What The Hell Is Tungsten Film?

19

When we look at something, our eyes are cleverly able to ‘correct’ the colours in different lighting conditions, so whether you look at the same red cup indoors or out, its colour will most likely remain unchanged. However, photographic films can’t adjust in the same way, and that’s why different films exist for different light conditions. Most films on the market today are daylight balanced, which means they are designed to give you accurate colours outdoors or under electronic flash conditions (usual daylight is about 5500 kelvin – a kelvin is a unit of measure usually used for light temperature).

Credits: sobetion, trashpilotin & kleinerkaries

On the other hand, tungsten film was originally introduced to give accurate colours for photographers who shoot indoors under studio light conditions. Tungsten lights (such as photofloods) have a much lower colour temperature than daylight (about 3200 kelvins). If a daylight corrected film is shot under tungsten light conditions, it often produces a yellow-orange hue. Tungsten film will give a neutral colour balance under tungsten lighting conditions. By the way, tungsten is another name for the chemical element wolfram, a metal which is often used in light bulb filaments.

Credits: hodachrome, why-yu & moodification

So should tungsten film be shot exclusively under tungsten light conditions? The answer is no. As Lomographers, we like to forget the rules. Shoot it indoors or out, under tungsten lighting or daylight conditions (just remember to bear in mind its low ISO), throw the tungsten rulebook out the window and experiment in whatever conditions you like!

Credits: bujidubabi, hodachrome, sirio174 & kathepalacio

Hungry for film? Make sure to check out our online shop or one of our worldwide gallery stores to refill your supply!

écrit par tomas_bates le 2011-09-23 dans #lifestyle #film #tungsten #new #lomography

19 commentaires

  1. susielomovitz
    susielomovitz ·

    YEAH!

  2. zipper
    zipper ·

    hell yeah!

  3. sidsel
    sidsel ·

    Can't wait to get some!

  4. freyfrey
    freyfrey ·

    Coming in 120 soon I hope!!

  5. wonderdude
    wonderdude ·

    Love the tungsten xpro!!

  6. susielomovitz
    susielomovitz ·

    Oh yes please!!! 120mm soon, I'm with @freyfrey!!!

  7. cwyeung
    cwyeung ·

    Fuji T64 con't???

  8. vgzalez
    vgzalez ·

    Wanna give it a try!!

  9. francesco1
    francesco1 ·

    awesome!

  10. lovebuck
    lovebuck ·

    Cant Wait to try it!!!!

  11. jaydeepee
    jaydeepee ·

    totally getting this film next!

  12. matwurst
    matwurst ·

    so how does it look like when its crossed?

  13. ecsantana
    ecsantana ·

    B&W 35mm 400, T64 35mm... cool, but now we demand an IR 800 35/120mm film ! ! !
    let's do it ! ! !

  14. roxanneross
    roxanneross ·

    i want to try this!

  15. hpirnat
    hpirnat ·

    Nice :) Lets try this :)

  16. arrogantbastage
    arrogantbastage ·

    Looking forward to trying this film out soon. I also would like to see this in 120.

  17. natalieerachel
    natalieerachel ·

    Just ordered myself some!! :D

  18. joenja
    joenja ·

    got me some rolls today, I'm curious!

  19. dingylingy
    dingylingy ·

    Has this film been discontinued now? I managed to grab a couple of rolls from eBay but I haven't seen any since!

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