A digital dude's first experience of film rangefinders

[Andy K]

I found myself in situations at night with literally half a roll of 'day' film in the camera and I found it to be rather frustrating. I want to ask, what do you guys do? Do you waste a bunch of shots by burning off your extra shots in the roll and reload with high speed film? Do you wander around with high speed film loaded all the time and compensate with neutral density filters? Or do you simply carry multiple bodies?

Thanks any advice you can provide. While I can safely say I'm never giving up digital, shooting in film has been an interesting experience. And naturally, I would kill for a full frame digital rangefinder. Or even just a digital Konica Hexar.

Hin

I bulk load my own film canisters. Maximum 18 frames in each. I rarely get caught needing to change mid-roll. If I do get caught out it is no big deal to note the number of frames shot, rewind the film, mark the number of frames used on the film leader and then load the camera with the different ISO film.

 

[hinius]

Wow, new replies to a really old post. Just as a follow up, I found a solution I was comfortable with: shoot with Tri-X @ 1600 and develop in Diafine. I'm shooting on a Hexar RF with a minimum shutter speed of 1/4000, so I can handle really bright lighting conditions. If it wasn't for Diafine, I don't think I'd shoot anywhere near as much film as I do.

 

[jaapv]

I'm one of those wasteful guys that simply pulls the film and pops in another. There is now law that tells me to fill up the roll. 😉
When shooting digital I tend to shoot on 100 ASA, as I think (wrongly no doubt) that I lose dynamic range at high ISO, even if the noise is tolerable. In RF photography I find, with practice, that I can shoot quite long exposure times handheld. That helps.

 

[traveller]

Coming from digital I realized quite fast that it's no problem to change films when writing down the frame number. But the real problem has been to get used to take my time before shooting. Digital I didn't mind about the number of the pictures I shoot, my CF-card being big enough, analog I had to consider film and developing.
But getting used to that is much easier than getting used to the shutter delay of a digital P&S 🙂.

 

[tetrisattack]

Almost two years ago I too switched from a DSLR to film cameras and was also dreading the lack of selectable ISO. Now, in retrospect, I don't think it was a problem - my shooting style just adapted to sticking with what's in the camera, or just keeping more than one junker body around for an "emergency." It's surprising what you can pull off with ISO 100 film indoors, especially if you have control over your development. 400 to an even greater extent!

 

[vincentbenoit]

Wow, new replies to a really old post. Just as a follow up, I found a solution I was comfortable with: shoot with Tri-X @ 1600 and develop in Diafine. I'm shooting on a Hexar RF with a minimum shutter speed of 1/4000, so I can handle really bright lighting conditions. If it wasn't for Diafine, I don't think I'd shoot anywhere near as much film as I do.

The ideal set-up for me is two identical bodies, both loaded with Tri-X but with two iso ratings, 400 and 1600. I develop in Rodinal, which is good at retaining highlight detail (compensating effect), or in Adox A49 when I want more shadow detail than Rodinal can provide. I'm very tempted to give Diafine a try, though.
In bright light I just use an ND filter. Admittedly this is not a very elegant solution (screw-on filters are fiddly, and there's always a risk of increased flare), but a 1/1000 max shutter speed is a price I'm willing to pay for a quiet mechanical shutter.
Cheers
Vincent

 

[mihai]

Wow, new replies to a really old post. Just as a follow up, I found a solution I was comfortable with: shoot with Tri-X @ 1600 and develop in Diafine. I'm shooting on a Hexar RF with a minimum shutter speed of 1/4000, so I can handle really bright lighting conditions. If it wasn't for Diafine, I don't think I'd shoot anywhere near as much film as I do.

Well Hinius, I'm glad this thread is back on the radar as it has given me
the opportunity to peek at your work. Truly inspirational.

regards

 

[Trius]

mihai: I agree.

Hinius, I really like the Braveheart lads on your personal site in the "very long lunchbreak" gallery. LMAO!

 

[kshapero]

I always load iso400 colour neg film. This gives me high shutter speeds during the day. I like to be able to vary the f-stop, and using my Bessa R I can set shutter times of upto 1/2000 sec; more than enough for most days, unless I shoot bright objects in bright weather.
For night shots I use the same camera with the same film. I'm able to handhold shutter times as low as 1/4 sec, even 1/2 sec if I concentrate on my breathing and support myself. I usually shoot 2 or 3 shots to make sure I get a usuable shot. At iso400 and 1/4 sec I can use f2.8 or faster, or even f4 when there's enough street lights or shop windows available.

The trick is to practise and find out what you can get away with. Some scenes are just too dark and sometimes the wind is just too much of a hinderance to shoot without a tripod.

I do the same with a Bessa R3A and 40mm f1.4. Gives me plenty of room for most every situation. I usally scan negative into Photoshop and clean up under or over exposure.

 

[bsdunek]

Fast Lenses!

Fast Lenses!

One good thing about many of the old rangefinders is that they have f2.0 or faster lenses. I know fast lenses are available for DSLR's, but most "kit" lenses and those on P&S cameras are slower, many at f3.5.
The point is, ISO100 film with a f2.0 lens is like ISO400 with a f3.5. I tend to use ISO200 film a lot which gives me quite a range with my f1.7 lens on my Yashica. Still can go to f16 at 1/500th, which is better than ever needed, the light is never that bright!
Of course, I'm coming from a generation that shot Kodachrome ASA10 and never had a problem. My first camera didn't have flash so it was all available light! 😎

 

[ywenz]

I have the same problem trying to acclimatize myself to digital--the big one being trying to anticipate by a second or more when I should push the button so the camera will go off atthe right time. It's sort of like when the first electronic typewritters came out and there was a lag between pressing the key and the letter being printed on the page. Never could use one. Trying to type while the typewriter was sputtering along several letters behine drove me nuts.

Don't brand all digital cameras by your experience with some crappy P&S digicam.

Digital is much more versatile than film, that is it. Film has it's advantages too though.