Flower Photography Film ?

[Charles Elias]

Apoliogies if this has been asked before.

After a layoff of several years, I'd like to do some wildflower
photography this spring.
I use a 35mm camera, 100mm macro lens, tripod, and do all of my work
outdoors, usually in bright sun. I prefer slide film, but occasionally
use print film.

I'd appreciate any recommendations for films to be used under such
conditions.

Thanks

Charley

[Gary Richards]

One of my favorite slide films for flowers is Agfa's RSX 50 film.
It produces beautiful colors and does justice to the plants.

[Owen P. Evans]

Charles,
I shoot a lot of Velvia and Provia 100F for slides and I like NPS for
prints. The more you work with the films, the more you'll find their limits.
The Velvia is very saturated; the Provia is natural and can easily be
"pushed" a stop or two; the NPS is spot-on when you get it right but really
bad when you miss the exposure.
Good luck,
Owen
Charles Elias wrote in message <38DCC97B...@bigfoot.com>...

[TravGlen]

Fujichrome RDP III Provia 100F, as this excellent iso100 film can be pushed
several stops with quick good results.

"Charles Elias" <cee...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:38DCC97B...@bigfoot.com...

[Charles Elias]

First, Thanks, many thanks for the responses.

I'm curious..... As I noted originally, I haven't done any photography for
several years. I see that none of the respondents recommend Kodak films.
Have the other films improved that much?

[S. Thomas Lewis]

For print film, I have found that Kodak Ektapress, Royal Gold, and Reala to
give the best results. However, other print films such as Gold, Superia,
NPS, Portra, etc also give good results.

[David Grabowski]

On Sun, 26 Mar 2000 10:55:55 -0500, Charles Elias
<cee...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>First, Thanks, many thanks for the responses.
>
>I'm curious..... As I noted originally, I haven't done any photography for
>several years. I see that none of the respondents recommend Kodak films.
>Have the other films improved that much?

Well it's kind of a grain issue and an acceptance issue. Fuji Velvia
is entrenched in 35mm. scenic and nature shooting, Provia is probably
next, then an Agfa offering and Kodachrome 64. In medium format , if
you were asking about that, you might have gotten more Kodak
suggestions, but just about any article you could read, on say wild
flowers for instance, would display pictures taken in 35mm Velvia on
the pages.

I shoot mostly medium format but some 35mm. as well, my choice would
be E100VS from Kodak, for a couple of reasons. It looks very much like
Velvia with less over saturated blue ( this actually seems to be the
appeal of Vevia to many Velvia users), has more lattitude and is a
stop faster, its rendering is a bit more neutral but still plenty
saturated. Expect a little more grain in 35mm . than with Velvia or
Provia.

Your best bet is to give a couple of these films a try and see what
you like for yourself. For flowers I would think you would want extra
saturation films but then again maybe this isn't for you. For more
neutral tones and natural rendition stay away from extra saturated
films and consider the less saturated Provia or Kodak E100 S.

In print film I would go with Fuji Superia , Agfa Optima 100 ( nice
film, I've used this for still life shots) or Kodak Gold 100. If you
want a bit more saturation but getting into goofy colors try Agfa
ultra 50, for low grain and some punch Royal Gold from Kodak.

Personally in print film I think the lab you use has more to do with
the outcome than the film selection itself.

David Grabowski

[Charles Elias]

Thanks again All, for the responses. I'll be trying Provia F 100 this
weekend.... If we have good weather.... then branch out from there, if I
feel the need.

Once again, thanks for updating me.

Charley