[jgredline]

Hi Folks,
I just bought a 4 pack of Kodak Ultra 800 speed film. I have only tried 800 one time before and it was a bad experience because the seals where leaking on my camera. The main reason I bought the film is to be able to shoot into the early evening hours and keep the Aperture in the F8 TO F11 area for Better DOF. The purpose is for street shooting set up at the hyperfocal settings so I do not need to try and focus. Does this make sense? The noob in me is coming out here..Any advice would be welcomed.

[k100d]

i like Press 800, not super saturated, here are some samples from New York (the gamma is off)
Zenfolio | Simon Tam | The Night in Press 800

don't think you're proposal is a bad idea, just don't underexpose as it will look very grainy!

[Ratmagiclady]

The Press 800 is very nice, from what I've seen, at being non-embarrassing for a lot of conditions. Has a texture all its own that it best rolled with.

I can't say I really 'believe' in hyperfocal ranges as a substitute for getting focus, ..just a margin of error and a way to manipulate *how* fuzzy things are without actually getting focus. I suggest learning to do other than try and use it for 'set and forget.' Just be aware of it.

Speed is good. F8 is generally very good, if you can have it.

As a color film goes, try to see this as your palette, ...it has properties, moods, and responses, but the object isn't to make the film go away. It's to know it and produce an image *on* the film, *with* that film, not try to make it go away, as though the 'grain' is 'noise' and a badness to be corrected away. It's your canvas and paints. (Of course, it's why I stopped doing colour film, unless someone needed it, cause they kept changing the stuff. Also, at the time, the world was kind of full of brightly-colored visual clutter, whatever the mood was supposed to be, there was aways a frickin' bright red Coke can you didn't see while shooting. )


Actually, it kind of took coming to the South to remember how people used to just throw trash around. It was *everywhere.* Couldn't frame a shot without it, and I guess I was young enough to think I should try. Kind of thought that was long since over.

Put me off color, though, all the primary colors would show up stark and nasty in any subtlety you could find.

Guess you can Photoshop it out now, though.

You could even take that Fuji out when f2 or f4 is more comfy.




.

[titrisol]

COOL!
In the MESuper it should be a hoot.
I would rate it 1/3 stop less than 800 to get better saturation.

Hi Folks,
I just bought a 4 pack of Kodak Ultra 800 speed film. I have only tried 800 one time before and it was a bad experience because the seals where leaking on my camera. The main reason I bought the film is to be able to shoot into the early evening hours and keep the Aperture in the F8 TO F11 area for Better DOF. The purpose is for street shooting set up at the hyperfocal settings so I do not need to try and focus. Does this make sense? The noob in me is coming out here..Any advice would be welcomed.

[jgredline]

i like Press 800, not super saturated, here are some samples from New York (the gamma is off)
Zenfolio | Simon Tam | The Night in Press 800

don't think you're proposal is a bad idea, just don't underexpose as it will look very grainy!

Thanks a bunch. There are some impressive results in there. I will give that film a go once I am done with the current 4 pack I just bought.

[jgredline]

I can't say I really 'believe' in hyperfocal ranges as a substitute for getting focus, ..just a margin of error and a way to manipulate *how* fuzzy things are without actually getting focus. I suggest learning to do other than try and use it for 'set and forget.' Just be aware of it.
.

I agree that the use of hyper focal method is more of a compromise and not always ideal, but in truth, I have had very good results using this method. This method is also lens sensitive. So I am picky about the lenses I use.

Speed is good. F8 is generally very good, if you can have it.

Agreed

As a color film goes, try to see this as your palette, ...it has properties, moods, and responses, but the object isn't to make the film go away. It's to know it and produce an image *on* the film, *with* that film, not try to make it go away, as though the 'grain' is 'noise' and a badness to be corrected away. It's your canvas and paints. (Of course, it's why I stopped doing colour film, unless someone needed it, cause they kept changing the stuff. Also, at the time, the world was kind of full of brightly-colored visual clutter, whatever the mood was supposed to be, there was aways a frickin' bright red Coke can you didn't see while shooting. )

Yes, I can't imagine the color being that good. I am going to scan them to gray scale and tweak from there.

Actually, it kind of took coming to the South to remember how people used to just throw trash around. It was *everywhere.* Couldn't frame a shot without it, and I guess I was young enough to think I should try. Kind of thought that was long since over.

Put me off color, though, all the primary colors would show up stark and nasty in any subtlety you could find.

Guess you can Photoshop it out now, though.

I know what you mean. Some parts of L.A. are that way.

You could even take that Fuji out when f2 or f4 is more comfy.

Sounds good! Thank you for taking the time to write. I really appreciate it more than you know.

[jgredline]

COOL!
In the MESuper it should be a hoot.
I would rate it 1/3 stop less than 800 to get better saturation.

OOOH, Can you elaborate a little further?

[Nesster]

I recently tried some ASA800 - Fuji I believe it was, though for all I know it was Kodak. It came out better than I expected, as I'd tried it last some decades ago. It is good for the evenings, and for available light indoors. Gives you an extra stop to play with, for aperture or shutter speed, compared to ASA400. But you lose some flexibility in brighter light.




The pipes are with a Tamron 103a in cloudy conditions, the lamp is with a DSM 50/1.7, both on the Electro-X

[jgredline]

Nesster, Those images are fantastic!!! If I get color like that, I will leave them in color. Nice work and the grain is not over powering..Great job!

[k100d]

you're lucky you live in the us, Press 800 for $3 a roll. i bought a box of 20 from B&H, it's cool to have a huge box and i stick it in a bag in the freezer.
here we're lucky to get it under $10 CDN after tax.

[lithos]

Depends what lens you've got twisted on the front. I guess what you could call "orthodox" or "traditional" street shooting would be with sub-50mm lenses - 45, 40, or 35mm, giving slightly more DOF than a fast fifty, and also letting you use lower shutter speeds.

You'd be surprised just how bloody fast the light fades, even in Los Angeles. And keep in that just as you're camera's not a tripod, you're subjects won't, either, and people move around a lot on the street. Throw mirror slap into the mix, and being in the shade, I'd nudge it down to working at f4-5.6.

Not f4, I hear you say, noooo!

Well, it's just that with me...hyperfocal's never worked for me. Infinity, occasionally, yes, but HF, maybe once. I always end up spinning the ring.

I predict that maybe an hour after sunset in LA, at f8, ISO800, you'll be down to about 1/60 of a second.

There's never enough light.

[titrisol]

Well, the MESuper or any other AutoE camera should help you with the exposure, so you can even shoot from the hip
[I thought you had a MESuper]
I would expose the 800 film as 640 (+1/3) instead of 800 to get better shadow detail and color saturation
At 640 and f/2 or 2.8 you should have no problem shooting at 1/60 or faster

[jgredline]

Depends what lens you've got twisted on the front. I guess what you could call "orthodox" or "traditional" street shooting would be with sub-50mm lenses - 45, 40, or 35mm, giving slightly more DOF than a fast fifty, and also letting you use lower shutter speeds.

Yep, my number one lens and body set up is my ME SUPER with M40F/2.8 lens that I like between F/8 and F/11 and it also performs very well at F/16...

You'd be surprised just how bloody fast the light fades, even in Los Angeles. And keep in that just as you're camera's not a tripod, you're subjects won't, either, and people move around a lot on the street. Throw mirror slap into the mix, and being in the shade, I'd nudge it down to working at f4-5.6.

Yep, I could not agree more.

Not f4, I hear you say, noooo!

I am at F/4.0 allot of the time. On that 40 lens, it is no big deal, infinity happens at 12 feet I believe.

Well, it's just that with me...hyperfocal's never worked for me. Infinity, occasionally, yes, but HF, maybe once. I always end up spinning the ring.

I have had great luck with Hyperfocal. Shots that I would normally have missed, i capture.

I predict that maybe an hour after sunset in LA, at f8, ISO800, you'll be down to about 1/60 of a second.

There's never enough light.

This is what I saw night, but that is what I was after.

[jgredline]

Well, the MESuper or any other AutoE camera should help you with the exposure, so you can even shoot from the hip
[I thought you had a MESuper]
I would expose the 800 film as 640 (+1/3) instead of 800 to get better shadow detail and color saturation
At 640 and f/2 or 2.8 you should have no problem shooting at 1/60 or faster

Right now I loaded the 800 speed film into my K1000, but as soon as I am done with the 400 speed film in my ME Super, I will try your suggestion. I did not even realize that was an option. Thank you!

[Nesster]

The exposure biasing depends on the meter... e.g. my Eric calibrated ES-II tends to favor the shadows, sometimes blowing highlights in high contrast scenes. Knowing this I know when to apply compensation.