Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/12/11

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Film for school play
From: "Henning J. Wulff" <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 17:36:56 -0800
References: <39F62D6D.F0C04381@home.com> <5.0.0.25.2.20001025100646.00abddb0@127.0.0.1> <008101c0635d$4ccd3880$650a0a0a@phoenixdb.co.uk> <3.0.5.32.20001211102211.00882100@mail.greennet.net> <3A352FFB.755FC23D@rabiner.cncoffice.com> <20001211165512.N25386@oven.com>

At 4:55 PM -0500 12/11/00, Jeff Moore wrote:
>2000-12-11-14:50:19 Mark Rabiner:
>>  If it was me I'd test the new Kodak tungsten color neg film against
>>  the new Fuji high end pro 800.
>>  The Fuji will probably win.
>
>Not to sound like a broken record, but... have you tried the newish
>Kodak Supra 800?  It truly rocks.  I haven't been buying CZ or NHG II
>since I shot a few rolls of the Supra.
>
>The Supra 400... I dunno.  I've seen a few pictures with that effect I
>associate with Agfa Ultra, the thing where similar colors seem to fall
>into the same hypersaturated bucket;  but I'm prepared to believe that
>all that's wrong is the printer bring unfamiliar with the film's
>characteristics, or a pessimal match of film to paper or something.
>Because I've also seen some Supra 400 snaps look really good.  But the
>800?  Just plain always better than I expect an 800-speed fillum to
>be, and none of the above surprises.

I'm with Jeff on this. There's a lot of things Kodak has loused up, 
but their latest films are again at the top. The 400 NC/VC and 800 
Supra films are better for me than the Fuji counterparts.

I sometimes wish I could get off this treadmill, as I seem to be 
constantly testing new films, but as even the so-called _old_ films 
are changed by the manufacturers, constant testing is necessary 
anyways, particularly in colour stock.

As far as stage lighting is concerned, it is almost always regular 
tungsten, at various colour temperatures between 1800 and 2500 
degrees. The halogen cycle doesn't take well to dimming except under 
exceptional circumstances, so it is rarely used. Use daylight film, 
and have the lab/scanner/computer adjust. It isn't completely 
accurate, but then the colours on stage are not precisely tuned 
either.

For lenses, if you are not on stage during a rehearsal, use a 90 to 
180 with the widest apertures you have. Try to spot meter or meter 
under the typical lighting beforehand, and go with that. If the light 
level is changed a lot, your chances of hitting the exposure 
correctly are very low without a fast spot metering technique.

I shot a lot of stage stuff in the early 60's, at first with a 90 
Elmar, 135 Hektor, and yes, even a 200/4.5 Telyt on a Viso I. Tri-X 
pushed in Acufine until the grain reigned supreme. When I got better 
(and they started paying me better), they let me up on stage during 
dress rehearsals, so I could use my Summicron 50 and Summarit.

- -- 
    *            Henning J. Wulff
   /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
  /###\   mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
  |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com

In reply to: Message from Jesse Hellman <hellman@home.com> ([Leica] Focusing the M6)
Message from Tina Manley <images@InfoAve.Net> (Re: [Leica] Focusing the M6)
Message from "Simon Lamb" <simon@sclamb.com> ([Leica] Film for school play)
Message from bfranson@greennet.net (Bill Franson) (Re: [Leica] Film for school play)
Message from Mark Rabiner <mark@rabiner.cncoffice.com> (Re: [Leica] Film for school play)
Message from Jeff Moore <jbm@oven.com> ([Leica] Re: Film for school play)