I shot an entire roll of 100 speed film last week and got about three good shots out of it. Why? WRONG FILM FOR THE JOB! I loaded the 100 because it was real sunny that day and wanted to keep the gain to a minimum. Well, if you are track side with this film, the trains turn into streaks! I totally forgot that this would happen. Next time, 400 or better and I'll let the camera and film do the "Light work" for me. ------------------ Brent Tidaback, Member #234 BNSF Railfan-to-the Max and a N-Scaler to boot! "Ship it on the Route of The Roadrunners!" The Aransas Odessa & Western, a division of the BNSF
Very good point Brent. Better to have a little grain without the streaks . ------------------ Residing in BNSF's St. Croix Subdivision near Trempealeau, WI
I find that an odd occurence in bright sunny conditions. What speed was the camera setting to? Plenty of people use 64 in similar conditions without having streaked subjects. Rather than going to 400, try 200. Gary.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>WRONG FILM FOR THE JOB! I loaded the 100 because it was real sunny that day and wanted to keep the gain to a minimum. Well, if you are track side with this film, the trains turn into streaks!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> While I am not a photography expert, this topic interests me. I have used 100 speed film almost exclusively and don't remember having any streaking problems. In addition, the most popular film for rail photography is Kodachrome 64 which is an even slower film, which I have also used in the past. Since I am unfamiliar with your equipment, I can only guess about the cause of your problem. Are you using your cameras fully automatic setting which allows the camera to select both shutter speed and aperture setting? If so, this could cause a blurring or streaking due to the camera choosing too slow of a shutter speed. While I use the automatic aperture (exposure) setting on my camera, I manually select the shutter speed (no slower than 1/125th). By doing this, it stops the image more clearly but still adapts the exposure for the correct lighting balance. The fully automatic settings on most cameras bases the exposure on a mid-range f-stop setting and slows the shutter speed before opening the aperture. This is because most cameras are intended for shooting more stationary objects, not moving trains. In addition, I have used 100 speed film on some less than sunny days and still had acceptable results. However, overcast and stormy weather is more suited to 200 speed film. If you have any further details, please let me know. Maybe you won't have to sacrafice the grain tightness after all. ------------------ Kevin Stevens www.trainweb.org/KernJunction
