Help with Ilford Delta 3200

[Kugerfang]

I'm about to go to the event and it's only now that it occurred to me to check the site of Kodak's distributor. And... they have TMZ 3200! With D-76 and XTOL! Fuck!

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Don't worry so much about what you don't have with you. Try to just focus on what you have at hand, and making the most of it.

Try to use existing structures, like posts, fences, trees, whatever, as supports when you shoot. You can easily shoot the XP2 at 1,000 and get great results.

Does it look better at 200? Yes. But that's not something you can use at this event anyway, so don't worry about what's out of your control. It just adds confusion.

Focus on staying relaxed, for steady hands, good focus, and good framing. With the lenses you have you should be able to shoot in pretty dark conditions.

I hope it turns out all right for you, and that you have a fantastic time at this event, which seems very important to you.

- Thomas

 

[Kugerfang]

The event was tons of fun! If you must know, it was our high school dance. It's not a formal dance, it's a casual one. It's like a rave or club party in the school. My god, I never imagined myself dancing and jumping spontaneously. Awesome.

I shot the XP2 at EI 1000. I managed to make 2 36 exposure rolls last for 6 hours. I had no flash, so I had to wait for the lighting guy to switch the strobe lights from "holy crap why is everything in stop motion" to constant output. When the lights did change, I managed to get shutter speeds of 1/80 and above. Outside of the dance floor, I had to ask people to face the lights in a way that didn't cast ugly shadows on their face. One thing I love about my EOS 500 is that its built-in AF assist light works great! It's worlds better than my 300D, which has none. I should be able to take the pics to my favorite lab this Monday and the scanned negs should arrive sometime next week. I'll be sure to upload some of the pictures here so you guys can see what XP2 Super looks like when you shoot it with your elbows up against your belly and your breath held.

Also, the Canon 50mm f1.8 is AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. It's somewhat less awesome on digital crop sensor cameras due to its 1.6 crop factor, but it's still quite awesome. The best value in the photography world for just $100.

I can't wait to see how my Facebook friends will react when they see everything's in black and white.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

The event was tons of fun! If you must know, it was our high school dance. It's not a formal dance, it's a casual one. It's like a rave or club party in the school. My god, I never imagined myself dancing and jumping spontaneously. Awesome.

I shot the XP2 at EI 1000. I managed to make 2 36 exposure rolls last for 6 hours. I had no flash, so I had to wait for the lighting guy to switch the strobe lights from "holy crap why is everything in stop motion" to constant output. When the lights did change, I managed to get shutter speeds of 1/80 and above. Outside of the dance floor, I had to ask people to face the lights in a way that didn't cast ugly shadows on their face. One thing I love about my EOS 500 is that its built-in AF assist light works great! It's worlds better than my 300D, which has none. I should be able to take the pics to my favorite lab this Monday and the scanned negs should arrive sometime next week. I'll be sure to upload some of the pictures here so you guys can see what XP2 Super looks like when you shoot it with your elbows up against your belly and your breath held.

Also, the Canon 50mm f1.8 is AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. It's somewhat less awesome on digital crop sensor cameras due to its 1.6 crop factor, but it's still quite awesome. The best value in the photography world for just $100.

I can't wait to see how my Facebook friends will react when they see everything's in black and white.

I really hope your pictures turn out well.

That 50mm Canon lens is one that I have experience with, and it's a good lens indeed. I used it a fair bit with a Canon Elan 7n, and it was very nice to use.

- Thomas

 

[Kugerfang]

Thank you! If there's one thing I learned from this experience, it's that you need to stock up on film. I'll load myself up with as much TMZ 3200 and Tri-X 400 as I can afford.

 

[brucemuir]

Don't worry so much about what you don't have with you. Try to just focus on what you have at hand, and making the most of it.

Try to use existing structures, like posts, fences, trees, whatever, as supports when you shoot. You can easily shoot the XP2 at 1,000 and get great results.

Does it look better at 200? Yes. But that's not something you can use at this event anyway, so don't worry about what's out of your control. It just adds confusion.

Focus on staying relaxed, for steady hands, good focus, and good framing. With the lenses you have you should be able to shoot in pretty dark conditions.

I hope it turns out all right for you, and that you have a fantastic time at this event, which seems very important to you.

- Thomas

Ahhh Thomas, the voice of reason

Glad you had a great time Kuger and didn't let the film limit you.

Sometimes what I'll do if I'm facing slowish shutter speeds in dim halls is use this to your advantage.
Try 1/15th or below and get the dance motion happening.
Sometimes it works, sometimes not but worth experimenting with.

I know you said you had no flash but you can get some cool stuff also if you use second curtain sync and use slooow speeds.