danwilly
Established
After our last move I had to put my darkroom gear into storage at my daughter' s place. I boxed up my Bessa's and lenses and put them away.I used my mojo to do a lot of video work but it wasn't quite the same. The other day my wife suggested I get back into shooting and processing since most of the time my retired ass is in the recliner. We don't have a suitable place for a darkroom but I figured I could at least process film which doesn't require a lot of space. I did some checking on freestyle and found film is still readily available at a decent price but not so much for photo paper. So flim processing sounds like a go. I can figure something out on scanning film with a little research that won't break the bank. All I have to do is go to my daughter's place sometime soon and retrieve my gear. I missed you guys. I beg forgiveness for backsliding.
Bingley
Veteran
Welcome back!! I have a similar workflow and have been scanning with an Epson V600... a pretty reasonably priced scanner, and handles medium format as well as 35mm.
twvancamp
Thom
Very good! I go through dry spells with darkroom printing and don't always have the time. Worth it to read through the few big threads on scanning w/ digital camera. I've gotten much better results using my Fuji than I ever did on a flatbed.
charjohncarter
Veteran
I do hybrid too: process, scan. Does the Bessa still work? And welcome back.
Bill Clark
Veteran
Welcome back.
Happy you’ve seen the light!
Wife has relatives in Wisconsin, a few near Madison.
Our son and his family live in Milwaukee.
Have a great weekend.
Happy you’ve seen the light!
Wife has relatives in Wisconsin, a few near Madison.
Our son and his family live in Milwaukee.
Have a great weekend.
narsuitus
Well-known
Welcome back !
I had to Google Lodi because it sounded familiar but I could not place it.
After I Googled it, I remember it was close to Madison where I used to live back in the 1970s.
Great place to live.
I had to Google Lodi because it sounded familiar but I could not place it.
After I Googled it, I remember it was close to Madison where I used to live back in the 1970s.
Great place to live.
CMur12
Veteran
Welcome back!
- Murray
- Murray
DownUnder
Nikon Nomad
This welcome is from another 'old-timer'. I'm the same age as you, turned 73 last December. Live in Australia and have roamed a lot in southeast Asia, until 'grounded' at home by Covid.
2020 wasn't a good year for many of us. In most ways change can be good and a useful catalyst to shake out the cobwebs in our minds and bodies, turning us to new pursuits or back to beloved old ones, but Covid wasn't the way, at least for me.
Like you, I went through a 'dry' spell last year, in my case for six months. From mid 2020 I noticed that my forays into the Aussie countryside with my digital gear just weren't cutting it for me any longer. Most of my images were deleted and the rest filed away unedited into folders. Not my usual way to do things, but my new way.
In November my partner sat me down for a serious chat, noting that I seemed to have dried up with my digital shooting and suggesting I should go back to my too-long stored film cameras and work through the 'analogue' process.
Out came my four Contax G1 cameras and five lenses (21, 28, 35, 45 and 90). Not long before this domestic tete-a-tete I sold off half of my darkroom, including a beloved Leitz Focomat 1c with a Multigrade filter head and many once-cherished darkroom accessories. Which may or may not have triggered a spell of depression and caused me to turn off my photography. I'm not sure, but it does sound like my beloved had it pretty spot-on.
I bought new batteries and unfroze what 35mm film I have left in the last of my darkroom freezers and off shooting I went.
I can't say my results have been superlatively good, but I do feel much better, and I've since got back into my film scanning (I have a Plustek 7600i for 35mm and an Epson V600 for medium format, the latter with a little care and attention capable of turning out surprisingly decent results from my 'miniature' films if I pay more attention than my usual slapdash methods to exposure and processing) and am quite happy with the results.
We all need to take regular breaks from our ongoing interests (and passions) and it helps to put away the cameras for whatever period of time we see fit.
Next will come unboxing my Rolleis and my Zeiss and Voigtlander 6x6 folders and heading out with some 120 film.
2020 wasn't a good year for many of us. In most ways change can be good and a useful catalyst to shake out the cobwebs in our minds and bodies, turning us to new pursuits or back to beloved old ones, but Covid wasn't the way, at least for me.
Like you, I went through a 'dry' spell last year, in my case for six months. From mid 2020 I noticed that my forays into the Aussie countryside with my digital gear just weren't cutting it for me any longer. Most of my images were deleted and the rest filed away unedited into folders. Not my usual way to do things, but my new way.
In November my partner sat me down for a serious chat, noting that I seemed to have dried up with my digital shooting and suggesting I should go back to my too-long stored film cameras and work through the 'analogue' process.
Out came my four Contax G1 cameras and five lenses (21, 28, 35, 45 and 90). Not long before this domestic tete-a-tete I sold off half of my darkroom, including a beloved Leitz Focomat 1c with a Multigrade filter head and many once-cherished darkroom accessories. Which may or may not have triggered a spell of depression and caused me to turn off my photography. I'm not sure, but it does sound like my beloved had it pretty spot-on.
I bought new batteries and unfroze what 35mm film I have left in the last of my darkroom freezers and off shooting I went.
I can't say my results have been superlatively good, but I do feel much better, and I've since got back into my film scanning (I have a Plustek 7600i for 35mm and an Epson V600 for medium format, the latter with a little care and attention capable of turning out surprisingly decent results from my 'miniature' films if I pay more attention than my usual slapdash methods to exposure and processing) and am quite happy with the results.
We all need to take regular breaks from our ongoing interests (and passions) and it helps to put away the cameras for whatever period of time we see fit.
Next will come unboxing my Rolleis and my Zeiss and Voigtlander 6x6 folders and heading out with some 120 film.
agentlossing
Well-known
I'm sure you will enjoy getting back into film shooting! I certainly have, started developing myself a couple years ago when back when I shot film before I just relied on store photo labs. It's more enriching this way.
I went the dedicated film scanner route after trying a flatbed for a long time and not really ever being satisfied with it. I haven't scanned any negatives with a camera, as it seems like a lot of setup and bother, I really prefer having a good dedicated option that doesn't take up much space.
I went the dedicated film scanner route after trying a flatbed for a long time and not really ever being satisfied with it. I haven't scanned any negatives with a camera, as it seems like a lot of setup and bother, I really prefer having a good dedicated option that doesn't take up much space.
Tim Gray
Well-known
Welcome back. I've also been shooting only sporadically or digital. Getting back into the film stuff too.
danwilly
Established
This proves that this is our therapy.
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
I just bought a Nikon FE and unearthed my Minolta Hi Matic and have purchased several rolls of Ilford. This while I'm heavily into digital. Must be something in the water.
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
Must be something in the water...
I've been using my film cameras a bit more the last couple of weeks...I even broke a streak of not buying any camera for over three year by buying a Nikkormat FT3 with the Nikkor 50mm 2.0 lens...I was looking for the lens but for the price I was happy to get both...
The last three days I've gone out shooting with only film cameras...
Friday I set up my darkroom and printed all day...can't wait to do it again...a lot of us started in film and it can be a refuge when we need it...
I've been using my film cameras a bit more the last couple of weeks...I even broke a streak of not buying any camera for over three year by buying a Nikkormat FT3 with the Nikkor 50mm 2.0 lens...I was looking for the lens but for the price I was happy to get both...
The last three days I've gone out shooting with only film cameras...
Friday I set up my darkroom and printed all day...can't wait to do it again...a lot of us started in film and it can be a refuge when we need it...
fireblade
Vincenzo.
This may be the thread to get my ass (arse) back into gear. 2020 was relatively quiet.