what is asa?

[adamkat22]

i don't understand what asa or ei is? what do i need to know about these things before i pick a film stock. are they things i need to know about when filming manual? automatic?

also, is developing reversal bw similiar to developing regular bw photographs? besides a cartridge to develop in, do i need any other s8 specific materials?

thanks

[Nigel]

It is a number that shows how sensitive the film is to light.

The higher the number the more sensitive the film.

Yes, you need to know and understand ASA. The best way to get a handle on it is to go and get a fully manual SLR camera and learn how to use it.

It will help.

Good Luck

[John_Pytlak]

Exposure indices are normally assigned to film in 1/3 stop increments:

25, 32, 40, 50, 64, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500

Each higher increment means the film is 1/3 stop faster, and requires 1/3 stop less exposure. In the camera, exposure is changed by varying the opening (f/stop) of the lens, the shutter angle, or the frame rate. Some cameras do this automatically, and others require manual intervention. Filters can also be used to change exposure, or the color of the light.

Here is a tutorial:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/stude ... 19.6&lc=en

[Joe Gioielli]

Welcome adamKat22

Nigel has just give you the best advice that can be given to a new film-maker.

You should also visit you local camera shop and talk to the folks there. And get some books at your local Media Center.

Get the basics down and the rest will come in time.

Now go shoot something.

Joe

[audadvnc]

"ASA" was the American Standards Association. In 1966, the ASA was reorganized and became the United States of America Standards Institute (USASI). The present name - American National Standards Institute - was adopted in 1969. The organization's headquarters are in Washington, D.C.

[reflex]

Yes, you need to know and understand ASA. The best way to get a handle on it is to go and get a fully manual SLR camera and learn how to use it.

It will help.

Grrf. Don't get me started. It's getting hard to find a community class that teaches people photography using manual SLRs these days, unless you're willing to fork our serious dollars for a community college or university extension session.

Everyone wants to learn how to use their shiny 80 megafluxel digicams, which means that the instructor spends most of the class helping people wade through incomprehensible menus and explaining JPG/RAW/compact flash/cmos/ccd and a hundred other terms that don't help anyone to understand light, shadow, composition and lenses.

[Angus]

No matter what there may be to learn about technicalaties of digicams.....if you don't know the basics you ain't gonna produce a good picture.

Digicams still actually simulate ASA (=ISO) sensitivity so it should still be taught....an increasing number of digicams offer partial or even full manual control so apertures, shutter speeds and sensitivity to light are still vital to actually understand what you and your camera are doing.

[Nigel]

I find digital cameras Faux-ASA to be somewhat tricky.

The reason is that it seems more like it is a change in gain over what a change in film ASA will produce.

Maybe that is what is really is I dunno...I am still holding out on buying a digital camera.

Either way track down a fully manual 35mm camera. They should run you 125.00USD or less. Then find a class somewhere.

Good Luck

[Angus]

THe only digicam I actually own I bought on eBay for £36...four years ago it set its original owner back £400.....

I count myself fortunate to have learned on a camera that only had full manual control, wasn't even an SLR and which had small depth of field (120 rollfilm). It taught me a lot. Mind you, that still doesn't make you a good photographer...

[namke]

My tip for getting an SLR for experimentation: Join your local 'freecycle' mailing list (http://www.freecycle.org/); I see SLRs on my local list reasonably frequently - since people think that they are not worth anything now that everyone is 'going digital'.

In fact I just picked up two Yashica SLR bodies (Fully-manual FX-3, and Auto-exposure FX-D), plus five lenses, since I want to get a handle on this very subject (exposure/focus/focal depth/you name it!). I have subsequently been taking pictures of nearly everything (got through about five rolls of 36 exp. film in about three weeks) in both b/w & colour film.

It's fun

john..

ps. our local freecycle also occasionally has super-8 gear on it too...

[Angus]

5 rolls in 3 weeks isn't bad...

Can any other amateur beat the 6 rolls in 16 hours I shot in Paris around four years ago?

[tlatosmd]

The higher the ASA number of your film, the darker your setting can be and you'll still get images, but you'll trade this sensitivity in for more visible grain. This sensitivity is mostly referred to as film speed. The higher your ASA number, the faster your film.

First, ASA and ISO are identical, so 1ASA = 1ISO, 40ASA = 40ISO. Quite handy.

There also is DIN from Germany that is basically the same thing only using different numbers. Kinda like Celsius and Fahrenheit that are both temperatures, it's just that 50F does not equal 50C. Luckily, using DIN is not that common.

If you're gonna shoot automatic (i. e. with automatic exposure) in S8, you won't have to worry as long as your film has 40ASA, 50ASA, or 160ASA. In that case, your camera will take care automatically of that your film will be correctly exposed, no matter how dark or bright your setting is (within a range between total extremes, of course).

The way by that your camera handles this exactly correct amount of light in order to correctly expose your particular film-speed is by varying what is called f-stop. Basically, this f-stop is how far your lens opens up. The more it opens up, the more light will fall in, and vice versa, the more it will close down, the less light will be exposing your film.

I suppose that should be enough for now. Just be sure to get a film with 40ASA or 160ASA so your camera will do everything for you as you start getting into this. Unfortunately, these particular sorts of film are largely discontinued in S8 today, but you should find many left on eBay. Search there for keywords like Kodachrome, Ektachrome, or Moviechrome. Its particular ASA number will be following that name, such as in Kodachrome40. If it even says Super8, you should be all ready to go.

Oh, and there is a switch on your camera, depending on how you switch it you either see a sun or a lamp. When shooting in sunlight, you must set it so the sun will be visible, when you shoot in artificial (lamp) light, you must set it so the lamp will be visible.

also, is developing reversal bw similiar to developing regular bw photographs? besides a cartridge to develop in, do i need any other s8 specific materials?

You don't develop inside the cartridge. The cartridge exists only so your film will be shielded from any unwanted light, to provide convenient loading of your film inside your camera by simply putting this cart into your camera so you won't have to cumbersomely fiddle with reels or lose strips of films, and to keep your film in one place instead of spreading all over the place. Another advantage of the cart is also that it is very robust.

Since you seem to be just getting into this, I wouldn't recommend developing your films yourself. There might be similarities to developing still photography, however the handling of the film during developing is different, particularly because you have much more material per process.

You should send your film out to a professional lab instead to have it processed. Which lab to send it to depends on which film you have and where you are.