Re: Film suggestions for dark party?

["Dr. Alberto Rodrguez-Robles" <arobles@coqui.net>]

Joe Berenbaum wrote:
> 
> I'm hoping to attend and photograph a 21st party in a few weeks time, but
> it's all a bit strange- it will be "fairly dark" I'm told, there will be
> fairy lights, and other illumination also but possibly not very much of it.
> A number of people may apparently be swooping in dressed as vampires and the
> whole thing may be a bit of a spectacle. I say "may" because it is a
> question of what can be arranged and keeping it hushed up so the person
> whose 21st party this is doesn't realise that it will be anything other than
> a normal boring birthday party. So- I'm thinking of taking an M6 and a
> Noctilux and a 35mm Summicron and probably a 28mm Elmarit. All of a sudden I
> finally understand why people buy those f1.4 35mm Summilux lenses... I don't
> want to use flash for any of this. My main concern is what film to use. I
> want to do most of this in black and white and I don't want to run out of
> film speed. I can use HP5+ up to ISO 800 but want some insurance against
> that not being high enough. So if anyone has any particular film/developer
> combinations for ISO ratings of 1000 or higher that they feel produce
> attractive images, please make suggestions. My inclination is to use Neopan
> 1600 or TMax 3200 and rate it at whatever is needed at the time, and develop
> it in Xtol, but I don't feel at all confident with this idea because I've
> never used either of of those combinations. In fact I haven't rated any b&w
> film that high for a long time. Any recommendations, anyone?
> 
> Joe Berenbaum

I'll suggest that you try both the Fuji Neopan 1600, rated at 800, 1600
and 3200 and also the T-Max 3200 rated at 800, 1000, 1600, 3200, 6400
and see for yourself the grain and tonal quality that they produce under
the circumstances that you mentioned.  Please make a test in advance
under similar conditions and you'll be able to get a sense of what you
are going to get.

I'll make the light readings with an incident light meter and double
check with a spot meter.  With the spot I'll look for the shadows and
highlights, just to see if they are in the range.

I use Fuji Neopan 1600 and developed it in T-Max Dev. RS for 2.5 min. in
a JOBO rot. 4 at 75 degree F.  You have to pre wet it for 5 min..  The
T-Max 3200 is developed in T-Max dev. RS at 75 degree in tank for the
recommended time in the insert.  Be careful with the agitation, agitate
it slowly and only three inversions every minute.

I preferred the Fuji Neopan 1600 for the grain structure and the tonal
scale.  I've seen beautiful images from T-Max 3200 and I guess that it
is a matter of practice and mastery of the materials.  You will get the
mastery over the materials if you practice enough and be consistent with
your procedures.

Good luck!!

Alberto