hi there,
i am a mid-level amateur photographer. i have been fortunate enough to take up photography when i have had a decent job, so instead of using my dad's petri outfit from the 60s i own a contax rx w/ wide range of primes and also recently bought a mamiya 7II. i almost always shoot slide film -- velvia, kodachrome 64, provia 100f as well as some kodak 100 emulsions. i read books by john shaw on nature, etc... i think you get the picture.
well, just came back from a vacation to the seychelles (10th year anniversary!) where i brought 75% velvia emulsion to shoot. subjects: flowers, birds (tough!!!), and seascapes. it was often breezy, sometimes overcast and partly rainy...i also have a nasty habit of enjoying hand-held shots as well as an enforced constraint of taking my gear while hiking w/ my wife, who will tolerate my shooting but is not crazy about it...... so i leave the manfrotto at home...
soo....what i found is that when shooting velvia i often had to open up the lens to F2.8 to F5.6, or maybe F8 "who cares" if i am lucky, to get an acceptable 1/90 ... 1/125 ... 1/250 shutter speed to freeze action. so my DOF and desired sharpness often go out the window (but, oh, i am shooting industry standard "velvia" so i should be saved by this right?). NO! and for those from the school of of "don't bother to shoot in boring mid-day sunlight", this issue is made WORSE in early morning/dawn low-light situs...
i also shot 5 rolls of kodak royal gold 400 print film and it was so exhilirating, hassle free to be able to stop down the lens, hand hold, and not worry i was ruining a great shot w/ opening up to 2.8 or even 1.8 on my zeiss planar 85 mm (e.g., a spontaneous dragonfly and sleeping hibiscus shot) by adherence to low speed print film discipline.......
maybe i should trade up to 200 slide film (which every review i have read pans) or just shoot 400 print and take it to a great lab? or save the velvia for sunny days / tripods?
any thoughts, similar frustrations?
thanks, KIPP