Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

photo question 14-Dec-2004 At 12:13:01 PM (removed)

Message

On 8/12/2004 Chester wrote:
>I was waiting for someone to correct gfdonc's comments on dynamic range.
>
>Print fillm has a much better contrast range than slide film, especially
>if you're comparing the likes of very contrasty slide film (Velvia 50)
>with a low contrast print film like NPH 400, which should be rerated to
>320.

I would have done but have only just read this whole thread. Course a few months ago I was on suggested that slide film has a very limited exposure range, and that capturing subject and background in the same shot with different exposures should be done with print film. For the same reason, it's much easier to fu(k up your exposure with slide film as it can't be corrected after the shot to the same extent that film can.

Personal experience of regularly fu(king up confirms this.

In terms of re-rating ISO's, rule of thumb is that most print film should be rated down 1/3 -2/3 stops, i.e. 320 or 250 for ISO400. Black and white generally can go down an entire stop i.e. 200 for ISO400. From what I've heard, slide film is generally best left alone (1/3 of a stop at most) due to the lack of dynamic exposure range. For those who may wonder why, typically the reason for rating film down is to increase detail in shadow areas. Possible over exposure will be handled happily at print time by all but the dodgiest printers.