My Full Frame is Film

[Mountain_Man_79]

Cools shots. Totally jealous of your Bessa R too!

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

First roll through the Olympus OM2 I grabbed from Barry on here with some el cheapo Fujicolor 200 using the Oly 28mm f2.8.
Pretty happy with how it came out, considering I was just giving the settings my best guess.

 

[RichardC]

Good Afternoon,

I managed to pick up a couple of Canon FS4000 film scanners (one NOS and the other lightly used) last week and have them running via Vuescan and an Adaptec SCSI card. Here are a couple of Kodachrome (ASA 25) slides that my father shot in the late 40's/early 50's...check out the price of gasoline per gallon! He used an Exakta with a 50mm f2.8 Tessar T* which I still have in my collection; need to get some film in it and shoot!

Regards,

Edd

View attachment 918756 View attachment 918757

$23 a gallon? Not much has changed then.

 

[Roboticspro]

$23 a gallon? Not much has changed then.

No...that was 23.5 Cents a gallon, including tax!!!

 

[coffeecat]

Here we go. Just bought my first roll in about 15 years.
Trouble is, this would be a very expensive hobby now if I keep going with it.
Camera, I've owned since I was a teenager, given to me by its original buyer, it's probably shot less then 10 rolls ever and is (probably) older than me.
That lens has certainly taken more pictures on my m43 cameras than it has on this camera!
Pictures to follow (eventually...)

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[felipegeek]

Here we go. Just bought my first roll in about 15 years.
Trouble is, this would be a very expensive hobby now if I keep going with it.
Camera, I've owned since I was a teenager, given to me by its original buyer, it's probably shot less then 10 rolls ever and is (probably) older than me.
That lens has certainly taken more pictures on my m43 cameras than it has on this camera!
Pictures to follow (eventually...)

I have only shot color 35mm with rolls friends gave me or I got in a camera bag that was part of an old cam purchase. Dev & Scan can add up quick and given most color films had gone up in price in 2021 and Kodak films up again at the start of 2022. It can get pricey. I shoot BW primarily, using the lower cost films like Foma/Arista & Kentmere. BW development cost at home can be cheap after the bits of hardware you would need and your first set of chems, accessories are bought. Scanning the negatives is where the pain is in the film to digi process. I still get a giddy kid smile every time I see images on the negatives when I hang them to dry.

 

[Brownie]

I have only shot color 35mm with rolls friends gave me or I got in a camera bag that was part of an old cam purchase. Dev & Scan can add up quick and given most color films had gone up in price in 2021 and Kodak films up again at the start of 2022. It can get pricey. I shoot BW primarily, using the lower cost films like Foma/Arista & Kentmere. BW development cost at home can be cheap after the bits of hardware you would need and your first set of chems, accessories are bought. Scanning the negatives is where the pain is in the film to digi process. I still get a giddy kid smile every time I see images on the negatives when I hang them to dry.

Color isn't really that much more expensive. You need a few more bottles and chemicals, but places like Cinestill have made it easy. The only problem is once you mix the color chemicals they start to deteriorate, so you need to have enough film ready to go and do it all at once. I think I pay $25-30 US for a kit that will do 10 rolls (you can squeeze more out). You can mix half if you have 5 rolls ready to go.

I can still buy film for $4-5/roll and by paying attention during developing, do a roll for $2.50-3.00. That's reasonable enough to shoot a few rolls here and there.

 

[Web-Betty]

Canon EOS-3
Tamron 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6
Kodak T-Max 400

I'm pretty disappointed in how these came out. This film should have more contrast than what I got from this roll and I'm curious what may have contributed to the muddy, washed out grays in these. Here are some details.

• It was gray and overcast. Could this be the big culprit??
• The roll was shot before the film expired in 2020, however, it did sit in a cupboard for 2 years before being developed.
• The film was developed by a local camera shop, with a great rep and a place I've had my film developed for the past 8 years.
• The camera is amazing and I don't believe for a minute these have anything to do with the camera.

Am I expecting too much? Am I crazy? What do you think...

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River North, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

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No, this way! by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

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River North district, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

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fire hydrant by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

 

[grinsaround]

To me these look entirely as expected given good exposure and standard processing. Nice and I do see what you were going for. Y2 filter may have helped with a bit more contrast but I think you want a deeper answer…

B&W film by the numbers with averaging (18%) exposure and standard developer will usually be levels of grey which can seem a bit muddy rather than actual black to actual white with tonality and range in between. That could be the difference you were looking for and not seeing? To get that punch and gradations from film I personally think you really need to expose for the particular scene and develop accordingly (I.e. Zone System). The two are fully linked. That is the art that comes with B&W fixing with film.

As far as age goes, I discovered some MF 120 Ilford I had exposed in the late 70’s. Luckily I knew how they were exposed back then by my habits and could recipe them out. Lovely French Quarter photos from 40 years ago. Ansley Adams had It totally figured out. What’s more is he was kind enough to write it down. It is a bit of a dying art though unfortunately.

Digital can mimic that process on the computer so easily these days I think we get spoiled by not understanding that film is a whole different and organic media.

 

[grinsaround]

Reading that now it sounds really pompous! Sorry, didn’t intend that.

These are just scans so probably not great examples but I think you might see what I am getting at. So much easier to see on a print with good paper. These were all spot metered on the darkest blacks in the scene and developed for the mid tones. Notice that black is truly black even when right next to white whites. Graduated tones of grey in between…

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[phigmov]

Canon EOS-3
Tamron 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6
Kodak T-Max 400

I'm pretty disappointed in how these came out. This film should have more contrast than what I got from this roll and I'm curious what may have contributed to the muddy, washed out grays in these. Here are some details.

• It was gray and overcast. Could this be the big culprit??
• The roll was shot before the film expired in 2020, however, it did sit in a cupboard for 2 years before being developed.
• The film was developed by a local camera shop, with a great rep and a place I've had my film developed for the past 8 years.
• The camera is amazing and I don't believe for a minute these have anything to do with the camera.

Am I expecting too much? Am I crazy? What do you think...

Great pics! One thing I did when I got into B&W was mistaking T-Max for Tri-X - I think I expected to get something much grittier than I did. Also the EOS-3 will have a pretty awesome meter, I kind of wonder if using manual Sunny-16 guestimation or an un-metered camera or a selenium cell meter would give a 'meatier' image (assuming under-exposure rather than over) ?

I really need a kick-in-the-butt to motivate me to get some rolls developed and more film shot. Haven't done much since the pandemic started.

 

[felipegeek]

Canon EOS-3
Tamron 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6
Kodak T-Max 400

I'm pretty disappointed in how these came out. This film should have more contrast than what I got from this roll and I'm curious what may have contributed to the muddy, washed out grays in these. Here are some details.

• It was gray and overcast. Could this be the big culprit??
• The roll was shot before the film expired in 2020, however, it did sit in a cupboard for 2 years before being developed.
• The film was developed by a local camera shop, with a great rep and a place I've had my film developed for the past 8 years.
• The camera is amazing and I don't believe for a minute these have anything to do with the camera.

Am I expecting too much? Am I crazy? What do you think...

View attachment 932475 River North, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932477 No, this way! by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932479 River North district, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932481 fire hydrant by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

I think they look good in a lower-contrast cinematic style look that came out. Being in overcast kicking up the exposure comp +1 might helped some and it would give a little more headroom for processing the scans in post to get closer to what you prefer. The suggestion of a Y2 filter would have helped some too but not as much as it would with warm tone light. There would have been less yellow light so the filter would not have much yellow to emphasize as brighter areas. The yellow filter does absorbe/darken blues and would possibly make much of the scene bathed in blue tone light darker.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert at filters. I've used yellow filters quite a bit but not much with the others.

 

[felipegeek]

To me these look entirely as expected given good exposure and standard processing. Nice and I do see what you were going for. Y2 filter may have helped with a bit more contrast but I think you want a deeper answer…

B&W film by the numbers with averaging (18%) exposure and standard developer will usually be levels of grey which can seem a bit muddy rather than actual black to actual white with tonality and range in between. That could be the difference you were looking for and not seeing? To get that punch and gradations from film I personally think you really need to expose for the particular scene and develop accordingly (I.e. Zone System). The two are fully linked. That is the art that comes with B&W fixing with film.

As far as age goes, I discovered some MF 120 Ilford I had exposed in the late 70’s. Luckily I knew how they were exposed back then by my habits and could recipe them out. Lovely French Quarter photos from 40 years ago. Ansley Adams had It totally figured out. What’s more is he was kind enough to write it down. It is a bit of a dying art though unfortunately.

Digital can mimic that process on the computer so easily these days I think we get spoiled by not understanding that film is a whole different and organic media.

If only I could afford a Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED like you scan with. I scan with an Epson 4990 flatbed for 35mm and 120 film and a Primefilm pf3650u for 35mm only. Given the 4990 was free and the 3650u was $30 shipped I have nothing to complain given the low cost and that I can scan with useful quality with them. It's the time spent scanning is the real pain point.

 

[felipegeek]

Color isn't really that much more expensive. You need a few more bottles and chemicals, but places like Cinestill have made it easy. The only problem is once you mix the color chemicals they start to deteriorate, so you need to have enough film ready to go and do it all at once. I think I pay $25-30 US for a kit that will do 10 rolls (you can squeeze more out). You can mix half if you have 5 rolls ready to go.

I can still buy film for $4-5/roll and by paying attention during developing, do a roll for $2.50-3.00. That's reasonable enough to shoot a few rolls here and there.

I'm not finding color films anywhere at anything near $5 a roll. Fujifilm is pretty much abandoning 35mm and 120 film in favor of the highly profitable Instax. Fuji's current C200 film is apparently Kodak Gold 200 and Superia 400 film is disappearing from shelves and stock not getting replenished. Even Fuji's Acros 100 II BW film is manufactured by Ilford with Fuji's formula. At this point by the time I get into C-41 color dev there may not be much to shoot. I would have to do ECN-2 for Kodak color cine films which also means buying repackaged 100ft/30.5m rolls to load into bulk loader or having to setup for 400ft reels and breaking them down manually which I don't have the space, time or equipment to do it Also have to wash off the remjet later from the film which adds to complexity as well.

 

[felipegeek]

Great pics! One thing I did when I got into B&W was mistaking T-Max for Tri-X - I think I expected to get something much grittier than I did. Also the EOS-3 will have a pretty awesome meter, I kind of wonder if using manual Sunny-16 guestimation or an un-metered camera or a selenium cell meter would give a 'meatier' image (assuming under-exposure rather than over) ?

I really need a kick-in-the-butt to motivate me to get some rolls developed and more film shot. Haven't done much since the pandemic started.

I got started with BW film and dev in 2020 during first rounds of the pandemic in NYC. I have a 15 roll backlog currently. I have to get back to having a semi-regular dev schedule of at least monthly. Developing a bunch of roll, not horrible. Scanning all of it....ayyyyyyyyy. I've only shot a couple rolls of TMax and they were expired by 10 years. Came out nice in Xtol developer shot at EI 25. I shoot mostly Foma but also have 100' of Kodak XX to start loading cassettes with. Hopefully soon.

 

[grinsaround]

If only I could afford a Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED like you scan with. I scan with an Epson 4990 flatbed for 35mm and 120 film and a Primefilm pf3650u for 35mm only. Given the 4990 was free and the 3650u was $30 shipped I have nothing to complain given the low cost and that I can scan with useful quality with them. It's the time spent scanning is the real pain point.

When I acquired that scanner there weren’t many alternatives that would compete with what it could do. Now it’s a whole different story with lots of choices with great resolution and results for far less investment. The 9000 was worth it for what I needed then. Now not so much…

I was never lucky enough to have a “darkroom” though. All my film was developed in a dark bag in my apartment or even campsites at times. I used a custom place for prints but was able to tell them exactly what I wanted and in those days there were labs that understood what I described. Not real sure you even can do that anymore.

So few people now have ever even seen a good gallery quality B&W print these days. There is just no comparison between silver wash and a computer screen or digital printer. Like many things art isn’t worth the trouble given our convenience now.

 

[Brownie]

Canon EOS-3
Tamron 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6
Kodak T-Max 400

I'm pretty disappointed in how these came out. This film should have more contrast than what I got from this roll and I'm curious what may have contributed to the muddy, washed out grays in these. Here are some details.

• It was gray and overcast. Could this be the big culprit??
• The roll was shot before the film expired in 2020, however, it did sit in a cupboard for 2 years before being developed.
• The film was developed by a local camera shop, with a great rep and a place I've had my film developed for the past 8 years.
• The camera is amazing and I don't believe for a minute these have anything to do with the camera.

Am I expecting too much? Am I crazy? What do you think...

View attachment 932475 River North, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932477 No, this way! by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932479 River North district, Denver by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

View attachment 932481 fire hydrant by Melissa Johnson, on Flickr

I think they look fine. Don't forget you can always process them in the computer to any extent you like.

 

[Brownie]

I'm not finding color films anywhere at anything near $5 a roll. Fujifilm is pretty much abandoning 35mm and 120 film in favor of the highly profitable Instax. Fuji's current C200 film is apparently Kodak Gold 200 and Superia 400 film is disappearing from shelves and stock not getting replenished. Even Fuji's Acros 100 II BW film is manufactured by Ilford with Fuji's formula. At this point by the time I get into C-41 color dev there may not be much to shoot. I would have to do ECN-2 for Kodak color cine films which also means buying repackaged 100ft/30.5m rolls to load into bulk loader or having to setup for 400ft reels and breaking them down manually which I don't have the space, time or equipment to do it Also have to wash off the remjet later from the film which adds to complexity as well.

Prices have definitely gone up. Here's a Fuji 200 3 pack for $19. There are some Kodak packs for a couple bucks more.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1413155-REG/fujifilm_600018966_135_fujifilm_200_us.html

 

[grinsaround]

Kim Hildebrand has a short post on her blog that gives a really short, simple explanation of the Zone System that is actually pretty good. Some of her examples illustrate the idea to make it clearer. https://www.kimhildebrand.com/how-to-use-the-zone-system/

 

[Web-Betty]

Reading that now it sounds really pompous! Sorry, didn’t intend that.

These are just scans so probably not great examples but I think you might see what I am getting at. So much easier to see on a print with good paper. These were all spot metered on the darkest blacks in the scene and developed for the mid tones. Notice that black is truly black even when right next to white whites. Graduated tones of grey in between…
View attachment 932497
View attachment 932499
View attachment 932501

I didn't take your initial comment as pompous at all — If found it rather helpful. As @phigmov said, the EOS-3 has an amazing metering system so I should expect it to expose for 18%, and I need to make the adjustment for darker blacks/more contrast, when needed. I've only shot a few rolls of film on the beast so I'm still getting to know it better, and I appreciate all the great comments and feedback you all have provided.

I got started with BW film and dev in 2020 during first rounds of the pandemic in NYC. I have a 15 roll backlog currently. I have to get back to having a semi-regular dev schedule of at least monthly. Developing a bunch of roll, not horrible. Scanning all of it....ayyyyyyyyy. I've only shot a couple rolls of TMax and they were expired by 10 years. Came out nice in Xtol developer shot at EI 25. I shoot mostly Foma but also have 100' of Kodak XX to start loading cassettes with. Hopefully soon.

15-roll backlog? I'd go nuts. I had a 4-roll backlog, lol. I am going to scan the negatives myself when I pick them up (I have an Epson V550 — not the best, but not awful), and see if I can get more out of the scans as .tif files.