The right frame of mind is key. Something tells me you're no novice besides this followup question.

This is all color transparency info. I don't know much about neg other than it's always better to rate it a third to a half a stop slower than recommended. (with neg, a ~straight print from a long exposure can look awesome. Unreal, but darn cool just the same)

I know both Kodak and Fuji make film data available on their sites. Personally I think they are intended more as marketing tools than usable data. (And fishing lures are designed to catch fisherman, not fish) I can remember only one time that we got a batch of film that actually tested at it's rated speed. We ran another roll just cause we thought something got screwed up.

Exposure is always critical. You can't create believable detail where none exists. (unless you have a different shot that fits and you're reasonably adept with PhotoShop) You can tweak color in post production and you most likely will always need to. Small changes are a given but beyond that, what they say is true. "garbage in - garbage out"

I get by without an extra meter. Usually my long exposures are long because I'm stopped down and/or have ND filters added. I just open up, take off the filters for a reading and do the math as I screw 'em back on and pretend the bugs don't bother me. (double the time for each stop and adding reciprocity failure to the total plus a little for any CC filters) It's always a guess. No matter how educated.

The lucky thing is the longer the exposure, the more room for error. My auto exposure body reads off the film so I'm good up to two minutes after compensating for reciprocity. Great for those puffy cloud days. If my "third over" hits two minutes the next two in the bracket are exposed for three and four at bulb using the cable release.

If you're eyes haven't glazed over by now... Only die hard photo buffs (kindly referred by me to as weenies) should continue reading.

Fuji's data sheet for Provia 100F (RDPIII) suggests correction values of
1/4000 - 128 sec. [none]
4 min. [2.5 green +1/3 stop]
8 min. [Not Recommended - it tends to flare sometimes but don't let that slow down your vision]

Rating it at 80 (and that was still a bit too fast) my values are more like
1/2 - 4 sec. [+1/3]
4 sec. - 32 sec. [5 blue +1 stop]
32 sec. - 2 min. [5 blue +1 and 1/3 stops]
2 min. - whatever [10 blue, 2.5 magenta + a stop and 2/3rds or more]

I'm not complaining. Too many factors come into play when you use anything beyond it's intended application.

Test. Practice. Play! Fall down. (You can always blame it on the lab!) Brush yourself off. Play some more.
When you get one you really like - sent it.

QuietJourney should host a BW/Q photo contest. 2002? What's anyone think? I'll even do prizes if I don't have the time to find real sponsors. Submissions would be free. Critiques by and for participants mandatory. I'm not sure about categories or judges, but all visitors would at least have a weighted input. Anyone interested? Anyone read down this far? Speak up. I'll be more inclined to do it if there is interest.

Posted by db on August 22, 2001 at 16:45
From IP address 169.207.133.183