Questions ISO800 and Diana F+...

[polexia]

Hello,

I've had two rolls developed. The first one was good, colours, exposure turned out well. The second roll came out extremely dark (most photos were just black) - this was for both outside sunny days and indoor brightly lit scenes where I used the appropriate settings as per the Diana F+ Manual.

So I decided to invest in the Diana Flash and the Lomography Colour Negative ISO 800 film.

Now, I've been reading through the previous posts and have come to these conclusions:

Diana F+ is generally calibrated for 400 ISO film. 800 ISO film is much more light sensitive and the film can therefore have a tendency to be overexposed, even when using the lowest aperture setting (Sunny f/22). Suggested settings:
Sunny aperture when it's cloudy
Partial cloudy aperture when it's cloudy...


Colour negative film allows you to be off on your exposure (wide latitude?) and it won't make a big difference.

Flash with 400ISO expect a range of 1-1.5m

I have a few photos left on the current roll of film which I will do some trial/error shots.

My main aim for these photos are to be sharp. A lot of my images (that came out) are blurry, soft.

So my questions being:

To shoot with the 800 ISO, I should try and limit its use on bright sunny days, and to use it maybe at dusk, or lower light. I would use N setting and sunny/partially cloudy aperture depending on amt of light? Does it need to be ona tripod/kept still to do these quick shots?

...Or should I just use a flash to get a sharp and non blurry image?

Can I expect a greater range for flash (more than 1-1.5m) with ISO800?

If I'm using flash will I always be using the N 1/60 shutter speed? In what cases will I be using the B setting?

Thanks in advance...

 

[JGHan]

Hmmmmmmm, I used to own a Diana F+.
If i'm not wrong, the normal shutter speed for a Diana F+, will be around 1/60 s. If we take the sunny 16 rule into account, an exposure at f16 on a sunny day for 800iso film will require a minimum shutter speed of 1/800s if exposing for highlights. Depending on the brightness of the surroundings, eg white reflective surfaces, you may require an even faster shutter speed or smaller aperture. Try to limit the use of 800iso film on sunny days. Personally, I shoot with tri-x rated at 1600 with an aperture of f22 and 1/1000s shutter speed on my camera.

I'm not sure about the flash usage as I don't use them.

The Diana F+ is not the camera that you should be using if you want sharp images, get a proper camera, not a toy one.

As a general rule of thumb, you should be using a tripod for exposures longer than 1/60s.

Hope this helps.