Sharper pics with 35mm?

[ns134]

Originally Posted by PhillipT

As in, does the speed on the box of the film really mater, since my camera can over-ride it the film's preset speed (the barcode).

I'll shoot at 200 next time and see how it goes. I'll run the negs monday and have them put on a disk to see if that clears them up too.

edit: As far as lenses, out of my reach for a month or so, until prom and such is up.

You might want to be careful when you over-ride the ISO setting.
You might not have a problem when you go from a 100 to 200 ISO.
But if you decide to take 400 ISO pics on a 100 ISO film, be prepared for extra-grainy prints. I've lost so many awesome shots to this.

[venchka]

Prom before lenses????????????????????

When you're ready to buy a lens, place a want to buy notice in the Buy/Sell section here.

[cooltouch]

Originally Posted by PhillipT

Also, is there a trick to scan negatives? I was thinking about that today, back lighting them some how while on the scanner and see if the prints were to blame or if the actual shots on film had this effect.

No trick, really, but the scanner you use needs to be set up for it. A flatbed scanner that is designed for scanning slides and negs has a lid with a separate light source, and it will come with film carriers to hold negs and/or slides. To scan a neg or slide, I find that a minimum of 2400 dpi is advisable. Typically, I scan 35mm slides and negs at 3200 dpi, and medium format at 2400 dpi, unless I'm doing a tight crop of the mf image, in which case I'll scan it at 3200 dpi also.

Flatbed scanners that can handle film vary in price from reasonable to expensive. Ones like my Epson 3170 can be found for reasonable. But even using the high resolution capabilities it has, its scans are not as good as those done by a more expensive scanner, like an Epson V700 or V750, even at the same resolution.

-M

[moffo]

I'm not sure that the flexibility of digital hasn't really confused things here. Let me be very specific:

In digital you can dial pretty much any ISO you want, and the camera takes care of the rest. You might get grain at higher ISO's due to noise.

In *film*, you choose ISO by choosing either 'faster' (higher ISO) or 'slower' films. You can't just change ISO willy-nilly and expect consistent results. You can bracket, of course, or even dial in an exposure bias (tending to overexposure with most print films), but tweaking the ISO, especially in the middle of a roll, is asking for trouble.

If you really want to discipline yourself, keep a notebook log of each and every exposure, and shoot on slide film.

[toverman]

Back when I was shooting film, I'd set the ISO for the film but maybe "push process" it to simulate a higher ISO during developing. But if you are having it developed by someone else, you don't have that control necessarily.

[venchka]

Aye. C-41 is "set it and forget it." The process is fixed. All you can do is adjust your ISO setting to compensate for variables in your hardware and metering style.

B&W sheet film delivers the ultimate in user control. One of the many reasons why some of us continue to enjoy using large sheets of film.

[PhillipT]

Moffo- I never change ISO mid roll. Got my pics from the Houston Art Car Parade. They look sharper on the Negs than the CST10 pics, haven't viewed them on CD yet.

[kenw]

Phillip, I'll bet I can deduce the reason your Art Car pics look better:

since it was sunny, your camera automatically selected a higher shutter speed and the handshake issue went away.

[venchka]

Clever detective Ken is.

It ain't magic folks. More light = faster shutter speed = greater apparent sharpness. With the side benefit that direct light throws mini-shadows which look sharper.

[kenw]

Dang it, Wayne, I was hoping for a 2nd career as The Great Mystical Seer....

[venchka]

My turn...

Along with a faster shutter speed and "sharp" light, I bet the old Quantaray was stopped down around f/11. Presto! Sharp pictures.

Amazing how all of that works out, hey!

[PhillipT]

Sharp pics! over exposed looking on the CD, but the last time I had them put it on a CD the pictures looked over exposed too (several times...). I may just print a few off the negatives to see how it looks printed. There's been times before that when put on a CD at walgreens, even with using the film's ISO they looked over exposed on the CD. but atleast when eyeing the negatives they looked a lot better.

So, I have high hopes for the prints themselves.

No blurs though! Used ISO 200 the whole weekend, and everything is sharp. Here's some unedited shots from it. Just from the 1st CD.













I'm fairly happy with the shots so far. Parades aren't my thing, but thankfully cruising and show season has fired back up and that's my "thing". Need to hit up the Nifty Fifties with the Minolta and burn off more film lol

[venchka]

Remember about personal testing? If these were shot at 200, try 320. Where did you take them for processing? All minilabs are NOT created equal. Try a different one.

[PhillipT]

The walgreens down the street from the first (CST10, Cadillac pics) walgreens. I don't trust my walmart with pictures, even with some DSLR's they can manage to print grainy pictures.

I haven't tried editing. I also noticed more professional photographers were using some filters, I guess to help compensate for the VERY bright road way. I was in the middle of allen parkway, so I had the street reflecting on me all over.

I'll have them print off the negs in a few days and see whats up. I do remember the last 2 times i had the pics thrown onto CD they looked over exposed on the CD, but fine on the actual prints. Then I'll bump up ISO again for the next round this week with a friend's '75 Camaro (that is if the Motor doesn't die on him). And try the evening shots again with some friend's cars. When I shot the CST10 I was more-or-less blindly changing settings. So, I do expect the next round to be much better.


It's a sweet looking machine, but the original 200k mile motor is on it's last oil burning rod knocking legs.


Also, you guys say changing ISO mid-roll is dangerous. I've never tried it and never asked, but what are the limits of change and the risks in changing film speed. To save me some money, it'd be nice to find a way to be able to try a few different ISO's to see the effects on the least amount of film.


Edit:

[venchka]

The Target store at Spring Cypress & 290 has a Noritsu machine. You might want to give them a try.