How much film do you keep at home?

[Lauffray]

Ah, Neopan 1600. May Fuji burn for this. But what good would be to hold on to a massive Neopan 1600 inventory? Last I used it (last year, a few rolls donated by a noble RFfer), it was acceptable, but it was also losing speed. Fog was a problem.

What one needs is an ISO 640 film, with tight grain, that will take kindly to a 1.5 stop push. Something like an Ilford Delta 640/800 film. :angel: It'd be the hit that Neopan 1600 once was.

.

Very true, unless you really shoot 500 rolls a year, otherwise what's the point of holding on to a large amount of any type of film ? That's why I'm trying to limit my stock to ~50, which is what I shoot in a typical year.

As for a ISO640 film, you've read my mind ! 400 is a bit too slow for me, Neopan@800 was perfect ! Good thing HP5 takes well to pushing

 

[Calzone]

As for a ISO640 film, you've read my mind ! 400 is a bit too slow for me, Neopan@800 was perfect ! Good thing HP5 takes well to pushing

Jerome,

Try Tri-X at 1250 and develope in Diafine 7+4 instead of 3+3. Minimize aggitation to only two very gentile inversions per minute in a stainless steel tank. The results are fine grain with mucho mid tones. Diafine is a compensating developer and due to the minimized aggitation you get a stand development effect of a very long tonal range. This combo is like magic.

I'll pass on the compliment to "Maggie."

The underground structures and 19-20 miles of connecting tunnels seems especially built for me considering my medical condition. I can see me living in a loft on the Saint Lawrence River in the Old Montreal section of the City or even Griffintown.

Cal

 

[Lauffray]

Jerome,

Try Tri-X at 1250 and develope in Diafine 7+4 instead of 3+3. Minimize aggitation to only two very gentile inversions per minute in a stainless steel tank. The results are fine grain with mucho mid tones. Diafine is a compensating developer and due to the minimized aggitation you get a stand development effect of a very long tonal range. This combo is like magic.

Diafine is a two bath developer right ? I should give that a try, I always push. How would you compare it to Xtol ? That's been my main process for a while now

The underground structures and 19-20 miles of connecting tunnels seems especially built for me considering my medical condition. I can see me living in a loft on the Saint Lawrence River in the Old Montreal section of the City or even Griffintown.

Cal

Most Americans who've visited like the Old Port. There's some other really interesting parts of the city though, even now I still don't know and want to explore.

 

[Calzone]

Diafine is a two bath developer right ? I should give that a try, I always push. How would you compare it to Xtol ? That's been my main process for a while now



Most Americans who've visited like the Old Port. There's some other really interesting parts of the city though, even now I still don't know and want to explore.

Jerome,

Let's explore Montreal together one day or weekend in the future. Montreal is no small city. The Amtrack trainride is only about $65.00 one way.

Because I shot up to a hundred rolls of film a month in bursts (summer months) the cost of one shot developers like ID-11 was a major expense, even if I diluted one to one. Mixing ten to twenty liters of developer every month was also a pain. I was compelled to make Diafine work for me just due to the fact that Diafine gets reused and has an extended shelf life that some say is indefinate. In this manner is is just the opposit of Xtol which is known to have "sudden death syndrome."

I found a lot of the information on this forum and on the internet to be wrong, and that even includes the instructions that came from Diafine. Rated film speeds are way too aggressive, especialy for wet printing unless you like really thin negatives. Take note that I expose for wet printing and I like denser negatives that are easy to straight print.

Diafine is a two part compensating developer. Part "A" is the developer but very little development actually happens during the part "A" soak. Part "B" is the activator where almost all the development takes place. Because I reduced aggitation I got two effects: one was less film speed; and secondly less grain. With Tri-X I have to use an 8X loupe to A-B Tri-X against Arcos on a light table to see that the Tri-X has slightly bigger grain, and I would say Arcos in Diafine has no grain. BTW Tri-X and Acros are the only two films you need with Diafine. HP-5 has less midrange and noticible grain.

I shoot Tri-X at 800-650 ISO with a 3X yellow filter and develope in Diafine 3+3 (with FF this means I'm really shooting at box speed meaning 400-320 ISO). I found that if you don't boost the contrast range with a yellow filter with Tri-X you end up getting irratic results like ultra thin negatives, but the strong compensating effect unwinds the boost in contrast from the filter. The results are a bit like "stand development" where a long tonal range is exhibited and highlight and especially shodow detail is of a larger format.

I once showed Christian from the NYC Meet-Up some 6x9 negitives that I developed in Diafine and his remark was, "With negatives like these you don't need a 4x5."

Arcos I shoot at 100 without any filters. The really great thing about Arcos in Diafine is that there is no recipocy failure so long bulb exposures are easy. Tripod bulb exposures exhibit mucho mid tones almost like HDR but its just one exposure with film processed to perfection.

Shooting Tri-X at 1250-1000 gets you some grain, but this is enough film speed to shoot at night hand held with remarkable results. I tried "Diafine Time Two" which is 3+3, a thorough rinse and then 3+3 again, but this was a lot of work. I found that my 4+7 worked a lot better and did not present the danger of killing my part "A" which will happen if even the smallest drop of Part "B" contaminates Part "A".

Anyways if you like the expanded tonality of medium format in your small format try what I prescribe above. Also know that Diafine gets reused indefinately, but I tend to remix a gallon when the volume gets to 2 liters (Due to spillage and especially Part "A" due to wetting the film. I also tend to dump the bottom which collects some black particles that I suspect is silver.

Good Luck.

Cal

 

[lueej]

Currently at 22 rolls, but being on a student budget means that fridge restocks are few and far between, especially including the cost of processing. Just makes me think a little harder before I trip the shutter! (not to say that me thinking any harder makes anything better )

 

[barnwulf]

Probably at least 100 rolls. I have a small apartment size fridge that's just for film. - jim

 

[rfaspen]

About 33% E-6, 33% B+W, and 33% C-41. About 50 rolls total at the moment.

I have a tendency to adopt strays, so people have been bringing me their old film as they switch entirely to digital. Actually, I've had to start saying "no" just because I don't shoot C-41 very much and that's usually what people bring me.

 

[rfaspen]

I should expand on my previous.
I tend to use those films with unknown storage histories for "snapshot" situations. Great for C-41 film where I can just drop it off at the lab and cross my fingers.

Most of my E6 (and yes I have a couple K14 still in the fridge) has good cold storage history. Same with B+W.

Now, I'm kind of wondering about my 15 rolls of bulk-loaded PanF 50. It's been cold stored since the early-mid 1990's. Don't slow films retain their speed and exposure characteristics much better than fast films? I've been thinking about using these films lately, but wonder if I should modify the way I expose it because of its age.

 

[sem]

About 20-30. Then I buy new.

 

[Pioneer]

Now, I'm kind of wondering about my 15 rolls of bulk-loaded PanF 50. It's been cold stored since the early-mid 1990's. Don't slow films retain their speed and exposure characteristics much better than fast films? I've been thinking about using these films lately, but wonder if I should modify the way I expose it because of its age.

I understand that Pan F 50 holds up pretty well until it is exposed. At that point it should be developed asap.

I do know I have used TMX 100 originally purchased back in the early 1990s with no problem.

 

[Tijmendal]

Around 75 rolls of 35mm, about 175m/550ft of bulk and around 150 rolls of 120.
Way too much for how much I shoot; though lately I've been burning through a lot of film (that is, more than usual).

 

[michaelwj]

I try to keep 1 bulk of 100 and 400 in 135 (usually Tmax 100/400).
For some reason though, I just finished rolling off the last of a can of TriX, so I have;

6.2 rolls of TriX (there is a short roll at the end, about 4-5 shots I guess),
2 rolls of Tmax 100,
1 Provia 400, and
1 Velvia 100.

I've had the colour film for over a year and just can't seem to get motivated to shoot it for some reason.
I shoot an average of a roll a week, so I've got a while till I need to get some more. Summers on the way so I might end up shooting a bit more.

Michael

 

[Chris101]

Maybe 20-25 rolls of odd film I rarely use. I buy trix, portra and ektar as I shoot. The stuff in the fridge is like a couple Efke IR rolls, some SFX, Ektachrome 160T, ... that kind of stuff. I want it for when I need it, but I shoot digital or the staples usually.

 

[aadi]

I still have 200ft of TMAX needs to be rolled. And 300ft of Polypan F :bang:

So many films to shoot!

 

[emmef2]

I usually plan to have around 30 but currently they are around 50, that means I am not shooting much film lately

 

[Cyriljay]

I have limited my film stock to 20 as my shooting films get less
Have 10 Tri- X and 10 colour and I buy according to my shooting.

 

[Cyriljay]

For a second there I read Neopan 1600 and almost had a heart attack

This is the same feeling for me when I learned it . I was using this film and it became a kind of old purpose film for me .:bang: I missed this film.

 

[Gary E]

My usual stash used to be around 100 or so, and then I started to dwindle it down to justify buying a digital cam. It got as low as 20 rolls, but it's been about 4 years now that I've tried to convert and my stash keeps maintaing its status. I sometimes feel it's alive and controling me to buy more film

 

[NJH]

I did have about 20 rolls of various films but then a great deal on Agfa CT Precisa meant a 10x of that as well. If I see another mega deal on neopan 400 it will be bought, I can't see I am any different to anyone else in this regard as its a no brainer to go for good deals which these days nearly always means mail ordering some sort of bulk quantity.

 

[clcolucci58]

I have 14 rolls in 120 format in my darkroom down in the basement. Got a fridge down there as well and going to start storing my film in it so I have a feeling it is going to get well stocked in the near future )

Regards
clc