Film - HELP!!

Bill Pierce

Bill Pierce

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My only film cameras until recently have been large format. News photography turned digital a long time ago and much of professional photography has followed. But an old friend just passed his Leica film bodies on to me along with even more Leica lenses than I already own. I wanted to know what the film users on the forum do in terms of processing and printing. There are a lot of options from film development and printing in your own darkroom, darkroom wet printing vs scanning and inkjet or sending it all out. All of those operations are available to me because while I’m fully digital I could never give up my wet darkroom even though I was only using it for an occasional run of sheet film. And since I have to pass on digital files of past work, I have a decent scanner. And the local post office is more than happy to pass film onto a commercial lab (which, of course, even opens up the possibility of b&w CN film which scans beautifully).

So, in this world of nearly unlimited possibilities, a plea to our veteran film users - what should I do upon reentering the world of film (and why)?
 
I process my B&W and C-41 stuff at home. This is everything from 4x5 to 35mm. I send my E6 out. I mostly use a “hybrid darkroom," where I scan and print my work. I still use a wet darkroom on occasion.

Jim B.
 
I develop my own b&w, and then scan the negatives to create digital files. I don't have a set up for wet printing. All the c-41 I have developed at a local camera store.
 
I have a refrigerator, a Beseler 45 MX w/ a Zone VI VC head and a Durst 138 & process B/W film from 35mm to 5x7". No scanner. Prints on fiber paper.
 
I'm the opposite of you, mostly film and very little digital: just junk for the theater promos. But I do my own B&W developing at home then scan; I'm married so the darkroom is a level of enjoyment that has been taken away from me. If I want a B&W print I email the digital file to whatever quality I choose. Sometimes this is Costco, MPIX, or quality to Bluemoon a lab in Portland Oregon (I live in the Republic of California and they don't restrict emailing, yet).

For Color (E-6 or C-41) it is Bluemoon (in Portland), but I have them develop only as I like to do my own scanning and color adjustment.
 
Hi, Bill; not sure if you ever received my message some weeks ago. Anyway, I started in B&W photography in 1968 and eventually became a professional, starting in photojournalism and later trying to make a living with commercial and portraiture. Financial issues required me to put my cameras away for more than 12 years; I recently started back up (not professionally) with a 4x5 field camera replacing my monorail for portability, my 645 system, and my trusty M4 from 1972 (sold the Nikons during the hiatus).
For me, it's B&W wet darkroom all the way. Like you, I never took down my darkroom. I use digital in video, and I know my way around PS for scans to a fair extent (no digital camera), but, well, like John Sexton, I still remember the magic of watching those first prints appear in the developer, and as one who has pored over the work of Gene Smith, Strand, Adams, and many other film greats for decades (and who studied your magazine articles in Camera 35 for years), I am happiest striving to meet the challenges of the photographic medium as I know it. I love the silver print, I love the printing process, and, frankly, I'd rather not have the voice in my head telling my compositional eye, "You can fix it in post, down to the pixel." Had I wanted to be an artist of that variety, I would have taken up painting (maybe). I recently ad an interesting email dialogue about photography with a friend, which he posted on his website.

I have spent available time over the past year restoring my darkroom skills with a simplified materials set and a different developer (D23). My only problem now (financial wherewithal aside) is not having the extended time to concentrate on my work.
I say, get your hands wet again!
 
Take it easy, Bill.
Nothing actually changed much. Here is no Rodinal MK IV and darkroom paper is the same for many years now. It is not ISO 12800. C-41 is still C-41 and E6 is available as DYS kit. :)
 
If you've got Leica M bodies and Leica M lenses, I'd get a ton of the new Ektachrome and become best friends with the folks at Dwayne's Photo, 415 South 32nd Street, Parsons, KS 67357 (http://www.dwaynesphoto.com)

Also pick up some Tri-X, just for fun. And some HC-110 & Rodinal(ADOX Adinal), Kodafix, Indicator Stop Bath, & PhotoFlo.

Best,
-Tim
 
Do as you did before digital.

Except now there is digital.

A choice to make.

I only use black and white film. Still use my darkroom but it’s getting less and less. To my way of thinking, film needs to be printed in an analog darkroom. The print is what distinguishes film from digital. I don’t scan any film, rather capture with digital if I want that.
 
I was watching HCB as an old man interview last night. I loved how he kept pantomiming making snaps....geometry. Jedi mastery or something...no...anarchist

He didn't talk much about film :)

Didn't have a camera on him

Did have a couple nice pencils in his back pocket though
 
I would keep it simple, use one BW film that you like and combine it with a developer that gives you nice negatives to wet-print. If the number of film rolls is limited and you are not under pressure to reach a deadline then developing film is actually fun and relaxing.
 
Maybe different from most... everything gets developed at the lab. I use a 'mom & pop' and they keep an eye on the quality for that end of the process. The negs come back in decent shape and I can focus on down stream processes. The weak point is that the development labs that end up with the film don't push or pull... If that mattered, I would connect and stick with a single pro-lab (/ technician) but for the most part a balanced negative is workable in post processing.

I scan with dedicated equipment... most of the stuff I do goes online, but if I want an enlargement I go back to the 'mom & pop' store where their son does in-house digital printing and understands what I like... we talk ; )

I have spent a lot of time in the darkroom but priorities have shifted.
 
Actually, I didn't think about it in my above post, but we have a few high schools that are (re) teaching film photography. I'm sure that they would be happy to help you. There must be some in your area too.
 
maddoc said:
I would keep it simple, use one BW film that you like and combine it with a developer that gives you nice negatives to wet-print. If the number of film rolls is limited and you are not under pressure to reach a deadline then developing film is actually fun and relaxing.
Click to expand...

Best post of the day. Get in the zone.
 
I am down to 1 1/2 films (TMax 100 & 400 -- they can be developed in the same tank), 1 developer (TMax RS) - so all B&W for film - which I develop myself, and then print in a wet darkroom on 1 type of paper (Ilford Warmtone Glossy FB).

I leave color stuff (what little I do) to digital (but after 30 years of slide-only photography, none of my "serious" photography is in color anymore).

Simple is good :)
 
I shoot black and white film, and process and wet print it myself. All my color and alternate process work is digital. I don't see the point of scanning film.
Bill Pierce said:
So, in this world of nearly unlimited possibilities, a plea to our veteran film users - what should I do upon reentering the world of film (and why)?
Click to expand...
I guess I would make a wet print, then scan the negative and make an inkjet print. Which one do you like better? Which process do you enjoy more? It's a purely personal decision.
 
Bingley said:
I develop my own b&w, and then scan the negatives to create digital files. I don't have a set up for wet printing. All the c-41 I have developed at a local camera store.
Click to expand...



I do exactly the same.
I believe that this is also a common practice among film users nowadays.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
When I shoot film, not so much today, I have a pro lab which develops it and makes contacts (analogically). I select a few keepers (if any!) which I scan at best resolution on my Nikon 5000 ED so long it works, than I make post processing imitating what I was used to do in a darkroom, a little bit of dodging and burning, checking contrast etc and print inkjet mostly on matt cotton paper, depending on the photo/project smooth or textured.
robert
 
Bill, sounds like you have all the bases covered. You'll need to consider the time factor involved. If you have enough time, the wet darkroom is probably the best option. If time is limited, going the commercial route seems logical.

I shoot all digital. I'm old. Time is always a factor for me.;)
 
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