I would like to take b&w pictures inside of a club and would like to know if this is possible without a flash. I was thinking of using 3200 speed film and am prepared with the idea that there will be some graininess to it. Does anyone have experience in this arena and what are your experiences with this type of lighting? This is an environment I would really like to get into, indoor pictures with minimal flash. I would appreciate any responses.

Thanks.

-- Miriam Lara (mlara@nfa.futures.org), March 09, 2001

Answers

Miriam, go with T-Max 3200 and T-Max developer. If that is too grainy go with it @1600. Also use the best 50mm 1.4 lens for your camera you can get. Then just go for it. You need to go and do it, if that's what you are interested in - shoot first and ask questions later!

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), March 10, 2001.

I've also been very impressed with Ilford Delta 3200. Had some superb results, especially when downrated to 1600. But I've even had perfectly good results pushing it to 6400! If you can develop it in Ilfotech-DDX, so much the better.

-- Ed Hurst (BullMoo@hotmail.com), March 10, 2001.

Miriam:

When workng in bar-light situations, you are going to be dealing with everything from low light to no light. Like the others have posted, you will need to use the really fast films. Depending on the situations you encounter, you might have to use extremely high film speed ratings, maybe as high as 6,400, 12,500, or even 25,000. This can be especially true if you aren't working with extremely fast lenses.

Its impossible to give specific exposure recommendations. The conditions will vary tremendously. You'll just need to do some experimenting in order to determine what will work and what you can expect. Shoot a lot and develop it forever, see what you get, and determine any necessary adjustments in film speed ratings and/or development. Shoot some more and zero in on what works.

-- Ken Burns (kenburns@twave.net), March 13, 2001.