Fastest film available: ISO 400

[(Ghastly) Krueger]

I'm doing some night photography tomorrow. With the limitations of my digital, I thought I'd take the ole film camera (Elan 7).

A couple of years ago, it was relatively easy to get ISO800 film... I thought now I might be able to get some 1600.

Well, apparently I was wrong. I've been to 4 shops and the fastest they carry now is ISO 400. :meh: :scratch::shock: :x ...

I might be able to get something faster downtown, but I doubt I'll have the time to go there.

Sometimes I hate living in the 3rd world!

 

[Peanuts]

Time to pick up some of that Ilford or Kodak TMax 3200 (Though, it is BW)

 

[Big Mike]

If you are shooting on a tripod (which I might assume, for night photography) then a lower ISO would be better anyway.

 

[Digital Matt]

Adorama has Fuji and Kodak print film in 800 and 1600 speed.

 

[(Ghastly) Krueger]

Thanks for the tips, but I live in Mexico. Even if Adorama ships here, I'd like to have it tomorrow.

And about the tripod... I think it would be hard. I'm going to a night safari in the local wildlife park. We ride inside a crowded bus and have to squeeze our way to the windows to make the shots. I'll try to get a bean bag, though.

 

[Digital Matt]

Buy 20 or 30 rolls and freeze them. If you know you like to use high ISO film and can't get it anywhere else, that's all you can do.

 

[midget patrol]

Buy 20 or 30 rolls and freeze them. If you know you like to use high ISO film and can't get it anywhere else, that's all you can do.

does freezing film make it more sensitive?

 

[terri]

Not sensitive, just slows down the aging process significantly. When you're buying in bulk like that it's a good idea to store it in the freezer or fridge.

I was caught without high speed film (I had 400 on hand) doing some night shots, and I just pushed it to 1600. I was developing this myself, but even if you're taking it in someplace, just let them know what ISO you pushed it to, and it should be fine.

To reduce grain (if you're trying to) it is usually considered better practice to shoot a lower ISO film that is pushed, than a higher ISO shot straight.

 

[(Ghastly) Krueger]

doing some night shots, and I just pushed it to 1600.

Care to remind me how to do it? Do I change some setting in the camera? Or is it just done at the development stage?


Sorry, this was intended to be just a vent and has become an advice thread.

 

[Digital Matt]

All you would do to push to 1600 would be to load the 400 film, and manually set the ISO of your camera to 1600. This will fool the meter into thinking that you have 1600 speed film, and you'll expose accordingly. Then when you drop off the film for processing, be sure and tell them you want to push it to 1600.

 

[terri]

I'm sorry; I didn't come back to the thread so missed your query.

I develop my own film, so in this particular case when I was going to an outdoor wine dinner, I wanted to keep it easy.

Analog Matt - excuse me, I mean, Digital Matt :razz: is correct about manually resetting the ISO when you're pushing film. All I had that night was TMax 400, so I set my ISO to 1600, shot away, then used TMax developer. I developed it following the chart on the bottle for 1600 film (only a 3-minute difference in development time). I really enjoy that stuff; it's neat and easy to use, and by all reports a great choice for pushed film.

Here are 2 from that roll to show the grain I got with this method:

And this scene was only lit by the torches and chimenea (and I was *cough* slightly tipsy by then):

Hope this helps somewhat.