I'll be taking some slides this summer at various altitudes
in Peru. The guide books seem to suggest mostly sunny
weather but I'll probably still use 400 speed film because
my lens is pretty slow. Are there any compensations I
should make on exposure? Does the UV overexpose your
film? Any suggestions or experiences you've had in Andes,
Altiplano, or other 3000-4500 meter elvations would be
appreciated.
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Hola Wayne,
(if you're taking landscapes) why don't you use a tripod an
avoid the 400 film?? ...
I've taken several slides of Chle's altiplano using a
polarizer and I can strongly recommend it
suerte
Tomßs
1- how bad is that lens of yours?? On a normal lens (2.8 or
3.5 or 5.6 minimum) you won't need that 400. On the
contrary, in Bolivia I wished I had brought 25 ASA
films.(slides, to truly capoture those landscapes)
Ofcourse only you know what effect you want, but consider a
nice 100ASA film... (forget the tripod in my opinion,
unless you want to go all the way and slug around a
rollfilm camera and 25ASA film)
2- As the previous person said: your best friend at high
altitude is a polarising filter. You turn it around for
different effects. If you don't want that, AT LEAST use a UV
filter. (which is something you should ALWAYS use anyway to
protect your lens surface)
3- yes I believe the UV does overexpose your films slightly
which would be an issue when using slides. But the UV filter
solves that since you'll probably be measuring through the
lens?
4- have fun!
5- you probably know this, but: when doing landscapes: take
care where you measure your light!
I shot 200 speed PRINT film with slow lenses in Nepal at up
to 17,000 feet and did not use a haze or UV filter. I
think that when you shoot print film, you are so much at
the mercy of the printer that most filters make little
difference (I can't tell the difference when I use a
warming or cooling filter on print film). The exception is
the polarizer which is the filter that always stays on my
lens - I wouldn't trip the shutter without considering its
use. It makes BEAUTIFUL mountain pix. There is so much
light up high that any more speed is really not needed (I'm
taking ISO 100 print and 200 slide to Bolivia). And if
you're shooting inside, print film gives you almost 2 stops
of latitude in exposure. But if you can, overexpose by a
half or full stop. It won't overexpose PRINT film and it
gives the processor a better shot at getting it right.
Forget the tripod and use good bracing techniques.
Experiment at home first!
I used 200 speed PRINT film with slow lenses in Nepal at up
to 17,000 feet and did not use a UV or haze filter. I
think that when using print film, you are so much at the
mercy of the printer that most filters have minimal effect
(I can't tell the difference when I use a warming or
cooling filter on print film). The exception is the
polarizer. I wouldn't trip the shutter without considering
its use (and it makes BEAUTIFUL mountain pix). When I go to
Bolivia in June, I'm taking 100 speed print film and 200
speed slide. Using print film gives you around 2 full
stops exposure latitude (overexpose by a half or full stop
if using PRINT film - it won't overexpose your prints and
it gives the processor a better shot at getting it right).
Take a couple rolls of faster film for low light shots. But
at that altitude, there's a lot of light, so forget the
tripod and use good bracing techniques. Run some tests at
home first!
Oh yeah! Take a good look through the viewfinder when using
the polarizer. It's real easy to over-use it and turn the
sky almost black!
A polarizer is great for controling reflected light and it'll also give you up to 3X light reduction, which you'll certainly need with
that 400 film. However, the polarizer will not remove most of the UV haze and you shots will lack the scenic detail. Since a UV
filter does not reduce the available light I would mount it on my lens first and then piggyback the polarizer on top. Is your
camera an SLR? If so , you won't have to make any manual light compensation. If it's a point and shoot, then you'll have to
guess on the fstop reduction between .5 and 2.5 because the loss changes as you rotate the polarizer. The new 400 films are
pretty remarkable for their tight grain, but the problem you may face in the higher altitudes is too much light. If your lens is a 3.5
or faster, I'd use 200 speed film.