Long exposures with KR64

[kansei]

Hello everybody! My name's José Bautista, I'm from Spain and this is my first post at Kodachrome project forum .

I had the opportunity of purchasing and developing KR64 in Tokyo the last summer. Now Horiuchi, a professional laboratory located at Shinjuku area in Tokyo city, has stopped processing K14 films that's the reason why I purchased dozens of rolls from Dwayne's to continue shooting and process this fantastic and mythical film.

I'm a relatively novice in serious photography; I never used Kodachrome before and the experience with the film was fantastic. A plethora of colors and sensitive images that remains glorious moments of past color photography, a soul that I'm still haven't found in the digital era. But these words are redundant for all Kodachrome members, I believe ;-) .

So now, the question. During my photographic trip around Tokyo I encountered a lot of problems shooting at night because the long exposures I had to use in certain moments. All, or almost in all slides I used a exposure value above 4 or 6 seconds were very unfocused. I used a Leica m6 with a 35mm lens and a tripod, focusing in most cases at infinity .

Is there any tip or advice concerning night photography with Kodachrome? I did not experience these focus problems with other transparencies like fujicrhome or ektachrome.

Thank you very much

Jose.

[StorminMatt]

I have to admit that I have not yet done any night shots with Kodachrome. I have only recently rediscovered Kodachrome, and have yet to try taking any. BUT, I have made PLENTY of night shots with digital. And I am sure that ALOT of my findings with digital translate over to Kodachrome as well. First off, you have to watch our exposure. When taking urban shots, your camera will almost ALWAYS overexpose the shot, depending on how much of the shot is dark and how much is lit. The problem is that the camera looks at the overall level of light in the picture, and adjusts the exposure accordingly. But this causes problems, since urban night shots tend to be composed of either bright light or darkness. And if the bright lights are overexposed, they tend to look somewhat 'cloudy'. The solution? Try stopping things down, depending on how much of the shot is lit vs darkness. You might need to stop things down by as much as two stops on shots with lots of darkness, or half to one stop on shots with more light. You just have to experiment. Or you can 'cheat' and use a DSLR to see what settings work before shooting film.

Another possible problem is aperture. Some people make the mistake of using the largest available aperture when taking night shots, if only because they feel like they have to. But this tends to cause halations - a sort of cloudy halo around brightly lit areas. This is particularly a problem if you have a fast lens, and go for an extreme setting like, say, f1.4. Try going for something less extreme, like maybe f/4.0 or smaller. Again, having a DSLR on the side can help.

[ISO64]

As StorminMatt said you may need to use a smaller apature. Even f/8 can
work. If you used an extreamly small apature defraction can soften the image.

I would try to focus on your main subject as close as you can or use hyperfocusing.

Make sure sure your tripod is sturdy and does not vibrate in the wind, etc.

You need to use a shutter release or delay timer.

The comments made about exposure are good as well, additionaly when
you get to longer exposures you might need to make need to make correction to the calculated times. I normaly just bracket. Expect to experment some and don't be disapointed if not every shot works out.

You should be able to get results like this or alot better:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iso64/2437116621/

Disclaimer: I'm not under the impresion that I'm any good.

[matt8314]

Originally Posted by ISO64

Make sure sure your tripod is sturdy and does not vibrate in the wind, etc.

You need to use a shutter release or delay timer.

I forgot to mention both of these things. Wind can indeed be a problem, especially with long telephoto lenses. Sometimes, if it is windy, placing the camera on a ledge can give you a better shot than a tripod (as a ledge is going to be more stable). Also, the second factor is VERY important. The mere act of pressing the shutter is enough to cause motion blurring.

On the other hand, motion blurring looks ALOT different from the lack of sharpness resulting from halations or overexposure. Generally, in night shots, motion blurring is seen as lights forming jagged lines or even jagged circles rather than just a general softness.

[the Kodachrome Kidd]

Greetings everyone!!! I have been using Kodachrome 64 for night photography and here is how i use it. First off, i use a Pentax K1000 camera with the shutter set to "B"; I use a tripod and shutter release and use a 50mm lens and set my apapture to f5.6 and for bright lit scenes. I hold the shutter open for 10 seconds.I also bracket,and will also use f.4 also holding the shutter open for 10 seconds.You will have to experiment and see what works best for you.
I have also used longer exposures depending on the subjects brightness.I have "Lit Up" my subjects using a handheld flash and have painted the subject(in my case railroad locomotives)with light,being careful not to paint myself into the picture.Give it a try,you might be surprised how well Kodachrome lends itself for night photography.Have fun,and be careful out there...

[dmr]

In my not so humble opinion, Kodachrome is not a good choice for night shots, for several reasons.

First it's slow. 64 requires slow speeds, wide f-stops, or both. Modern faster films let you hand hold and stop down a bit.

Then it has a limited dynamic range compared to negative films. Night scenes tend to be contrasty, with black cat in the coal bin shadows to surface of the sun highlights. With Kodachrome or any slide film you will either blow away the highlights or leave the shadows in the mud or both.

Kodachrome is also not forgiving in mixed light and available light circumstances, same as other slide films. The modern Fuji or Kodak C41 films are far more tolerant of other than ideal color temperature and balance.

Those are my opinions, anyway.

[matt8314]

Originally Posted by dmr

In my not so humble opinion, Kodachrome is not a good choice for night shots, for several reasons.

First it's slow. 64 requires slow speeds, wide f-stops, or both. Modern faster films let you hand hold and stop down a bit.

Then it has a limited dynamic range compared to negative films. Night scenes tend to be contrasty, with black cat in the coal bin shadows to surface of the sun highlights. With Kodachrome or any slide film you will either blow away the highlights or leave the shadows in the mud or both.

Kodachrome is also not forgiving in mixed light and available light circumstances, same as other slide films. The modern Fuji or Kodak C41 films are far more tolerant of other than ideal color temperature and balance.

Those are my opinions, anyway.

Then again, I just don't like negative film - mostly because it can't be projected and the colors tend to be 'muddy' compared to slide film or digital (I like the way that lights keep to their true colors in a Kodacrome night shot). For these reasons, if I can't shoot slides, I would rather just shoot digital for night shots. Digital actually does a REALLY good job when it comes to night shots. And the colors (although not as good as Kodachrome or other good slide films) are BETTER than C41. Detail just BLOWS AWAY C41, by the way.

On the other hand, if you like the performance of C41, but want projectability and better detail than a print can give you, you might look into Fuji Astia. Astia is an E6 film that supposedly performs like a C41 film. I have never tried it. But I might give it a try for night shots just to see how it works (even though I know I won't like it).

[dmr]

Originally Posted by matt8314

On the other hand, if you like the performance of C41, but want projectability and better detail than a print can give you, you might look into Fuji Astia. Astia is an E6 film that supposedly performs like a C41 film. I have never tried it. But I might give it a try for night shots just to see how it works (even though I know I won't like it).

I've been using Astia off and on. I first tried it as a possible Kodachrome replacement for when the eventual demise occurs. The obvious advantage of it is that it does not sucker-punch you with overwhelming saturation. It has more natural colors, but just does not have that "Kodachrome look" to it.

I'm willing to try it for night shots, but it's only 100 and is a reversal film. The results will tell the story.

[matt8314]

Originally Posted by dmr

I've been using Astia off and on. I first tried it as a possible Kodachrome replacement for when the eventual demise occurs. The obvious advantage of it is that it does not sucker-punch you with overwhelming saturation. It has more natural colors, but just does not have that "Kodachrome look" to it.

I'm willing to try it for night shots, but it's only 100 and is a reversal film. The results will tell the story.

When it comes to colors, we ALL know that Kodachrome is unique, and cannot be duplicated by any E6 film. As for Astia, I don't think it would be a good Kodachrome replacement. Although Kodachrome does not 'sucker punch' you with overwhelming saturation, it is FAR more 'punchy' than a typical C41 film (or Astia). I have found that Ektachrome E100G is probably the closest you are going to get to Kodachrome (although even this is not the same). Fuji Provia, by the way, seems to be virtually the same as Ektachrome E100G. So, as far as Fuji goes, I find Kodachrome to be more comparable to Provia than Astia.

As for Astia only being 100 speed, I don't consider this to be a bad thing for night photography. On thing I just DON'T like is grain. And anything faster than 100 is going to show MUCH more grain in darker areas - NOT GOOD. And, of course, I actually LIKE reversal film since it can be projected. Then again, we all have our opinions on this matter.

Of course, if you want a faster reversal film than Astia, there is always Provia 400. Of course, this film is going to behave more like Kodachrome than a C41 film.

[Jed Skillman]

Part of the job with night photography, as with any photography, is setting up the shot.

I've shot tons of Kodachrome, including quite a few night shots. It has been my experience that shooting a little after sunset, what Hollywood DPs used to call "magic hour" adds a lot to a picture. It gives you sky, rather than the black void of space, and takes away that feeling that your subject was cut-out and pasted on a black background.

With time exposures you can expand magic hour into a magic two hours. It is amazing how long you can work and still see into the sky.

Another trick with cityscapes is to shoot on cloudy evenings. The clouds will catch the city light and can offer an interesting backdrop.