Beach photos and film speed with set aperture

[DirkDynamo]

ah summer, and along with it vacation. im going to the beach in a few weeks and im wondering what kind of film should i bring. I dont want the white sand of the beach to blow the highlights out of my pictures, or leave my subjects underexposed- but i am going to have little control over over the aperture and exposure (camera in question is a Holga)

so what speed film should i use? should i buy iso 200 or 400 if its going to be relatively cloudless? I mainly use AristaEDU and im not exactly sure on its exposure latitude so any help would be appreciated.

i normally shoot most of my pictures indoors with available light and notice that my Holga takes relatively longer exposures- any tips on exposure time as well?

thank you!
-derek

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Sunny day at the beach--shutter speed is 1/ISO at f:22 typically (one stop down from "sunny 16" with all that sand and water reflecting the light). I don't know what options the Holga has, but I'd work from there, and if you can't find film slow enough, tape an ND gel over the lens.

 

[JBrunner]

Most Holga (no two are the same) do well in sunny daylight with 100 speed film as the Holga aperture is somewhere around and 8-11 and the shutter is about 1/100. The little sunny-cloudy switch on the camera is meaningless, and has no effect on exposure. If your shutter is a stop slow, then 50 might be the ticket. 200&400 are too fast for day ex with a Holga (generalization alert). If you are looking for precise exposure control for a difficult situation, a Holga won't do. What makes it great, makes it suck, ya know?

 

[glennfromwy]

Holga aperture is f/8. Shutter speed is 1/60 to 1/80, depending on what day it was assembled and what the weather was like. Film in bright beach scenes or snow, no faster than ISO 100. You may want to take a light yellow filter along, too, and bracket, with / without it. If your budget allows you to have two Holgas, put ISO 50 in one of them.
Most of all, have fun with 'em.

 

[DirkDynamo]

thank you everyone! i ordered some rolls of 50 and 100 yesterday and it will be in before i leave. i havent used film below 200 before but i also havent brought my cameras to the beach either, so thanks for the help!