My in-laws are having a major anniversary next month and they want a family portrait. There will be about 30 people in the shot and they want to blow it up to 20 inches. I have a Nikon F1 available which is well equipped. Someone may be able to borrow a D90, which kind of confuses the matter. Both digital and film have issues scaling to 20" as far as I know.
Would you advise the D90 (if available) or the film camera (which is definitely available)? If film, I will need a stock that is fine grain and faithfully reproduces flesh tones; could you also recommend a good film to accomplish this?
Before deciding which camera to use and what film for the Nikon F there are other things to consider.
Will you be shooting indoors? If so you're going to need an external flash with a high Guide Number and bounce capability whether you use film or digital or both.
Will you be shooting outdoors? If so, hope for a slightly overcast day or an area with open shade. You'll probably need a couple of reflectors to bounce additional light on the group. A large piece of poster board makes a cheap reflector. You could leave one side white and cover the other side with gold foil or cover one side with silver foil and the other side with gold foil.
A major consideration will be your Depth of Field (DOF). If you aren't well-versed on the subject then time spent at this site - http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html - will be worthwhile. You can use the DOF Calculator to compute the DOF for whatever lenses you plan to use. Since only three factors affect DOF (lens focal length, the f-stop and subject distance) you can use the Calculator to compute DOF for any combination imaginable of the three factors. Here is one example:
35mm lens at f8 with your subject at 10'-0'' your DOF will be from 6'-4'' to 24'-5''. So anything from 3'-8'' in front of your subject at 10'-0'' to anything 14'-5'' behind it will be in focus.
Lens @ f8 with your subject at 10'-0'' your DOF will be from 7'-2'' to 16'-5''. Anything from 2'-10'' in front of your subject at 10'-0'' to anything 12'-7'' behind it will be in focus. Stop down to f11 and your DOF will be from 6'-5'' to 22'-7'' - about the same as a 35mm lens @ f8 on your 35mm film camera.
If the only lens you have is a 50mm then you'll need to compute its maximum DOF using the Calculator.
I suggest using the 35mm film camera with a 35mm lens and Kodak Portra 160NC film. (ISO 160, Natural Color). With your camera mounted on a tripod and careful focusing you should have no problem with having a 16x20 print made. I suggest using a pro lab for processing and printing. Just do a web search for professional film processing.
I wish the morons who left the "Thumbs Down" were brave enough to explain why. Of course they won't because they can't since they know less about photography than my cat.
US-1000 DIGITAL SCALES 1000 X 0.1g - oz, TROY, dwt, & GRAIN MODES- NEW LOW PRICE, 500 x 0.01g Digital Jewelry Scale Gram Grain Carat , 20g x 0.001g Digital Scale Grain Gram Jewelry PRO-20, Horizon DS-19 500g x 0.01g Digital Pocket Scale Carat Gram Grain, 100g x 0.01g Digital Scale Ultra Mini Gram Grain Scale, 200g by 0.01g Portable Digital Scale MH-338 "mouse" scale gram grain carat oz, 20g x 0.001g Digital Scale Grain Gram Jewelry PRO-20, ABSOLUTE TOUCH SCREEN DIGITAL GOLD SCALES 200 X 0.01g GRAIN & MORE FUNCTIONS, 500 x 0.01g Digital Pocket Scale Gold Jewelry Reload Grain Counting, US-MINI BENCH DIGITAL SCALES 1000g X 0.1g oz,grain,troy limited time price , Digital Stainless Steel KITCHEN HOME COOKWARE BAR SCALE GRAINS OUNCE GRAMS LBS, 200g by 0.01g Portable Digital Scale MH-338 "mouse" scale gram grain carat oz, 500 x 0.01g Digital Pocket Scale Gold Jewelry Reload Grain Counting, 100g x 0.01g Digital Scale Ultra Mini Gram Grain Scale, 100g x 0.01g Digital Scale Gram Grain Carat Mini Scale, 500 x 0.01g Digital Pocket Scale Gold Jewelry Reload Grain Counting, 500 x 0.01g Digital Jewelry Scale Gram Grain Carat , 500 x 0.01g Digital Jewelry Scale Gram Grain Carat , 100g x 0.01g Digital Scale Gram Grain Carat Ultra Mini Precision Scale, 200g by 0.01g Portable Digital Scale MH-338 "mouse" scale gram grain carat oz, 100 x 0.01 Gram Digital Scale Ounce Grain Carat Weight, Horizon DS-19 500g x 0.01g Digital Pocket Scale Carat Gram Grain, 500g x 0.1g Digital Pocket Scale Grain Gram Scale DJ-2 (BATTERIES INCLUDED), US-BOLT DIGITAL SCALES 100 X 0.01g - GRAIN CARAT TROY OUNCE, New Carbon Express Electronic Digital Grain Scale, Digital 20 x 0.001g Gram Grain Carat Jewelry Scale 1MG, 20g x 0.001g Professional Digital Jewelry Scale Grain Scale 0.02 gn, 7000g/1g Digital Kitchen grain fruit Food Postal Industry lab Lcd Scale+Adapter, AX-1 DIGITAL GOLD & SILVER SCALES 100X0.01g GRAIN + FREE CALIBRATION WEIGHT, ACE-1 DIGITAL GOLD & SILVER SCALES 100X0.01g GRAIN + FREE CALIBRATION WEIGHT, MINIBENCH DIGITAL SCALE 1000g X 0.1g + 500g CALIBRATION WEIGHT + GRAIN, TROY, STORM 100g x 0.1g DIGITAL POCKET SCALES g, oz, grain, dwt, Mini Digital Jewelry Scale Gram Grain Carat with pocket cover, US-ACE DIGITAL RELOADING SCALES 100 X 0.01g GRAIN MODE + MORE & NEW LOW PRICE, 100 x 0.01 Gram Digital Scale Ounce Grain Carat Weight, AWS BS-100 Digital Jewelry Carat Grain Scale Touch Screen 100g x 0.01g [black], MINI BENCH DIGITAL SCALES 1000 X 0.1g oz, grain, oz troy WHOLESALE LOT OF 5, 100 x 0.01 Gram Digital Scale Ounce Grain Carat Weight, 0.1 500g Mini Digital Jewelry Scale Gram Grain Carat iphone shape pocket cover, 100 x 0.01 Gram Digital Scale Ounce Grain Carat Weight, 500*0.1g GRAM GRAINS DIGITAL JEWELRY MINI POCKET SCALE, DIGITAL GOLD COIN SCALE Weigh Gram/Oz/dwt & TROY OUNCE Grain Ounce Carat CT OZT, AWS-201 Digital Pocket Jewelry Scale 200g x 0.01g Gram Ounce Carat Grain Black, 0.01 Gram Digital Pocket Scale Grains Gun Powder Reload, NEW American Weigh Scale Bt2-201 Digital Gram Pocket Grain Jewelry Scale, Black, 20000g x 0.1 GRAM DIGITAL SCALE GRAM GRAIN GUN POWDER RELOAD AMMO BLACK POWDER, 100 x 0.001 GRAM DIGITAL SCALE BALANCE GRAIN GUN POWDER RELOAD AMMO BULLET WEIGH, 4100 x 0.01 GRAM DIGITAL SCALE GRAIN GUN POWDER RELOAD AMMO PRECISION BALANCE, 200 x 0.001 GRAM DIGITAL SCALE BALANCE GRAIN GUN POWDER RELOAD AMMO BULLET WEIGH, DIGITAL SCALE GRAM GRAIN GUN POWDER RELOAD 6000g x 0.1g,
![AWS BS-100 Digital Jewelry Carat Grain Scale Touch Screen 100g x 0.01g [black]](http://www.goodfellassports.com/images/e/160806053259_0.jpg)
