What colour film

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psychology

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Russell
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Hi all

I am going to shoot a wedding for a friends son, (not as the official tog just some candid shots at the reception) and would like to shoot film. It's a fairly low key wedding so I am trying to decide what colour film to use. I would like to try to avoid flash a lot of the time so have been looking at kodak portra 800. Anyone used these? Any other suggestions?

I am probably going to use a 50mm 1.8 lens

Thanks

Russell
 
Portra 400 all day every day :D
 
Might want to run a spool through in similar conditions and see how they look before the wedding. Nothing worse than just ruined photos.
 
At this time of year 400 is good, look at the weather and if fine and clear then have some 160VC available, overall a much better wedding result.

Be a bit more flexible on the focal length.

Infill flash can work very well under certain natural circumstances.
 
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Thanks everyone. Just to be clear, I am doing this for fun so there is no expectation from the Bride and groom, they are having "proper" wedding shots taken. I am just trying to get a different look to what the official shots are, and being new to film was a bit concerned about film choice and especially speed as have never shot film under low lighting.

I think I'll take the canon eos 100 with a flash gun and a few lenses and maybe the oly om10 and try exposing it at 800 and see what the results are. I know what I am looking for so in the end if it works great, otherwise learn from it.
 
Personally I would shoot B&W if you want a different look. Digital B&W doesn't compare to good old film B&W! (Just a caveat- I don't get along with colour film but am rather partial to a bit of B&W!)
 
Good advice to try B&W, or maybe if you're taking two cameras put B&W in one (probably suggest 400 speed for that too) and Portra in the other.

However worth pointing out that Portra has a very different colour palette to most digital shots (unless they're manipulated to look like Portra :nono:). I'm sure you'll produce something very different to other people's photos if you use it.
 
TheGreatSoprendo said:
Good advice to try B&W, or maybe if you're taking two cameras put B&W in one (probably suggest 400 speed for that too) and Portra in the other.

However worth pointing out that Portra has a very different colour palette to most digital shots (unless they're manipulated to look like Portra :nono:). I'm sure you'll produce something very different to other people's photos if you use it.
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Any suggestions on a B&W film, don't want anything too grainy? I am looking for strong saturated colour which I hope portra will give me.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Portra will give you natural looking results, rather than strong saturated colour. Few colour negative films will offer you strong saturation and excellent results in low-light natively - shoot Portra 400 at ISO800 and modify it in post-process if you want that.

A B&W film to shoot at ISO800, which isn't too grainy? Kodak T-Max 400, there is almost no contest. With a fine grained developer, it'll perform better at ISO800 than most faster films.
 
Thanks guys, I've ordered some portra 400, which I will expose at 800, and I'll get couple of Ilford xp2 which I will also shoot at 800. Boots are doing the Ilford at £6.99 and get 2nd half price!

I'll post some results after the wedding which is a week Friday.
 
psychology said:
Thanks guys, I've ordered some portra 400, which I will expose at 800, and I'll get couple of Ilford xp2 which I will also shoot at 800. Boots are doing the Ilford at £6.99 and get 2nd half price!

I'll post some results after the wedding which is a week Friday.
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only do it if you need to
 
excalibur2 said:
A pretty bride with a face full of grain....UGH A pro would be out of business after one job :)
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if he were the pro I would tell him to use digital! ;)
 
If you want a B&W film that's not too grainy:

Kodak T-MAX
Ilford Delta
Fuji Neopan

all availiable in 100 / 400 speeds. I prefer 400's versatility more - and it's ability to still produce fine grain

Edit: just seen you've already made the purchase! hope the photo's come out good at the wedding for you.
 
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donutagain said:
only do it if you need to
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This. When I have Portra 400 in the camera I always use it at 400 if there's enough light, and then turn the ISO dial to 800 (or sometimes even a bit more) if I'm using it in poorer light. Alternatively dial in 1 stop of underexposure or do it manually. And then revert to 400 when you're back in brighter conditions.

It's very useable at 800 but better at 400.

Can also do the same with the XP2.
 
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