I want to try film, need some advice or guidance

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Manuel Patino

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I resurrected a Mamiya C220 f that a friend gave me. Anyway, I shot 3 rolls of color film I was also given and I sent them to get developed and printed. After they come back I'll see just what I've done.

If things look promising, I would like to shoot B&W to see if I enjoy the pastime. Years ago I shot some film with a Seagull TLR as well as 35mm film. I only shot digital now so I'm pretty much ignorant, so I would ask for some input from those of you who know more.

First, I'd like a recommendation for the brand and type of film I should purchase. I will be doing some street shooting and also a bit of shooting in dark clubs or dance halls. I would like to shoot without flash, so that is one requirement.

Secondly, I'm actually considering doing the developing and printing at some point. Is this a practicable thing to consider? I do have a room which is dark and has sink.

Thanks !
 
I have an easy way to get very high quality negatives using traditional silver halide films on my web site www.zonesimple.net. There are free downloads and lots of examples of student work as well as my own.

I shoot film and scan great negatives to print digitally. It's the best of both worlds.

Good luck,

Charlie
 
I've recently started using film, including home development and printing. So here's some advice from another film newbie :)

You could bring your digital camera (or a light meter) to the places you want to shoot in and check the minimum ISO needed to get a decent picture.
Dark clubs and dance halls will probably need a high ISO. I'm going to guess a minimum of 1600.
In B&W you can either push a 400 speed film (for example Delta 400, TX400 or T-Max 400), or use Delta 3200.
I don't know much about colour films, but Portra seems to handle being pushed to 1600 quite well.
Tbh I think digital is better suited for the high ISO stuff.

For regular street shooting I would pick a 400 speed film and perhaps push a little depending on your weather. I think you'll be happiest with a film that allows you to shoot f8 at 1/250s of a second.

On home development and printing. I think most people agree that B&W is best developed at home. This gives you much more flexibility and control over the process/result.
Color/C41 is harder, but still possible.
My advice would be to try B&W development. It's pretty cheap and not difficult.
Printing is fun and not hard either. You just need more stuff.

My personal choice would be (and has been):
- Shoot in B&W
- Use any common 400 speed film (delta 400, HP5+, T-Max 400, TX400). I enjoy searching for different film types on flickr to get a feel for what they look like. Flickr images won't show exactly what you will get because it depends on many variables like exposure, development, scanning technique, editing etc.
- Develop at home

The final step will be either printing or scanning (and possibly printing the digital file). I don't care much for scanning my negatives, but many people do enjoy the results. To each their own.
Both decent scanners and old fashioned printing gear are reasonably priced.
I want the final result to be a picture on the wall and enjoy the process of old fashioned printing, so that is what I do.
 
The most frustrating thing for any darkroom newbie is loading the film onto the reel. The rest of it is easy and straightforward. So before you start buying other darkroom equipment just buy a roll of 120 film and a reel (plastic or stainless steel -- everyone's got an opinion on this).

Then load the roll of film onto the reel -- no need to be in a darkroom for this. If you get proficient enough to the point where you can do this with your eyes closed, then you are ready.

In the meantime, just buy Ilford XP2 -- C41 B&W, so you send it in to be developed like any other C41 film.
 
I don't see it as possible to shoot a tlr in dark clubs unless you're shooting the stage. You could set it on the bar and take a picture of the glassware maybe.
 
Thanks a lot for the great responses. I appreciate the help. I will try shooting with ASA 400 B&W and push processing the development. I like the idea of doing my own development to have a bit of control over when and how I do it. The places I shoot at are not very dark (except the blues clubs) but the light is not bright for sure. I get decent results in digital at ISO 1600 and such.

Anyway, if my initial prints come out, and there is no major problem with the camera, I can probably get a developing and printing set up for not much to start. May be look in Craigslist or eBay or just ask around...
 
Film

Film

Kodak tri x is a very forgiving film
It handles many light and contrast situations and gives nice prints
The 250-400 Asa allows you to use the 2.8 aperature medium format lenses
In lower light .
I always use d-76 diluted 1:1 to develope film .
It's sebastion segaltos film of choice for b&w.
Just an opinion .
 
Charlie Lemay said:
I have an easy way to get very high quality negatives using traditional silver halide films on my web site www.zonesimple.net. There are free downloads and lots of examples of student work as well as my own.

I shoot film and scan great negatives to print digitally. It's the best of both worlds.

Good luck,

Charlie
Click to expand...


Thank you, thank you! Wonderful blog, I loved it and will try to use the information you shared.
 
BTW, my taking lens is 65mm f3.5 to f32 (the viewing lens is f3.5). Shutter speeds are 1 second to 1/500 and Bulb. I will probably shoot mostly with ASA 400 film...
 
I think new hobbies are best taken slowly. Better to start with your film camera, get really good and comfortable with it and then get into developing and then finally dark room printing.

I don't like biting off more than I can chew.
 
No one mention RPX or Kentmere, so here I am pouring more confusion into your though.

Long story short, my curiosity about this film _stuff_ lead me to slowly killing my wallet abit over 2 years now, for the longest time I am wrestle between Rollei RPX400 and Kentmere 400 (due to its nice pricing and availability, and even better price when come in roll), I push depending on the need of speed. RPX400 *seeeeeeems* to me a slight smoother when pushed, but I like the Kentmere when shoot at box speed, I would convince myself on one day RPX is better, and the next day I would think Kentmere is what I should go with, I am still undecided :)
 
1) Get a tripod
2) Get Tri X or HP5+
3) Get a light meter
4) Expose at EI 250
5) Get HC 110 and develop with dilution E
6) Get a flatbed scanner
7) Get photoshop
8) Learn how to edit images

Once you'll be over all this you can start experimenting, in case you'd feel the need.
 
Shooting in dark night clubs would be the one application where I would vote for 35mm over 6x6 solely for the f/1.4 lenses commonly and cheaply available for pretty much any mount/camera you may be interested in.

A TLR has it's place but I think if I were trying to do what you are looking to do, I'd get a cheap known working 35mm SLR and a 50/1.4 and lots of TMAX 400 until you are comfortable and confident in your workflow.

Any of the 400 speed films available new today will be fine for both your nightclub work and street shooting but will take some work getting results to look like you want. Expect to burn some rolls with zero results so anything that does actually come out well is a pleasant surprise.
 
mfogiel said:
1)
5) Get HC 110 and develop with dilution E
Click to expand...

HC-110 comes in only 1 liter size bottles. That's enough for years worth of developing. There's really no need to buy such a large amount of developer until one is fully committed to this type of photography.

A more practical suggestion would be to buy a bag of D-76. This is THE most classic developer of all and by far the most common one people learn with.
 
Fixcinater said:
Shooting in dark night clubs would be the one application where I would vote for 35mm over 6x6 solely for the f/1.4 lenses commonly and cheaply available for pretty much any mount/camera you may be interested in.

A TLR has it's place but I think if I were trying to do what you are looking to do, I'd get a cheap known working 35mm SLR and a 50/1.4 and lots of TMAX 400 until you are comfortable and confident in your workflow.

Any of the 400 speed films available new today will be fine for both your nightclub work and street shooting but will take some work getting results to look like you want. Expect to burn some rolls with zero results so anything that does actually come out well is a pleasant surprise.
Click to expand...

I fully agree with this post and would only add that TMAX 400 actually allows you to shoot at ISO 800 without any change to development procedures. If you *really* need the speed, I would shoot TMAX 400 @ ISO800 without any hesitation. The results are very good.
 
You have got a dark room with a sink, that's more than what 99% of us had when we started. These days you can get everything for a darkroom, developing and printing, for a song so why not give it a try. But start simple.

TLR's in clubs whoa now there's a challenge, maybe tmax 3200 might help. But check out the viewfinder screen in a dim place and try focussing there.
 
silver92b@gmail.com said:
I resurrected a Mamiya C220 f that a friend gave me. Anyway, I shot 3 rolls of color film I was also given and I sent them to get developed and printed. After they come back I'll see just what I've done.

...
Secondly, I'm actually considering doing the developing and printing at some point. Is this a practicable thing to consider? I do have a room which is dark and has sink.

Thanks !
Click to expand...

Many of us practicing it weekly:) Once film has grown on you it isn't big deal.
 
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