Grand Canyon Trip October

Im going on a Grand Canyon trip in mid late October this year. Im bringing my 35mm SLR to use for B&W shooting and went through my box of frozen B&W rolls. I dug up some Adox Pan 25 and Rollei Pan 25 (which was rumoured to be the same film). These rolls go back at least 3 or more years when they were bought new. They were frozen once bought. Im used to using Efke 25 for this speed of film. I notice Adox/ Rollei Pan 25 is no longer sold. First off is this film to old to risk using today on a once in a lifetime trip? Secondly if its okay- what could I expect the look of the film to be like compared to the Efke film? I'm assuming I'll be shooting the canyon in sunlight.

Or should I play it smart and just get new rolls of Efke 25? How is the quality control on the Efke these days? Do you think the Efke film would be too contrasty to shoot the canyon in sun? It might cut down on the haze a bit. Or should I go for a more modern film like Pan F 50? My camera is a Canon Elan 7 and I will mostly be using a 50mm 1.8, a 17-40L, and a 100-300 5.6L lenses.

Hello,
I think you will not use there 100-300 at all (I maybe mistaken)... I was there 3 times last year (I live in Phoenix, AZ), and every time I took wider lens.. Started with 28mm, then 19mm and finally 8mm fish eye and I would go wider if I could.

Dont know what is your shooting style, but I would say that pretty standart picture for Grand Canyon is half sky / half top edge of the canyon, or 1/3 sky , 2/3 canyon, etc when edge makes horizon line.. In sunny days that's pretty contrasty.. Sky is bright and canyon bottom is deep shadows / almost dark so I would not recommend contrasty film if you want to keep shadows details. Again, it's all based on my own experience. I'm not Pro..

Check my profile, there is link to my picasa albums.. I have some Grand Canyon there.

Vic

If all the 25 and 50 speed films are too contrasty, I do have some Plus X I could use.

Well.... if he sees any wild life, he might want a telephoto....

My only suggestion is to test your film by shooting one locally and processing to make sure it's still good. A LOT can happen in 3 years and I'd hate to see you disappointed after all that effort and expense. The Grand Canyon is a diverse place. Depending on where you go, time, and day, situations change. Brightness and contrast ranges are all over the place. I'd also suggest taking a few roll of normal film.

I recommend taking a few rolls of TMAX 400 as well, even in Oct you may have a very bright sky and dark showdows in the Canyon, a film with wider contrast range may be needed.

Use the film you're most familiar with and don't use something you're not sure about.
If you don't know how your film will perform - test it first. You may regret it if you don't, and I say that based on experience of having film I hadn't properly tested crap out on me in places I'll never come back to.

Don't go cheap on film when you're paying hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars on a trip to a place you may never see again in your life. Makes no sense at all.

Hope you have a fantastic trip!

Here's some thoughts for ya: contrasty film is difficult in the desert light unless you're planning on shooting mostly in morning/evenings, but even then... Ilford's Pan F 50 is a great film for the region, I've used it many times with great results. Just make sure to control your contrast with development and printing. I'd also take a mid-range zoom because there's great opportunities to take unique shots that people with wides never consider. Test your film before hand, but I would recommend going with the Ilford over Efke. Don't skimp on film. Just skip that morning latte.

USE FILTERS. ALWAYS. The haze (from the lovely coal burning in the area) can be difficult to cut through if you aren't lucky to catch a passing storm or have a westerly wind to clear things out. I typically use a orange filter in the area because it helps lighten to lovely rocks and darken the sky, but no too dramatically. Also have a sturdy tripod and be prepared to be blown around a lot. The rim gets very windy and October can either be perfect, with some clearing storms, or be hot and windy. It's hard to say.

Good luck!!!

I'm going to the South Rim at that time. I've heard Pan F+ can be contrasty as well, so I'm not sure how it would be better then using Efke 25 or Adox Pan 25. I have a 100 foot roll of Kodak Plus X dated 2010. Its been in the freezer for 4 to 5 years since I bought it. I've used Plus X on sunny days, so I know it should work. Im just thinking I'd like finer grain then what Plus X offers. I can still bring the contrasty film in case the weather changes. I have a red filter I was debating to use. I may have orange as well.

Efke 25 would not work with a red filter, as it has limited red sensitivity. Keep that in mind. Orange would be a better choice in that regard, even though red would be better for cutting through haze.
You may consider a polarizing filter as well, and plain old UV helps too. Either way, with this in mind Pan-F+ would work really well, as would TMax 100, Fuji Acros, and Ilford Delta 100. All those are roughly as fine grained as the Pan-F and nearly as fine as the Efke.

Good luck with your choice.

I've just had better luck with Pan F over Efke, but that's just my personal experience, not fact. Plus-x would do quite well. Any sort of UV haze, skylight or yellow/orange filter should do. Not sure if a red filter + contrasty film would be ideal. Who knows! It's however you want it to be!

That shot I posted above is Acros 100 and a yellow filter at sunrise from the South Rim to give you an idea. That was mid winter, and storm cleared up the air quite nicely.

I live just up the colorado river and spent my life in red rock country. If you are going to shoot BW use an orange or green filter. BW of the Grand Canyon country is nice but to truely capture what can be amazing light changes I would shoot color. Shoot early early in the morning and right near dusk. in between look for wildlife. Lots of deer and elk in the area. Might get some wild turkey then too and if you are real lucky condor.

Prepare for cold mornings and cold nights. Days should be good but can get wicked windy.