Graywolf wrote:
> Well if your aperture is limited to f5.6 or smaller as with most consumer
> zooms, faster film is often better.
*nod* I load up fast film in daytime for slow lenses, or for long
lenses hand-held. But (probably obviously) those aren't the only
lenses I use.
> Given my choice I mostly use 100 speed film. But
> sometimes I really want something around 25 ASA, and often 400. However I
> use film faster than 400 less than I would 25 if I could get it easily.
And I'm one of those wackos who keeps trying to take photographs
in the dark, so I use a lot of 800 C41 and a fair amount of TMZ
pushed to various speeds ... and even though I'm shooting on the
dark side of the force and using fast film, I *still* find myself
reaching for Tech Pan, or wondering whether I can still get those
last few rolls of Kodachrome 25 developed, or buying Velvia 50.
I don't wish for 25 as often as you do, but I still want it often
enough not to consider it a bizarre and unusual circumstance.
(Actually I wish I had a 100 BW that looked mostly like Tri-X.
I haven't liked the results I've gotten from Plus-X, and the
only TMax film I like is TMZ, so my BW is almost all TMZ and
Tri-X, and I feel ill-equipped to deal with situations that
call for a speed between 50 and 200. Fortunately there are C41
and E6 films I do like at 100 ... but I've got these "holes"
in my choices: 25-BW, 50-E6, 100-C41/E6, 400-anything, 800-anything,
1600-anything (if I can stand the poor resolution of E6 film
at that speed), 3200-BW, 6400-BW. It'd be nice to have those
gaps filled in so I could pick my medium at any speed.)
For me, 100 is "slow" and 25 is "extremely slow" ... but
doggone it, I do have a use for extremely slow film. And
when I _do_ shoot in bright sunlight with a normal lens
(it does happen), 25 doesn't feel especially slow for those
few hours.
Using a faster film than the situation really calls for, and
thus being limited to your top two shutter speeds and your
narrowest two f-stops, is okay for _snapshooting_: turn on
the autofocus, set the lens on 'A', put the camera in Program
mode ... you point, you click, you don't worry about whether
there's enough light or whether you need to brace the camera
against something, _you_don't_stop_to_think_about_DOF_ or
intentional motion-blur, and it's more about documenting your
vacation than about art. Y'know, sometimes I shoot in that
mode myself! It's easy. It's convenient.
When I'm not doing that, I want _control_. And one aspect
of control is being able to choose a film with the look I
want and the speed I want.
How am I going to take a photo of a horse gallopping and
blur the background to emphasize the speed of the motion,
if my slowest shutter speed is 1/1000? DOF is the first
thing that comes to mind, but not the only factor leading
to a choice of a slower film.
I'm not the first to say it and I won't be the last, but:
faster film is not _inherently_better_ than slower film,
it is simply _better_for_many_situations_. When a film
is too slow for what you're trying to do, that's a
disadvantage; when a film is too fast for what you're
trying to do, that too is a disadvantage. Do _most_
people want faster films? I dunno, but I wouldn't be
surprised. Does that mean faster=better? No, the
_right_speed_for_the_situation_ = better. Often that
is faster, sometimes it is not.
-- Glenn
