Low Light Hassy Shooting

[PamelaHL]

What are my options for shooting in low light with a Hassy, besides flash or fast film? I don't see any fast lenses ...

Thanks! I KNOW y'all will have more than the answer!
Pamela

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Well, besides flash and fast film there aren't really any other options, are there?
Delta 3200 is great stuff.

 

[PamelaHL]

Ah! You can't tell me that! Surely there is SOMETHING! I do like Delta 3200, but I often need a finer grain AND have low light.

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Well, it depends just how low the light is. I recently took some photos of our new baby, just after he was born, with the obstetrician in the delivery suite at the hospital. The light was deceptively low. I was getting something like 1/8 s at f8 with Delta 3200. There are a couple of great 1600 ISO films around if you have a bit of light to play with.

 

[Dan Henderson]

A tripod, cable release, use of the mirror lock up button, long exposure, and reciprocity chart.

 

[Frank Petronio]

Get an F series and the magnificent 110/2 lens. Or a Rolleiflex and forget about the mirror bounce - adds another stop at least.

More economical is to get a monopod if a tripod won't do. Monopods are 2/3 less likely to cause the problems tripods introduce.

 

[PamelaHL]

Ya, I was thinking about lengthening the exposure...perhaps I'll have to dig out my tripod & learn how to keep li'l ones still [or master a new kind of action shot]. What's a reciprocity chart?

Darn, when I first read about teleconverters I thought they went the opposite direction in f-stops & didn't realize they lengthened the focal distance. What a piece of equipment that'd be!

 

[PamelaHL]

Can I use an F series with a 503cx?

Edited: I see I can use the FE, so I assume the F s just older...110/2 would be great! What else do you like about the lens?

 

[Magnus W]

Can I use an F series with a 503cx?

Edited: I see I can use the FE, so I assume the F s just older...110/2 would be great! What else do you like about the lens?

No. Sorry. The F (and FE) series lenses has no built in shutter, and can only be used with the 200 series bodies. The fastest lens for any 500 series body is the 80/2.8.

-- MW

 

[Nicole]

Pamela, Neopan 1600 in Xtol can produce beautiful fine grain.

 

[Dan Henderson]

oh, you didn't say anything about subjects that moved. Trees and rocks are easier to manage than children!

With exposures longer than 1 second, the film becomes less sensitive to the light and the exposure time therefore needs to be increased beyond what the meter indicates. Reciprocity charts are published for films that tell you how much to increase exposure. The increased exposure time tends to also increase contrast, so development time should be decreased to compensate.

 

[df cardwell]

Pamela, Neopan 1600 in Xtol can produce beautiful fine grain.

Yep ! Exactly true. And both Neopan 1600 AND 400 make long scale negatives that have superb mid tone separation, and fine highlights.

Xtol, especially 1+2, ( with reduced agitation) can 'push' a couple stops without building contrast. Really. Really.

Sooner or later, though, you'll run out of light. A neat little 35 comes in handy...

 

[Helen B]

Pamela,

Very fast lenses might sound like a good idea but, apart from brightening up the viewfinder, they may not be all that useful wide open because of how little will be in focus.

For low light in MF I usually use Portra 800 pushed two stops with my meter set at 1600 to 2000. I don't find grain to be a problem.

"Darn, when I first read about teleconverters I thought they went the opposite direction in f-stops..."
As an aside, there are behind-the lens wide angle converters that do increase the speed of the lens, in the same way that a teleconverter makes your lens slower, but they are very very rare, have low conversion factors and a five-figure price tag.

Best,
Helen