[grafnik]

Re your blurry exposures, what aperture were you using?

To be honest here....I wasn't really concerned too much with the outcome...it was the setup and execution I was trying to get used to. This was my very first outing with the camera and getting used to the 'start to finish' of each shot was the goal. But to answer your question, none of the shots were kept on the same aperture as such, but they ranged from f/8 to f/32. Here's a sample I cropped from one of the images that give me reason to think it was camera shake.

Attachment 50057

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Reason I ask is that the out-of-focus rendering of the Wollensak Raptar 135mm f/4.7 I've got at apertures of f4.7-f/8 can look blurred (except right at the critical focus plane). By f/16 this lens is starting to look good, while its best performance seems to be at f/22. Same lens as your Graphex/Optar 135mm f/4.7).

[grafnik]

You're going to want to find a lens with much better wide-open performance than a Tessar design......

Just touching on this subject again Ivan...is the Sironar-N the only option here, or is heading away from a Tessar design lens in general the better move? I've found few lenses that go below the 135mm mark that fit within my budget. If there's any other lenses that will give acceptable results with color (neg/slide) film, please let me know.

[engl]

You want a plasmat type lens, they are exceptionally sharp even at big apertures, and they are cheap since they are somewhat simple in construction and everyone has one (or five). The Sironar-N is of this type, but the big makers all make plasmats in many focal lengths from 100 to 300mm. They do not have very wide coverage so for a 4x5 camera you probably want something like a 120-135mm plasmat.

Personally I'm very fond of Fujinon lenses, they have more coverage than the competition. My Fujinon NW-125/5.6 is extremely sharp at all apertures, and I bought it used for 200$ or so. In use I do not think anyone could tell Nikon/Fuji/Schneider/Rodenstock plasmats apart, so buy on condition on price. You should be able to buy an excellent performer for 150$ used.

As for film, I'd take a good look at Porta 400, seems like a great film in low light. There are some comparisons available on blogs and elsewhere, looked impressive. Personally I would not want to shoot slide film for a subject like you describe, if you want to include both the Aurora Borealis and something on the ground, you might need all the dynamic range you can get.

Edit: I just had a quick check, the 150mm plasmats are easy to find for 150$, a 125mm or 135mm seem a bit more expensive. I remember seeing lots of them in Tokyo in the 100-200$ pricerange, perhaps I should import a couple on my next trip

[Noah A]

I did shoot a few sheets of the new Portra 400 at long exposures, but it's going to be a week or two before I get the film back and get it scanned. Perhaps even longer, since I need to scan a different project first.

I did shoot, scan and print some in daylight and it's a great film. It is slightly less grainy than the old 400 but honestly, with drum scanned 4x5 film the difference is subtle even when printed at the equivalent of 60x80 inches!

The old Portra 400NC was great for this kind of thing too if you can find it.

You really can't go wrong with a 135/5.6 or 150/5.6 plasmat. They're great all-around lenses.