What does it mean when film for photographs are 200 or 400 or 800?

Answer

The numbers refer to film speed or ISO; witch is another way of saying sensitivity. Each of the standard ISOs (listed bellow) is twice as sensitive as the one before it. The higher the number is the more sensitive the film. While a higher sensitivity film will allow you to shoot in lower light conditions it increases the appearance of grain.

Not sensitive

· 50:harder to find specialty film used; to allow for long exposures, it’s lack of grain, and it’s vibrant colors (when using color film)

· 100:used with flash or in sunny outdoor conditions for smooth almost grain free pictures, very common in portraiture. Generally the least expensive film.

· 200:popular with hobby shooters and soccer moms can be used in the shade outdoors or indoors with a simple flash

· 400: highly versatile film, very popular with students and professionals alike. A good starting place if you don’t know what you want.

· 800: commonly found in disposable cameras, also frequently used in news photography for unpredictable low light situations.

· 1600: Similar to 3200 but much easier to find occasionally used in disposable cameras.

· 3200:harder to find specialty film, used for freezing fast motion and shooting in extremely low light. (E.g. Rock concerts)

Very sensitive

Click on the link to your right for more information.

• How many pictures can a 1G memory card hold in a 5.0 mega pixel digital camera?
• What is angle of view in a lens?
• When did people start taking color pictures?