Fastest colour films?

[accozzaglia]

I tend to be the exception amongst photogs I know: I like large grain and high speed films. Given what you've said, PE, I'd also be very pleased with a high-speed film yielding finer grain. In other words, I prefer low-light capability, and I don't take umbrage if that means the grain is monstrous or miniscule.

Then again, I'm not the market, so I'll do whatever I can to let me do the things I love to do with film and lens.

 

[2F/2F]

accozzaglia,

I am on board with you re: 100/1000. I have a bunch of 120 and 220 saved up. I think shot normally it has very accurate color, actually. I wish it had been made as a sheet film.

My only gripe is that it was not available in a tungsten-balanced version. I have to hunt down 320T instead...probably my favorite color film alongside Press 800 and Reala.

The best bet for processing is to do it yourself. Labs don't know what the hell they are talking about these days. I even gave them the film box, which lits the proper 1st developer times for various EIs. When they still couldn't figure out what to do, I just did it myself. Keep in mind that this is A and I, perhaps the largest and most respected pro lab in these parts, or perhaps the country.

 

[accozzaglia]

2F/2F, I'll have to confess that I've never before used a tungsten-balanced film of any kind, and I'm wondering aloud how using it in unusual settings might be a benefit. Have you tried to push 320T or any other tungsten-balanced E-6 film before? If so, how'd it turn out?

 

[2F/2F]

320T was my most-often used film for shooting bands and other low-light shooting when I wanted a transparency instead of a neg. I used it because most low-light situations involve tungsten or other types of warm light, which can get overwhelming when using daylight-balanced transparency film. I have tried to get it to push the highlights to above EI 2000, but it doesn't quite make it, technically. It just gets crazily grainy and mushy in the shadows and midtones, while not doing much else to push the highlights. It could get to EI 2000 (measured with densitometer), but I usually used it at EI 1600. I used it in my 35 and medium format. It really shone in my Mamiya 645 with its f/1.9 lens, and pushed, because the medium format helped with sharpness.

It is also good for shooting for grain and a heavy blue cast. Great for twilight-time and night-time street shooting in color. I would hunt some down and try it at least once if you like 100/1000 pushed.

 

[usagisakana]

Anyone have any idea what film Jonas Bendiksen used in Satellites? I love the colours and grain of the images. I'm assuming it's high speed and pushed, as a lot of the shots are at night time.

 

[accozzaglia]

I think you answered some of my curious thoughts about it, 2F/2F, namely that it can at least be pushed at least 2 stops (very good), that its bluish cast is definitely apparent (which could be a lot of fun), and that it could be valuable for use in outdoor night photography (which I already do and use daylight-balanced to evoke the expected odd colours from all the artificial light chemistries).

Of course, hearing that there's an f/1.9 lens for the Mamiya 645 system, when the best I can muster with my Pentax 645 is f/2.8 in most cases, is a point of grand envy.

 

[2F/2F]

It was the main selling point of the Mamiya system over any other, at least for me! This single lens pretty much takes care of one of the largest disadvantages of medium format cameras: slow lenses.

The blue cast is only in daylight, of course. It looks normal in 3200K light, and slightly warm in household bulbs. It looks the same as using an 80 filter on a daylight film. I like it at twilight, however. It makes the sky various shades of blue/purple, while making street lamps and shop windows all sorts of interesting colors that are almost white, but not quite.

Definitely the greatest loss out of all the discontinued films, IMO. Luckily there is still ISO 500 tungsten ECN (color neg) film, though. You have to get in good with a movie film processing lab, though, and find someone there who knows how to push it.

 

[srs5694]

Concerning ECN-2 films, (there was a url link here which no longer exists) (HOWTO article, really) has formulas and procedures for processing it yourself, if you're comfortable with mixing your own developer. The big caveat is that the rem-jet backing has to be removed. I've never done this myself, for various reasons, so I can't say from experience how difficult it is. The last I heard, Dale Labs processed the stuff, but I haven't verified this lately.

For those not "in the know," ECN-2 films are color negative films used primarily to shoot movies. These films weren't designed for use in still cameras, but since 35mm movie film is identical to 35mm still film in width, sprocket placement, etc., it can be done. As discussed in the thread to which I linked, though, the ECN-2 films have different characteristics in terms of contrast, so you might not like prints from these films made on conventional RA-4 paper. The point of relevance to one of the directions this thread has taken is that some (all?) of these films are tungsten balanced.

If you really want to try shooting some, search for "(vision2,vision3)" in the cameras and photo section on eBay; there's somebody there selling 200-foot spools -- mostly unsuccessfully, judging by the auction histories. I believe there's at least one non-eBay source for movie "short ends," too, which would be similar amounts, but I don't recall the URL offhand. There used to be outfits that sold single rolls for use in still cameras, and processed it for still photos, but AFAIK they all switched to conventional C-41 films in the 1990s.

 

[accozzaglia]

Yeah, I figured it was probably equivalent to an 80A filter on daylight film. I shot a few like this with, interestingly, Fuji RMS stock back in 1998: for daytime shots, I added the 80A to evoke either a "chilly" feel or, in the case of one, to emulate a full moon night exposure, but using the sun instead as a light/shadow-making source. Actually, if memory serves, I seem to remember the huge rage back in 1998 or so was using an 80A filter (or, I guess, 3400K-balanced film) for daytime urban shots.

I know nothing about the ISO500 ECN. Is it a Fuji stock?

 

[2F/2F]

Thanks for the info!

Movie film comes in daylight and tungsten varieties. Fuji F64D (D=daylight, T=tungsten)is one of the most amazing films I have ever used. A and I sold pre-loaded cassettes and did the processing until May. They had all Fuji and Kodak films available behind the counter. What a loss. You can still do it, but A and I really made it convenient. (The only problem was no pushes.) F64D is amazingly sharp and virtually grainless, without excessive contrast. it was just the ticket for certain lighting situations. The film was cheap at $3.50 per 36-exp. roll. Processing was expensive, though. It was $15, but you got back the neg. strip and a matching print strip. (Very convenient! No need for proofsheets, and gives you the option of delivering a transparency immediately, while retaining the neg. for yourself.)

Both Fuji and Kodak make 500-speed tungsten movie films. ECN-2 is the name of the process,not the film.

 

[accozzaglia]

320T was my most-often used film for shooting bands and other low-light shooting when I wanted a transparency instead of a neg. I used it because most low-light situations involve tungsten or other types of warm light, which can get overwhelming when using daylight-balanced transparency film. [...] It is also good for shooting for grain and a heavy blue cast. Great for twilight-time and night-time street shooting in color. I would hunt some down and try it at least once if you like 100/1000 pushed.

This thread's a bit stale, but I thought I'd mention that, quite unexpectedly, I stumbled into a place with a few rolls of 135-36 EPJ 320T -- still sitting in a cold storage fridge, expired in November 2005, but still available. I didn't bring much cash with me, because it wasn't anything I was looking for. I had enough to buy one of their 50% off rolls. What I plan to do is pull by exposing at EI160 for night-time long-exposure shots and seeing how it compares to some rolls I've shot lately with MS100/1000 (at 100 or even at 50) with an 80A filter on the lens. Like you said, there aren't many chances to try this stuff, so I'm curious to see how the experiment will pan out. Again, thanks for the tip!