Success with Fuji superia 400 ?

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I have now become a full-fledged M6 man (Camera comes tomorrow!!!!)and I am interested to know if anybody uses Fuji superia 400 and what results you have had with it. I used this in my F5 and was pleased with the results this being in the totally automated shooting mode, it was my all-round film day/night and it was pushable without to much grain distortion.

Do i need to re-think my use for this film in the M6 and if so what should i be doing, shooting from dawn to dusk the leica way ??.

I will be using the 35/2 ASAP lens.

Any help in the above would be greatly appreicated

As a point of interest I find this message board to be excellent and it helped me in the crossover to the M6.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.

Paul

-- paul (longrange@swipnet.se), January 04, 2001

Answers

MISTAKE: Should read ASPH instead of ( As Soon As Possible )i must of been thinking of the postman coming with my leica tommorow !!!!!!

Paul

-- paul (longrange@swipnet.se), January 04, 2001.


It has become my standard film and I have some nearly grainless 8 X 12 prints made from it. I like it becasue it holds together fine if I am shooting outside in the sun (which I do rarely)but can also allow me to shoot at 1/60 f2.8 to 4.0 inside the house during the day without flash for great natural lighting shots. I found I usually get better results than with the 200 or 100 speed films for the type of shooting I do. I usually meter at 320. I also like the new Fuji NHGII 800 speed film, and don't notice much difference in quality between it and the 400. By the way, is there an easy way for us to post photos here like we can at the photo.net site? I often want to attach an example (so you guys can see I actually do know how to use my camera) and would be interested in seeing other's images as well.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), January 04, 2001.

Not like the image upload capability with photo.net. You can post images here, but they have to be published on the web some place and they must be referred to by their URL inside an HTML image tag, or they can be linked to with their URL inside an HTML link. The people photography forum has many examples of this.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), January 04, 2001.

First posted shot should be required self-portrait so we can see who all we're talking to...or maybe not.

-- Ken Shipman (kennyshipman@aol.com), January 04, 2001.

If you are looking at C-41 film you owe it to yourself to try some Kodak Portra. I have used the 160 and 400 in both VC (saturated) and NC (softer color)in 35mm and medium format as well as the 800 in 35mm, and I love them all. I used to use Royal Gold 100, Agfa HDC 400 and Fuji 800. The amazing thing is how little difference in grain or color saturation there is between the 160 and 400, with the 800 very close behind. Unless you are making huge enlargements (20x30 or beyond)from 35mm negs, the 400 is a universal film. For outdoor shots the VC has the color punch of Agfa Ultra with much greater sharpness and a much broader tonal range. You can shoot the film at high noon.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 04, 2001.


I hope your entry into the Leica world is satisfying. Be patent, and don't expect miracles. You won't reach nirvana on your first roll of film... there is a bit of a learning curve changing from an SLR.

I think that in the last ten or so years, one of the best advances in film has been color print ISO 400 films from both Kodak and Fuji. It is IMHO better than even 100 ISO, (or ASA back then), from 20 years ago. I use color slide film for my serious travel type pictures, but for candids, people is their environment, and semi formal portraits I use ISO 400 speed print film in both my Nikons and Leicas. I can produce 11 X 14 inch prints that I don't have to apologize for as far as grain, and I believe the faster shutter speed or more mid-range aperture allowed by the extra speed gives me a better image overall... trading some grain for more optimum settings.

If I am in Japan, I use Fuji, in the States I go with Kodak. I find the labs are using the correct color filters for processing in these locations using this criteria. If you have a good lab, they can adjust, but some of the 1 hour labs just process everything with whatever setting is in the machine.

I also agree with Andrew, and set my meter for ISO 320, giving me a bit more detail in the shadow area, as well as a bit of grain reduction.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), January 04, 2001.


I think Fuji Superia 400 is a great multi-purpose film, and I prefer it to Kodak's offerings. I shoot Superia 400 as rated with no problem. I also like Fuji NPH rated at 250. To tell the truth, I can't tell much difference between the two, although some users pan Superia while raving about NPH. To complete my standard film and processing recommendation, try to locate a lab which prints with a Fuji Frontier. In terms of print quality, my best results have been from the combination of Superia or NPH printed with a Frontier on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Enjoy your M6!

-- Chris Crevasse (ccrevasse@millermartin.com), January 04, 2001.

I like Fuji Reala myself. However just wait until you try B&W (say TMax 400) with that 35/2 ASPH. It will blow your socks off.

-- dan sawyer (dsawyer@dedicate.com), January 04, 2001.

"they must be referred to by their URL inside an HTML image tag, or they can be linked to with their URL inside an HTML link" I'm not up on how exactly you do this so that a reader doesn't have to copy the URL and paste it, but just hits it as a prompt. For example, Here is a URL of an image I took with window light and the 400 speed Fuji Superia print film of my 5 year old.

http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/kyle2001LKYA/$file/kyle2001.jpg

Exactly how would I enter this so it would be easier for readers to pull up the image. I apologize if this has already been dealt with before.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), January 04, 2001.


Here is another portrait taken with Fuji NPH, which has less contrast than the Superia and probably a bit less grain as well.

http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/DemiJHPQ/$file/Demi.jpg

I was really happy with the results I got with NPH for portraits, but liked Superia more for landscapes and other nature shots.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), January 04, 2001.



Andrew, those portraits are STUNNING!!! Very beautiful. You can even see the soft kid-skin-fuzz on the sides of their faces.

OK, here's what you do. You take what you have, that is, the URL, and make it look like this:

<a href="http://c.postmypic.com/c.nsf/z/DemiJHPQ/ $file/Demi.jpg">Your Picture</a> should render like:

Your Picture

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), January 05, 2001.


Beautiful pics Andrew. What lens were those two portraits taken with if you don't mind me asking?

-- Matt Veld (mahv@xtra.co.nz), January 05, 2001.

Nice work, Andrew. I think these pictures answer the original thread question better than a thousand words could.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), January 05, 2001.

Thanks everyone for some excellent info and images, I am in the process of putting the first ever film in my M6 a strange experience to say the least, it seems to have worked (got a tip from Andrews post on a entertaining view leica M6. Link below. http://www.butzi.net/reviews/pleated.htm

After the initial sick feeling of departing with hard earned cash and lots of it and creeping in with a (look darling an OLD FASHIONED CAMERA !!!!!) carefully put, she would hit the roof if I told her the actual cost, maybe leicas are made to look old fashioned so the photographers that use them get away from the F5 big bodys big lens, HOW MUCH WAS THAT!!!!!syndrome. I now feel like a boy at Christmas and im off to shoot the leica.

Thanks paul

-- paul (longrange@swipnet.se), January 05, 2001.


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