Film + developer with most character?

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sf

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I know I KNOW. . . this is another abstract and subjective question. . . impossible to get any common reply. Sure to get lots of sarcasm. . . but, there must be something really interesting to try if you're a guy looking to get away from the usual.

I have looked at PMK Pyro and some interesting films like the Efke 25. I'm getting very interested in doing my own developing, and a little bit of experimentation outside my standardized process with Arista film and chemicals.

I could just fake it in PS, but how about trying to get a really old, antique look from the negative. Lots of richness, but subdued contrast and all that.

????
 
Gosh I don't know, ask me one on sport?

Seriously that's a hard one isn't it. What one person defines as character might be anothers poison to mix my metaphors and shake a bit.

Mebbe self-brewed chemicals and home coated emulsions??

Andy
 
shutterflower said:
I could just fake it in PS, but how about trying to get a really old, antique look from the negative. Lots of richness, but subdued contrast and all that.

????
Click to expand...

Try an old Brownie. Large neg, single coated or uncoated glass.

Checkout Gene M's (not to be confused with Gene W) site at http://westfordcomp.com/holga/index.html , he shoots quite a bit with antique cameras.
 
It is a question like "Which bible is the correct translation?"

Everybody has their favorite.

Everybody's favorite is the right one from their point of view.

Nobody likes anyone else's choice.

Buy film, buy developer, shoot film, process film. Repeat for 30 years. Then you'll know what you like and what you don't. But no one else will agree.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I thought you already decided to stick with fomapan and some developer from arista....

stick to those, then check other ones

Don;t worry I went through all this learning process before the internet....
 
shutterflower said:
...
I could just fake it in PS, but how about trying to get a really old, antique look from the negative. Lots of richness, but subdued contrast and all that.
...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean exactly. I have my own mental image of "antique look," so maybe you could provide an example from history that you're looking to replicate. That would be an interesting project, especially if you could put those "aesthetics" to use (like JP Witkin did).

When I think of antique I'm thinking of dense images that are higher in contrast with blown out skies, like what you'd see from the 1800's, civil war images (Brady?). With a combination of filters, film, processing, and PS, you should be able to replicate about any look.

If it's low contrast you want, and you want to work with film/developer combinations, there are several formulas you can mix from scratch. You may want to check out Photographer's Formulary, and the Darkroom Cookbook series. I use and have both. PF has PMK and other developers, as well as alt-processes, which you can also use to obtain the antique look.

:)

.
 
shutterflower said:
how about trying to get a really old, antique look from the negative. Lots of richness, but subdued contrast and all that.
Click to expand...
Antique look with subdued contrast? What kind of antique look are you going for?

At first I thought "Kodak Plus-X" , but then you threw "subdued contrast" in there.

:confused:
 
Define "character".

I know I shouldn't answer this question, but what the heck :D

A look I like a lot was obtained with Neopan 1600, at EI 3200, developed in Xtol. It was souped by a lab for me before I started doing my own, and I really need to try to reproduce it myself.

Shot indoors under artificial light, there was almost nothing in the shadows, and the highlights were approaching blown, but oh how I love the crunch.
 

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Very nice, Mark. I have only a few Neopan 1600 rolls, and haven't touched one in years. Perhaps it be best I be doin' that soon, methinks.

And I agree: there's good character and bad character; mediocre character, funny character, serious character, ugly character. It's all in the reader.
 
Neopan 1600 is my favourite emulsion by a long way.

I shoot more of the 400, because it's more practical most of the time, but when the lights go down I get happy!
 
Goodyear said:
Shot indoors under artificial light, there was almost nothing in the shadows, and the highlights were approaching blown, but oh how I love the crunch.
Click to expand...

Underexpose and (slightly) overdevelop. There you go.

Just about any film can have any character you want based on the combination of technique, developer, and dilution. The excpetion is the dramatic response curve differences between traditional emulsions and the t-max and delta films.

allan
 
RayPA said:
If it's low contrast you want, and you want to work with film/developer combinations, there are several formulas you can mix from scratch
Ray,
Couldn't you also achieve this simply overexposing and underdeveloping (really pulling)? You'd get some funky mid-tone compression so you'd need the right film, of course. But you'll reduce contrast that way quite a bit.

A lot of the "feel" of older images is from uncoated lenses. I did a project a while back using a Retina I (uncoated lens) and Astia slide film, pulled 1 stop. I also _tried_ to get flare. The results were this dreamy, foggy kind of imagery that made people think it was either trippy or nostalgic (depending on how old the viewer was, perhaps they felt both sensations).

allan
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Click to expand...
 
kaiyen said:
Ray,
Couldn't you also achieve this simply overexposing and underdeveloping (really pulling)? You'd get some funky mid-tone compression so you'd need the right film, of course. But you'll reduce contrast that way quite a bit....

allan
Click to expand...

Yes you could. There are many ways to skin this cat, which is really the fun part of photography, as you know. :) But, if Mr. Flower's quest is to experiment on the chemical end of things then PF and the Cookbooks are as good a place as any to start.

:)
 
Goodyear said:
Define "character".

I know I shouldn't answer this question, but what the heck :D

A look I like a lot was obtained with Neopan 1600, at EI 3200, developed in Xtol. It was souped by a lab for me before I started doing my own, and I really need to try to reproduce it myself.

Shot indoors under artificial light, there was almost nothing in the shadows, and the highlights were approaching blown, but oh how I love the crunch.
Click to expand...

Mark,
I like the result, too. The shot of the people on the sofa has that "look" to it. Nice.


:)
 
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