Yashica D + SFX 200 guidance needed

[Boris Mirkov]

So my sister is getting married this april and I'm planning to shoot the whole thing. Aside from doing all the 35mm shooting I want to shoot some infrareds on the square. I have some experience (very modest) in shooting IR but advice is always welcome.
The thing is, I have a Hoya R72 filter which is very good with the IR but also very dark and not helping with exposure. I did shoot some year ago few IRs (Efke IR), did the bracketing and all but my exposures were very long, some 10 secs or more. I did landscapes then so it wasn't a problem. Having people in the picture is a new challenge.

Long story short, I would like only for my exposures to be above 1/60th of a second. Raising ISO is a must but I'm not sure of the results. The other problem is the focusing, Yashica doesn't have IR focus indicator so I have no idea what to do there. Thoughts?

By the way, what is the difference between SFX 200 and other, "true" IR films? I've read somewhere "near infrared". What's the deal?

 

[MattKing]

With Ilford SFX, you are not going to be able to get 1/60th of a second exposures and an IR effect, unless you add IR to the ambient light.

The way that an R72 filter works is that it blocks most of the spectrum, leaving only the near IR and IR radiation to expose the film. That near IR and IR radiation is only a small portion of ambient light, and it is of a fairly low intensity.

The only film that was sensitive enough to IR to permit 1/60th of a second was the no longer available Kodak HIE. It was much more sensitive than current films, and that sensitivity included sensitivity in the full infra-red region, unlike current films. That was why it was much harder to handle (loading in complete darkness, etc.). Ilford SFX isn't sensitive enough to permit 1/60th of a second, and there is no practical way to boost that sensitivity - "pushing" the development won't make any meaningful difference.

If I were trying to do this I would put some SFX in a rangefinder and take a time exposure from the back of the hall during the ceremony.

 

[Boris Mirkov]

How about using some other filter, with less IR effect but exposure-friendly?

 

[MattKing]

As you cannot see how much IR is actually present, it would be difficult to recommend an IR or near IR film for a wedding.

If you use Ilford SFX with something like a deep red filter (and therefore have more exposure flexibility) the results will lack any meaningful IR effect, and the film will otherwise give the same sort of results that a "normal" film will.

Ilford SFX is actually quite nice when exposed at an EI of 200 without a filter. It is a little bit grainy, but the extended red sensitivity can be flattering for photos of people.

IMHO though, it really doesn't look "different" enough though to justify special use at a wedding.

But you might disagree - try it and see if it is different enough for you to make it worthwhile.

 

[Boris Mirkov]

We misundersood, I'm planning on shooting the two of them day prior to the wedding with SFX alongside PAN F50 on my Yashica 6x6. Wedding itself I will shoot with Canon A1 and lots of HP5+. The IR would be just an experiment but still I want it to look as best as possible.

The question still is, how to achieve some normal, handheld exposure times. I found this discussion, the guy had variable exposures at pretty decent times and results were really good, especially with Hoya R72. I'm completely confused. Have a look. http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00PtK4

 

[MattKing]

Boris:

The examples in the photonet link look to me to be devoid of IR effect until you get down to at least the example shot at 1/25 of a second. It looks to me that all you are really seeing in most of those examples is the darkening effect from a strong red filter. The grass in the examples is in harsh sunlight and in the web version has just been rendered too light.

If you like those examples, it may be that what you are looking for will be supplied with a strong red filter and normal panchromatic film.

 

[Boris Mirkov]

OK, so test it is! Thanks for all the help, hopefully I will get the results I am looking for.