Newbie Film and Developing Question

wakarimasen

wakarimasen

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Hello Folks,
I have recently become attrracted back to film, but am confused!
When I shot film (in a very basic manner, years ago) I would simply buy the cheapest 30mm colour film that I could see, and then post it for prints.
Now I would like to shoot BW, give it to a store in town for them to develop negatives, and then scan and print using my home digital scanner and printer.
Which BW film should I use?
I saw that some are C41 and some not - what is the significance of C41?
Also, I looked at some Ilford film at the local store when checking their prices for developing a roll of negative (£1.50!) - and was told that it would need to be 'sent away.' Is there something strange about Ilford film?
Any help greatfully received!
Best regards,
RoyM
 
Hi,
There are two kinds of black-and-white films.
One is for manual development (and thus probably it has to be sent away). This is classic.
One is C41, colour process, but film itself is monochrome (i.e. no colours). Significance is that you have to develop such film in a laboratory. Plus, C41 monochrome films are more forgiving to exposure errors.

Speaking about ilford, all of their films are for "manual" development. There is Ilford XP2 film which is C41 and can be done in any photolab you have near you. They don't even need to know it is black and white.

Hmmm, something like that. I hope it answers your questions.

Don't know, give XP2 a try if you don't want to do all the fun yourself (i.e. you want to send your film to local lab anyway).
 
Actually, giving a roll of XP2 or Kodak 400CN to a minilab without warning can be a cruel form of entertainment. More than once I've come back for my processed film to find a horrified lab operator babbling about them ruining my film because it came out in B&W!
 
As you are in the UK, I would certainly suggest using Ilford XP2 to start with. The film can be developed by the local lab along with the "normal" colour film, and there is no orange mask to the negative (unlike the Kodak C41 monochrome film) which means that you can easily both wet-print it or scan it yourself in the future.

In the future there are plenty of different films and developers that you can look at for different sorts of results - but XP2 will be a very very good place to start off :)

You can find a huge amount of information about XP2 on Ilford's website, here. Have fun !
 
XP2 is excellent stuff. Looks like b&w film after it is processed -- unlike Kodak CN400BW which has the orange mask of color negative film (this annoys me). I've shot a lot of XP2.
 
I was an XP2 user for years, and XP1 before that. I still like it, but much prefer the tonal scale of 400CN now. The orange base is a bit of a pain, though.
 
You will find XP2 exellent for scanning, especially if you want grain free results, I wish Ilford would re introduce the dedicated chemical kit that they used to make years ago - when it was XP1 ( anyone remember this? )
Dave.
PS here in the UK, I get XP2 and C41 developed at Tesco - 99p. a roll!
( about £3 at Jessops! )
 
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Chromogenic B&W film - XP2 and BW400CN - are excellent for dipping one's feet into black and white. You need do no home developing (although easy, it does involve some expense and a short learning curve) as it's the same C41 process as color film, and the results are just fine. I even choose to use this kind of film on purpose from time to time.
 
wakarimasen said:
Now I would like to shoot BW, give it to a store in town for them to develop negatives, and then scan and print using my home digital scanner and printer.
Click to expand...
Please be aware that the results of scanning negatives at home with many current home scanners may be disapointing. If you have an ordinary flatbed scanner it may be better to have the negs printed and then scan the prints. If your scanner is a dedicated film scanner, no problem then. In adition, some flatbed scanners can do film scanning but you nedd specific film carriers for that.
Go ahead, and good luck!
joao
 
The supermarket minilabs (Asda, Tesco etc) will process just the roll, without prints, with or without a scan. Can be quite cheap.

#######Don't usually need prints from the minilab either####

In the past I've "passed on" a few cameras on the strength of the minilab prints at 6x4 showing a soft image. Only after 3 such camera junkers did it occur to me that it was the minlab doing a poor job. It could have been that Sharon from the cold counter was having a turn on the photo section, or the automated lab was not set up properly.

A few prints on my own (then new-to-me) enlarger confirmed just how poor their prints were. If you want prints from the processor, take the time to find a good one and stick to them, they may be getting to be a rare breed.


Dave..
 
If you don't have a scanner with a light source in the lid and holders for film, you won't be able to scan the film.
 
WIll be using a HP C7180 - it has the film and slide holders. Have had a few practice runs on some old (and very poor) negatives. Depending on how this does with new film, I may have to invest in somehting else......
 
Hi,
One newbie question:
I used Ilford HP5 and it costs me 5€/roll to buy and 7€/roll to develop and scan. Yes, ouch! :\

If I understand right, If I use Ilford XP2, it's supposed to be cheaper?

Thanks.
 
Maybe developing will be cheaper because it will go right in with the batch of color negative film. Of course, developing your own B&W is the ultimate in cost saving.
 
Chris101 said:
Maybe developing will be cheaper because it will go right in with the batch of color negative film. Of course, developing your own B&W is the ultimate in cost saving.
Click to expand...

thanks chris!

well, i'd like very much starting to do it at home, but the problem is scanning.
Before i manage to have a scanner (and a good one) there's no point in developing at home (other than personal satisfaction) if then I have to scan it in the store.
developing cost is marginal, compared to develop and scan
 
wakarimasen said:
Thanks for the tip - I just ordered 5 rolls of XP2 for £14.75!

Now if only the lens for my Fed would arrive.......
Click to expand...

The film arrived but no lens....:mad:

Thankfully I bought an Olympus Trip in the meantime (which although not being a rangefinder, has arrived) a Weston Master III (also arrived) and a Yashica Electro 35 (on its' way)....
 
ruilebreiro said:
Hi,
One newbie question:
I used Ilford HP5 and it costs me 5€/roll to buy and 7€/roll to develop and scan. Yes, ouch! :\

If I understand right, If I use Ilford XP2, it's supposed to be cheaper?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Ouch indeed. HP5+ shouldn't cost more than 4 euros a roll, but can be had much cheaper if you know where to look. My last stash comes from a camera fair, in bulk packaging. For classic B/W you can easily use nearly expired or not too much expired film, if you store it in the freezer after you bought it.

7 euros for developing is nothing short of criminal, not even my pro lab charges that. In the Netherlands you can still have the HEMA department store do it for a lot less. But there really is very little to it, once you start doing it yourself the costs are neglible.

Developing Ilford XP2 costs the same as normal color film, just pick the cheapest address that you can find. They all send it our to the same two labs anyway (well at least in my country they do). Quality is very consistent (and good) where I live, actually better than the machines at 1 hour shops. Hope this helps.
 
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