# Best Film for low light conditions



## JayP (Feb 7, 2006)

I recently took some pictures of a friends birthday.  I used a 400ISO and a 200ISO as an experiment.  To my horror neither (except a few from the 400) came out to well!

So my question which I hope people can help me with is this.

Obviously the higher the ISO to more sensitive to light, does this mean that if I used a higher ISO film in this restaurent at the same shutter speeds I was using the picture is more likely to come to something?  In other words, whats the best film for low light conditions!!!

J


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## markc (Feb 7, 2006)

If you are using flash it won't matter much. If you are using available light, a faster speed film will be more grainy, but it will allow you to use a faster shutter speed. This will stop motion. If you aren't getting motion blur, a faster film won't do anything for you.

Can you post an example of what you shot?


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## JayP (Feb 8, 2006)

markc said:
			
		

> Can you post an example of what you shot?


 
Nope none of them came out to well, 10 out of 24 exp and even then there naff!  won't scan to well!!  It was my fault mainly because i slowed the shutter speed down some but got to much motion (hard to keep people still you see!)  Thing is I went to try to get some film but both local chemist and photoshop didn't have any (which I found strange)  where would i get some??

J


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## Rob (Feb 8, 2006)

Where in Kent are you? Snappy Snaps is pretty good for film, there should be one in your local town.

Shooting indoors in a restaurant without flash is going to require a bright lens like a 50mm f1.8. If you're shooting on a high f-number zoom, you're going to have problems with any "normal" ISO - e.g. 100-400.

What camera and lens are you using, and do you have a flash?

Rob


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## JayP (Feb 8, 2006)

Rob said:
			
		

> Where in Kent are you? Snappy Snaps is pretty good for film, there should be one in your local town.
> 
> Shooting indoors in a restaurant without flash is going to require a bright lens like a 50mm f1.8. If you're shooting on a high f-number zoom, you're going to have problems with any "normal" ISO - e.g. 100-400.
> 
> ...


 
In Maidstone, will have a look for Snappy Snaps, never heard of them but could be good!

I was using a Canon EOS lens 28-105mm that came with the Canon EOS300V I use.  I did use a flash for some pictures but I wanted to try and capture the mood of the evening as the lighting in the restaurent, while low, was good against the table giving it that very "Godfather" kinda look!


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## Rob (Feb 8, 2006)

JayP said:
			
		

> In Maidstone, will have a look for Snappy Snaps, never heard of them but could be good!
> 
> I was using a Canon EOS lens 28-105mm that came with the Canon EOS300V I use.  I did use a flash for some pictures but I wanted to try and capture the mood of the evening as the lighting in the restaurent, while low, was good against the table giving it that very "Godfather" kinda look!



http://www.google.co.uk/local?hl=en....0&latlng=51270180,523856,9231945996436917035

Ok, you've got a couple of options, get yourself a standard f1.8 50mm lens (about £90), or up the ISO on the film. To shoot in a low lighting situation, you're going to need to get well above 400 ISO with your current lens. 

Rob


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## myopia (Feb 9, 2006)

buy a faster lens (primes are faster than zooms) something like a 50mm f/1.8 or 1.4. 

or try pushing your 400 film to 1600iso .

or try using 3200 film.

or use a tripod.


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## Torus34 (Feb 9, 2006)

The use of an f1.4 to f2.0 lens is almost mandatory for shots such as you describe.  In addition, think a lot about how you can prop the camera to allow slower shutter speeds.  Kodak ASA 400 films in either color or B&W will not be too grainy if not push-processed or overly enlarged.  At wide open, focus becomes an important issue, too.


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