Pushing Kodak Vision3 500T Film – Shooting Handheld At Night

Yes, I can say night photography on the film is fun because it is a big challenge at night to get sufficient light compared to daylight. This is where you get the idea of finding the brightest light at night. Low light photography on the film is not easy, as, with insufficient light, you will be using a low shutter speed and eventually if unlucky, you’ll get shaky photos unless you use a tripod. But going for a photo walk, you want to go as light as possible. So a tripod is a no-go.

I was photographing in Kuala Lumpur’s major tourist areas, Chinatown and Kwai Chai Hong. After recovering from the epidemic, the nightlife in this city is somewhat lively. I had been ‘camping’ at the location for hours to acquire some photographs and had been circling the area on foot for approximately 4 hours.

I was shooting wide aperture with the Contax G1 film camera with the Carl Zeiss Planar 45mm T* F2 lens, and I don’t see any shaky images out of the 36 exposures although there were a few underexposed or ruined photos due to incorrect camera settings. I get out of the box, follow no photography rules and was shooting handheld without any tripod. But of course, if you want to get better and brighter photos with accurate exposure, it is recommended to shoot with a tripod because of the low shutter speed.