On 22 May 2002 at 0:20, Maris V. Lidaka Sr. wrote: > My son's graduation is in 2 weeks or so - indoors, flash will not be usable as > I'm too far away so I'll use a zoom lens. > > What film should I use (I prefer negative but I'll use slide film) - maybe > 800, 1600, or 3200 speed? I'd like to be able to scan it afterwards for > blow-ups or reprints, without too much grain.
Hi Maris, I recently shot a graduation, the lighting varied from broad stage flood lights to spot throughout the event. I was stuck in one spot so I really only used a couple of focal lengths, to cover the stage and a longer lens to get in close on the presentation. Have a set of primes I would suggest that you consider using them in stead of a zoom and if possible stick to a pair of primes and consider using a body for each if possible. I wouldn't suggest the use of slide film as contrast and colour casts will be your enemies, in stead consider a fast print film like Portra 800. Grain is not as good as in a fast film but by using a slower film any grain advantage will be quickly negated by virtue of problems due to slow shutter speeds. If you have no option but to hand hold without flash you will want the highest shutter speeds possible and even if you could set up a tripod you'd probably find it of little advantage as the presenters and award recipients rarely keep still :-) The images that I shot under the general stage flood were at 1/60th f2.8 ISO 800 and under spot 1/250th f2.8 ISO 800 but this is only a guide and I wasn't using colour filtration. Good luck. Cheers, Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications.html - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
