Shooting ISO 3200 Film

Tim Parker · Jun 16, 2020

Hi!

I have some ISO 3200 I want to shoot soon, some Iflord and some Kodak. I have an OM-2n which I really love so far (just getting back into film). Problem is it doesn’t have a setting for 3200. I know I can shoot it at 1600, a lot of people get really good exposure at that. My real question is if I underexpose one stop will it be the same as shooting at 3200?

In automatic mode there is an option to over or under expose the film up to two stops. If I set it to under expose 1 stop, would that be essentially the same as shooting at 3200?

I think inthe end I will develop as 3200, may take some pictures at normal exposure at 1600, then take some at 1600 but one step underexposed and develop the whole roll as recommended for 3200.

Opinions?

Tim Parker · Jun 16, 2020

I have answered my own question. I cannot use the -1 under exposure feature once setting the camera to iso 1600. Which makes sense as that would be the highest it goes, and that knob is essentially just changing the ISO.

So now that I know I will be shooting at 1600, develop at 1600 or 3200? I know you can get great results either way, but really hoping for that high contrast.

Thanks!

earthmanbuck · Jun 17, 2020

Another thing you could do is compensate with the aperture or shutter speed.

Set the ISO to 1600, take your meter reading, but then either close the aperture by one stop (e.g., if it's metered correctly at 8, set it to 11) or pick the next fastest shutter speed (e.g., if it's metered correctly at 1/250, set to 1/500). Both ways should underexpose it by one stop, which means you can develop it as if you shot it at 3200, assuming you do one or the other for the entire roll. Just remember to do one or the other, not both, unless you want it underexposed by two stops.

Of course there's nothing wrong with shooting at 1600, either.

webestang64 · Jun 17, 2020

I normally shoot these films at 1600-2000 and develop at 3200, I use Kodak X-Tol at 1:1. It takes out most the dreaded base fog so common with these films. Also I've shot them as high as 25000 ISO and got good results.