Steve B
Established
Looking for a little input here. I'm doing a portrait session for some friends. They know I'm an amateur and no money is changing hands so if I come up with something that has trees growing out of their heads and their eyes are all shut there's no love lost. I'm going to shoot some digi but I also want to shoot some B&W. I also thought I'd experiement a little with the classic wide open selective focus look. I'm planning on using 2 film camera loaded with the same film. One is an F3 with 50mm f1.4 and the other is a Contax IIa with Sonnar 50mm f2. I'm interested in comparing the bokeh of these 2 lenses and using the results as a partial basis for future lens/camera purchasing decisions. Since the sonnar has 11 blades and the nikkor has 7 I'm afraid I have a preconception of what I'll like. I've shot with both a fair amount before but have never done a real comparison. After all, lens tests are for Leica users. Right? (I should be so lucky). Maybe I'll drive them even crazier by adding in the 10 blade Konica 50mm f2 on my R2.
Since its been 30+ years since I processed B&W I'm thinking I'll turn that over to my relatively capable local "pro" lab. My film usage the last few years has been mainly color slide so I'm a little out of touch with the plus-x and tri-x that I used as a teenager. My dad set my brother and I up with a pentax and a rolliecord and we stored D76 in Almaden wine jugs in the closet.
With that in mind I'm thinking I'll scan the negs and and post process in PS. What I'm looking for is a recommendation on film. I've shot a little T100 in the last few years and liked it well enough. I haven't shot tri-x or plus-x for longer than I care to admit so am interested in hearing what film you gurus would recommend for a portrait session in outdoor/available light, hopefully open shade or the classic artsy window/back light situation. Also like to keep scannability in mind as I'm not going to convert the basement yet. Althought it has occured to me that this is probably a good time to buy darkroom supplies. I'm looking for pretty slow films as I want to shoot pretty wide open. The IIa shutter speed runs to 1250 and the R2 and the F3 go to 2000 so I guess as long as the light isn't too strong I should be OK as long as I don't shoot Tri-X. Looking forward to some suggestions. Thanks guys,,,,,,,,,,
Since its been 30+ years since I processed B&W I'm thinking I'll turn that over to my relatively capable local "pro" lab. My film usage the last few years has been mainly color slide so I'm a little out of touch with the plus-x and tri-x that I used as a teenager. My dad set my brother and I up with a pentax and a rolliecord and we stored D76 in Almaden wine jugs in the closet.
With that in mind I'm thinking I'll scan the negs and and post process in PS. What I'm looking for is a recommendation on film. I've shot a little T100 in the last few years and liked it well enough. I haven't shot tri-x or plus-x for longer than I care to admit so am interested in hearing what film you gurus would recommend for a portrait session in outdoor/available light, hopefully open shade or the classic artsy window/back light situation. Also like to keep scannability in mind as I'm not going to convert the basement yet. Althought it has occured to me that this is probably a good time to buy darkroom supplies. I'm looking for pretty slow films as I want to shoot pretty wide open. The IIa shutter speed runs to 1250 and the R2 and the F3 go to 2000 so I guess as long as the light isn't too strong I should be OK as long as I don't shoot Tri-X. Looking forward to some suggestions. Thanks guys,,,,,,,,,,
