I have been doing this thing lately that I call “Two Rolls In”: I put two rolls of film through a new camera/with a new lens, do a write-up on my experience with that piece of equipment, and post resulting photos from those two rolls. When I did that with the Canon Sure Shot Sleek a few months ago, I didn’t feel as if I gave that camera a fair shot (yes, I did just make that pun) because I didn’t put two FULL rolls in it before posting the results. I thought I’d give that camera a little extra attention to make up for shortchanging it initially.
Well, actually, I also used this as an opportunity to try something new: recoding a film canister. Automated cameras like the Sure Shot Sleek read the “DX codes” on film cassettes and use that information to expose the film properly for its given ISO (tutorials here and here.) Most cameras I use require me to set the film speed myself anyway, so I can just tell the camera that the film is 1600 and the camera will be none the wiser that the film is actually 400 ISO. In the case of the Sure Shot, I took a 400 ASA film, looked at a chart on recoding cassettes, and scraped off the appropriate parts of the DX code to make the camera think I’d put 1600 film in it – that is so I could get more low light or “available light” shots without using the flash or running the risk of getting “camera shake” blur due to long shutter speeds. After I shot the film this way, I then instructed the photo lab to process the film as if it were 1600 (push-processing: we’ve talked about this before. I do it all the time with cameras at that let me set the film speed myself.)
Recoded cassette
With the recoded film loaded in the camera, I set out to take photos in limited light. This is how it went:
On my mom’s mantel – the room was dark and the mantel was lit by track lighting above it
HI!
Under very dim natural light
Teacup candelabra, holding tomatoes
Dining out
This was a bit underexposed but an easy fix in post-processing
Dim lighting in my sister’s dining room
King James has his own Bible AND a custom motorcycle??
I finished up the roll while I was doing a product photo shoot at Muddy’s:
Paper doilies + paper straws
Just so you know, the line forms here!
It’s a tough job picking out what you want to order from the beautiful bakery case
Cute cake stands in Muddy’s merchandise section
Mini disco ball and cloud decorations
Glittery stars hanging from the bakery’s ceiling
Peg board of mismatched coffee mugs and tea cups at Muddy’s coffee and tea station
Fresh flowers at the bakery
A small selection of the gnome collection at Muddy’s
(photos taken with Canon Sure Shot Sleek & Kodak BW400CN, shot at 1600)
Conclusion?
Apparently I recoded the film correctly, because it worked awesomely! But more importantly, I liked how a lot of these pictures turned out. Especially the ones at Muddy’s. Maybe I will be happier with the Sure Shot Sleek than I originally thought!
