Film Review - Ilford Delta 3200
Shot at F11 4s 80mm. I really like the contrast in images taken at night time.
In the digital era we as photographers take for granted that we can change and manipulate all three arms of the exposure triangle (Aperture, shutter speed and ISO) on the fly without any issues. In the film era this was not the case as you were limited to the ISO of the film you had loaded into your camera. Most people would use 400 ISO film for general day to day use and drop down to 50 ISO or 100 ISO for more serious landscape or still life work (though of course everyone still loves Portra 400 for portraits!). However, there were a few films available at much higher ISOs that produced a less detailed, grainier image for use in low light situations like concerts where you would never be able to get away with using a standard roll at 400 ISO. Today there is not many of these high ISO films left, but this week’s blog will review perhaps the most widely used high ISO film still on the market – Ilford’s Delta 3200.
Shot at F4 1/15s 80mm. Hopefully it will not be too long until the barber chairs are full again.
When I first loaded this into my Bronica I really was not sure what to expect as the highest ISO I had shot previously was Portra 800. My hope was that by shooting it in medium format I would still get clear and detailed images with the advantages of having a high ISO. Straight away when using it, it became clear how much of advantage having a high ISO film is, being easier to shoot with as I could use much faster shutter speeds than I had become accustomed to. In brighter conditions this meant I could shoot at 1/250s even at F11 which eliminates any worry about images not being sharp, and in darker environments I could use shutter speeds I could dial in on the camera without having to use T mode on the lens.
Shot at F11 1/60s 150mm (with a yellow filter). My favourite day time shot taken on this roll, though it is struggling with the brightest highlights.
The area of photography I was most interested in with this film was night photography, as you can avoid lengthy shutter speeds that can fall foul to reciprocity failure and had the added advantage of much of the grain blurring into the darkness. Having looked at the final images I can say my hopes and predictions for this film were very much met. There certainly is a fair amount of grain but it is very manageable and still yields a high amount of detail, and the contrast on the night photos was fantastic. With a direct comparison between shots of Delta 3200 with Kodak Tri-X 400 (the whisky set), I am struggling to see a meaningful difference in detail and grain between the two (though this was a very well-lit setup with artificial lighting and the looking at images taken in natural light it is clear the Tri-X is less grainy).
(Kodak Tri-X 400) Shot at F11 1/15s 80mm. If you look carefully you can see the image is less grainy than the shot taken on the roll of Ilford below…
(Ilford Delta 3200) Shot at F11 1/125s 80mm …however the difference is almost negligible and there is still great detail here, especially if you look at the writing on the bottles and boxes.
Having a high shutter speed during the day also allowed me to take my first photo of a moving subject – a long horned cow at a local nature reserve. Trying to manually focus as it was mooving (yes, the bad puns are back) around proved to be challenging, especially as I had not done something like this before, but the final image did come out with a subject in focus.
Shot at F8 1/500s 150mm. As well as my first shot of a moving creature on the Bronica, this is also the first time I got to shoot at 1/500s.
Overall, I will definitely be using this film stock again in the future, especially if I have night photography in mind. Shooting at such a high ISO is very convenient and, at least on medium format, the compromises on grain are very reasonable and should not in any way deter you from trying this for yourself. I would be interested to try this out in 35mm next to see how much worse the grain is on the smaller format. Though I do have a roll Kodak T-Max 3200 for 35mm in the fridge which will make a good comparison, and I will be sure to write a follow-up blog when I have images to share.
Shot at F8 1/15s 150mm. Another great example of the good contrast on shots taken at night, as well as the level of detail, which you can see on the writing.
What are your thoughts on high ISO film? Let me know in the comments below. Personally, I would love to see a 1600 or 3200 ISO colour film stock become available again, which may be a possibility in the future, as Kodak Alaris plans to keep on releasing new stocks that were previously discontinued.
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