Candlelight Church Service--what film and developer?

BardParker · Dec 23, 2012

Candlelight Church Service--what film and developer?
I want to photograph the end of our Christmas eve service from the balcony at church during the singing of Silent Night. The lights will be out and everyone will be holding candles. I am going to use my Mamiya 7 with 65mm lens as the leaf shutter is nearly silent and manual winding very quiet. Not enough room for a tripod, so I will be using a monopod. I have the following films available: Tri-X, TMax 400, Arista EDU Ultra 400, Ilford XP-2, Ilford HP-5+, and Ilford Delta 3200.

My developers on hand from a recent Freestyle order include Arista Premium (F76+); rodinal; tmax developer; and HC-110. I'm fairly new to developing but have had good results with Arista Premium developer and rodinal. Have not used the others yet.

I am leaning toward Tri-X or HP5+ pushed to 800-1600 in the Arista Premium developer; or Ilford Delta 3200 @ 1600 in TMax developer.

I would like to print at 11x14 or 16x20.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Kent

rbeech · Dec 23, 2012

My favorite would be the Ilford 3200. I expose it for 3200 and process it in Arista liquid developer, 1:7, for 14 minutes. Works great.

BardParker · Dec 23, 2012

Mamiya 7 ISO control only goes up to 1600. Process for more than 14 minutes, or would this matter much?

Kent

removed account4 · Dec 23, 2012

BardParker said:
Mamiya 7 ISO control only goes up to 1600. Process for more than 14 minutes, or would this matter much?

Kent

heykent

overexpose it 1 stop over manually ...
yep the 14mins matters, have fun
john

andrew.roos · Dec 24, 2012

jnanian said:
heykent

overexpose it 1 stop over manually ...
yep the 14mins matters, have fun
john

If the camera is set for 1600 ISO and you want to shoot at 3200 ISO using the camera's metering then you need to expose for one stop less than indicated (i.e. dial in -1 EV exposure compensation).

I think it's going to be a difficult metering situation since the bright candle flames will probably cause an averaging meter to indicate too short an exposure. If possible, use a spot meter aimed at a candle-lit face, but excluding any actual candles. The ultimate exposure computer (http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm) gives LV 4 for candle-lit closeups - this would be e.g. f/8 1/8 second at ISO 3200. If necessary you could use this as a starting point and bracket a couple of stops either side of this in 1-stop steps.

Andrew

markbarendt · Dec 24, 2012

Andrews suggestion of using the Ultimate Exposure calculator is a good one.

Any of the films listed would do fine in MF.

Of the films you have listed I'd go with T-Max 400 shot at 800 and developed normally.

The reason is that you are shooting a scene with a wide angle lens from a distance that will render the details; candles, faces... relatively small. In that type of situation I would personally want grain minimized so that the small details in the subject matter don't have to compete with the grain.

Your T-Max developer should give you the best shadow detail, I'd start there. You can make T-Max's tonality look more like Tri-X's by using HC-110 and/or messing with your agitation, if you were so inclined, but that will require some practice. To that end you might consider shooting 3-rolls and developing one in T-Max normal, one in HC-110 normal, and saving the third as a spare adjusting development/developer choice as needed after you've done test prints from the first two rolls.

ic-racer · Dec 24, 2012

Tri-X and HP5 are both slower than Delta3200.

removed account4 · Dec 24, 2012

andrew.roos said:
If the camera is set for 1600 ISO and you want to shoot at 3200 ISO using the camera's metering then you need to expose for one stop less than indicated (i.e. dial in -1 EV exposure compensation). .

Andrew

yeah, that's it !
it must have been the dinner i ate
removing all the blood from my brain
making me say total insane things ...

thanks for pointing this out,

OP sorry for the confusion ...

perkeleellinen · Dec 24, 2012

A few years back I shot a candle lit scene in a church at Christmas and it was quite dark. I used Provia 400X pushed to 800 in a Konica Auto S3. From memory I was shooting at 1/8 at f/1.7

cliveh · Dec 24, 2012

Only a guess, but I would say monopod, Tri-X, full aperture at 1/4 second and over develop by about 2 minutes.

sly · Dec 25, 2012

If you've got Delta 3200, use it! Just don't develop in Rodinal unless you like big clumpy grain.

I typically use D3200 at 1600, and develop in DDX at times recommended for 3200 speed. TMax should give you similar results.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

pentaxuser · Dec 25, 2012

Well the deed is done now, Kent. Let us know what you chose and how the negs turned out. Better still scan them and let us have a look

Thanks

pentaxuser

BardParker · Dec 25, 2012

The candle light part of the service is very short- only about 2 minutes. In addition, the candles are lit by ushers on the end of a pew, then each person turns and lights the next person's candle, etc. So the light level is constantly changing throughout the hymn, and it is not until the last verse that everyone raises their candles that the light level is fairly steady. I didn't think this would be so challenging! I shot 2 frames on AEL mode and other 8 in manual at 1/2, 1/4, 1,8 1/15, and 1/30 sec on aperture of f/4. I was able to sqeeze a small tripod in on the front row of the balcony. All in all, it was a fun exercise and I'm probably going to develop the film in tMax developer today following the massive development chart app recommendations. I ordered a V700 scanner from Adorama but it has not arrived yet, so I will scan the negs in a few days and get back to everyone.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Kent

BardParker · Dec 29, 2012

Here is one of the first negs of Delta 3200 @ 3200 developed in tMax developer for 8:30. Mamiya 7, 65mm f/4 lens, 1/8sec, tripod.

[/url] img001.jpg by KentWebb, on Flickr[/IMG]

New V700, Straight scan,

I'm open to suggestions...

Regards,

Kent

StoneNYC · Dec 29, 2012

BardParker said:
Here is one of the first negs of Delta 3200 @ 3200 developed in tMax developer for 8:30. Mamiya 7, 65mm f/4 lens, 1/8sec, tripod.

[/url] img001.jpg by KentWebb, on Flickr[/IMG]

New V700, Straight scan,

I'm open to suggestions...

Regards,

Kent

Looks good, you chose wisely going with the 3200 @ 3200, I think the candle looks blown out but its to be expected and the people are a little dark but the overall scene looks really nice. Can we see the 1/2 and 1/4 and 1/16 (or was it 1/30?)

I can't seem to figure out the difference between the AE and AEL and I'm always afraid I'll lock the exposure then get stuck with it haha

I did figure out the getting past 1600 on the Mamiya.. I still can't understand why they don't just have that as an option.. Why they limited to 1600 and not 3200...

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

markbarendt · Dec 29, 2012

BardParker said:
Here is one of the first negs of Delta 3200 @ 3200 developed in tMax developer for 8:30. Mamiya 7, 65mm f/4 lens, 1/8sec, tripod.

[ img001.jpg by KentWebb, on Flickr[/IMG]

New V700, Straight scan,

I'm open to suggestions...

Regards,

Kent

Maybe try reducing contrast and printing a bit darker. Might get more detail from the candle light.

andrew.roos · Dec 29, 2012

Lovely shot! Glad it worked out so well.

joho · Jan 1, 2013

Hi!
try kodak tri-x at 2000ASA
in dektol 1:4 24cel about 68-farhrenheit
for stater at 4 min with 5 sec agitation every 60sec
along wash in water stop bath this is so the developer is still
in the film emulsion wash it slowly
1 min wash bath with full agitation 60 sec dump, and refill with water - full agitation 60 sec dump-repeat 3times
[also if you let the wash bath sit there is a difference...
fix, wash, and dry!

I think a lot is based on your equipment lens camera ...etc..

Candlelight Church Service--what film and developer?

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