Someone has said that people can be divided into classes: people who like dogs, and others who prefer cats.
Similarly, it seems to me that modern miniaturists can also be classified into categories: those (alas! the majority) who worship speed, fast lenses, lightning emulsions, and Action with a capital A, and those few others who are content to seek suitable subjects for their modest apertures and fine-grained films.
There are some branches of photography (such as Ballet, for instance) where no sacrifice is too great for the sake of additional speed. Nevertheless, in a large number of cases, fast films are unnecessary, and actually better results would be obtained with. slower emulsions.
Unfortunately, it has become almost axiomatic to regard super speed films as essential for all artificial light work. Nevertheless, and in teeth of opposition and scorn from all the Best Photographers, I want to show the 2.8 and the 3.5 men that they need not be ashamed of their cameras even when using medium-speed films Now take, for instance, s y In most stage productions it is possible to cheek movement with a 1/25th-1/10th sec. and often even with 1/Sth sec., provided the moment has been well chosen. Naturally you won't be able to photograph fast movement, but what matters?
As a matter of fact, in many cases the best grouping of the artists occurs when there is a lull in the action, so that quite slow exposures may be given. And provi ed you can arrest movement, 1/5th sec. 1/23 on a medium-speed. film will give a result infinitely superior to 1/100th sec. at 1/1.5 on an ultraspeed emulsion. So that both zsthetically and technically it is sound policy to use a medium-speed film with a correspondingly longer exposure.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.