As it happens, I have one more question regarding pushing film! Do you have any recommendations on the cheapest options to shoot something in ISO800/1600? I assume the cheapest option would be to push some ISO400 emulsion, but I’m wondering what would yield the best results. When it comes to colour, Ultramax looks somewhat promising? In B&W, I suppose that HP5 seems like the safest bet.
HP5+ is loved by many because of its ability to handle pushes. But Tri-X shouldn’t be ignored either, it’s a good film for that. This year, Tri-X dropped in price considerably, so it may be an economical option.
I haven’t pushed Ultramax previously. If you develop at a lab, it may be actually cheaper for you to get something like CineStill 800T and develop at box speed or push one stop (since labs often charge per stop pushed). I’ve had good luck pushing Pro Image 100 to 400 (which may be a similar experience to pushing Ultramax). However, it added a significant amount of contrast to the shadows, which is often the price you pay for pushing cheaper stocks. It could be worth a try anyway, depending on what you’re looking for.
If you’re planning to shoot dark scenes and are looking for clean results, you may be better off with B&W stocks as colour films may sometimes add colour noise to the shadows, which could be difficult to get rid of in post. Or you can just shoot Delta 3200 or T-Max P3200, which will be grainy but generally as good as you get at that ISO.
Thanks a lot! I’ll look into it. As for B&W, Delta 3200 would certainly be a safe bet, and it’s not that bad price-wise, but pushing HP5 (and Tri-X, thanks!) sounds like it’s worth trying too. As for colour, I might consider pushing Ultramax but I’ll keep in mind what you say. Unfortunately, all the native ISO800 films are too expensive for me to use more often than once in a blue moon, but as it happens, I’ve recently discovered here in Poland a “homemade Cinestill” making project, so I’ll probably try out their film as well.
“Homemade CineStill,” I like the sound of that! I’m considering trying something similar at home by pre-stripping the remjet as an experiment. I’ll post about it if I end up doing it. Cheers,
