Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] Kodak 25 ASA color print film - John Lind

Subject: Re: [OM] Kodak 25 ASA color print film - John Lind
From: dreammoose <dreammoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 14:50:15 -0700
Take some slow, deep breaths, John. ..... Feel better now?

I don't disagree with your rant as one factor, but I think there are others. I think one is the contining improvement in film technology. I don't do all the literature research that you do and don't keep track of every different film I use vs every other. It does seem to me though, that today's 100-200 speed color negative films perform about as well as the 25 asa films of 30+ years ago. I suppose I have contributed to the demise of these slow films too, as I don't think I've used a negative film slower that 100asa in over 20 years. But I've never owned a 35mm P&S, unless an XA counts. My 35mm film goes through OMs. Even with high quality gear, action, long telephoto, existing light portraiture, macro photography, etc. really benefit from faster film.

Recent threads on DOF, vibration, critical focusing, lens and film resolving power, etc. suggest to me that film resolving power/grain/etc. beyond a certain point is simply superfluous for all but a very tiny portion of image making. If one needs barn sized prints, it's way easier, cheaper and more practical to go to a larger film size than design more perfect cameras (35mm with vacuum backs?) and lenses, use the same heavy and cumbersome tripods, heads, etc needed for MF and above and rigorously practice difficult technique. I'll bet most pros go the bigger rather than slower film route, too. People using tools to make money want the most practical, effective, reliable tools. The pro market is big and/or important enough to support at least one 25asa 'pro' film if they wanted one.

I suspect that the marketplace simply reflects the reality that 25asa color print film's special strengths aren't useful to the vast majority of photographers, not just snapshooters.

Moose

John A. Lind wrote:

[short rant]
IMHO, the demise of the slow films is a result of the ubiquitous P&S and Wunderziegel mondo 18-1000mm AF zoom lenses that are, by necessity of design, hideously slow. Add to that the equally hideously weak integral pop-up flashes they have. It has driven their users, who buy much more film than we do, into ISO 200 to 800 films just to make photographs outdoors on an overcast day or in open shade, and when indoors to get more than 6 feet of range out of their crippled integral flashes (doesn't fix their gross red-eye problems though).



< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz