Seeing Film Everywhere

[skopar steve]

5. From my experience the biggest problem in the last years has been that lots digital photographers thought there is no more film production at all. That they simply cannot shoot film anymore, even if they want to.
Well, the digital propagandists have told this lie for more than a decade, and dozens of millions believed it.
So with more and more articles about film in the media recently, informing people that there are lots of options to shoot film (even an increasing number of options), more and more people will know that film is alive, and that they can use it.
And the data is indicating that an increasing number is doing that.


I find this true as well. I've been asked many times "can you still get film for that camera?" when out with an old film camera. The upside is sometimes finding a gem at a flea market.

 

[PaulDalex]

HH
allow me to disagree
You speak for Germany
Here in Italy it is a film desert
To resume shooting film I plan to send my rolls in England
And costs are huge
Paul

 

[Prest_400]

HH
allow me to disagree
You speak for Germany
Here in Italy it is a film desert
To resume shooting film I plan to send my rolls in England
And costs are huge
Paul

2,50€ process I haven't seen for a long time, nevertheless for E6.
I am in spain and C41 dev only is around 4,50€, E6 towards 9€ a roll of 125.

Ironically Spain used to be not as nice as places like Japan, which used to be "Mecca" but now prices are far lower! since there's a lab that opened with the online model and sells film too, people from abroad send the film here.
Dev&Scan is 12€+ though. Steep for an amateur and quantity.

UK with brexit and GBP devaluation was nice to get some Kodak Film very cheap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HHPhoto]

HH
allow me to disagree
You speak for Germany
Here in Italy it is a film desert

I know Italy is a very weak film market compared to other European markets.
But even in Italy the situation is improving. Ars-imago has just opened a new store in Rome with 4x more space than its former shop, because of strongly increasing business. They are also offering a complete mail order service for films, photo papers, chemicals, cameras and even film processing.
http://www.ars-imago.com/index.php?language=en
http://www.ars-imago.com/index.php?language=it

To resume shooting film I plan to send my rolls in England
And costs are huge
Paul

There is an excellent lab in Trieste: Agenzia Luce. They are also offering mail order service.
http://www.agenzialuce.it/

Other option:
Send to Germany, Photo Studio 13.
http://www.photostudio13.de/
Excellent quality, international business and much cheaper than sending to England.

Cheers, Jan

 

[Samuel D]

If Germany is like that, it’s very different from France too.

In France, certainly there are labs to develop film, but the cost is non-trivial. The ones I use charge around €6 for C-41 or €11–12 for E-6. That’s development only, no prints or scans.

For typical volumes, mail order is more expensive because of shipping costs.

These prices may not deter well-heeled gentlemen amateurs. But they limit struggling artists, the very people who could do something wonderful with film.

 

[HHPhoto]

@ Prest 400:
A friend of mine in Spain is very satiesfied with this lab:
http://www.interphoto.es/

Cheers, Jan

 

[Samuel D]

Hit me with your French labs, Jan!

 

[HHPhoto]

Hit me with your French labs, Jan!

Sorry Samuel, Arka in Paris is the only recommended one I know of (a friend in Paris is using it):
http://www.arkalab.com/arka-labo-photo-paris/laboratoire-photographique.php

But developing at home or sending to Germany (Photo Studio 13, see above) are also options. E6 at Photo Studio 13 is even cheaper than C41 (!), and 120 E6 is only about 4,4€ per roll.

Cheers, Jan

 

[robert blu]

The question "do you still find film" is quite common in Italy!

From Italy I am satisfied when I send my C-41 and B&W film to carmencita film lab in Spain: quality is good and in a few days I can download the scans.

for high quality works in Milan there is this lab: http://www.studiofahrenheit.it

In my town there is also a lab which develops C-41 at reasonable price.

robert

 

[HHPhoto]

Concerning Carmencita lab in Spain:

They are very expensive compared to German professional labs. And German labs offer much more different services, too.

Cheers, Jan

 

[Prest_400]

The question "do you still find film" is quite common in Italy!

From Italy I am satisfied when I send my C-41 and B&W film to carmencita film lab in Spain: quality is good and in a few days I can download the scans.
(...)
robert

Carmencita I was referring to. They have an intense online (IG) presence and clients from all over. Russian Customers seem to have quite some importance.
The irony is that I sent a few summer rolls to a Russian lab, 16€ here vs 8€ a roll there, scanned on Frontier... nice files but long turnaround (post). So Russians send film to Spain and Spanish send film to Russia. 😀

Concerning Carmencita lab in Spain:

They are very expensive compared to German professional labs. And German labs offer much more different services, too.

Cheers, Jan

Interphoto is one of the best labs (if not the best) in Spain for development, done Dip and Dunk. Used them a few times long time ago, and probably will again because of doing E6; however I must batch for mailorder.

Carmencita is relatively expensive, BUT, They are following the model of the FINDlab, Indie, Richard, etc. which are priced Higher (now, the Spanish economic standards are lower). These allow sending film, storage of negatives to save up continuous postage back while scans are sent online.
The scans are "premium" with rather individual adjustment. 15€ with taxes for 3600x2400px scans.

The great thing they have are film prices, almost distributor level, and head to head with places like Macodirect, Fotoimpex. Some films are 2-3€ from stores. I live 200km north of Valencia and once was able to take the train, stroll Valencia (nice city) and pick up some negs and film.

***
I'd love a cheap tiff large and raw Frontier/Noritsu scanning service. In berlin there are some guys (Film Scan Berlin) that have a SP3000 and rent it out or something like that.
The large and RAW I'd love for Medium Format, because small files kind of underwhelm the raison d'etre of MF. I have a v550, do 120 myself and they are fair scans, still not maximizing but I have more resolution and control over lab results...

 

[David Hughes]

Processing could help. The question in my mind, would there be enough volume to keep a business running?

With many, they want to see the photo immediately like a screen on a digital camera. Would a fim camera that a person could immediately see it on a screen, like a digital one, help?

Just some thoughts while I enjoy a cup of coffee.

Your take.

Hi,

There was one, it as the Kodak Advantix Preview and have a small LCD screen at the back showing what you'd just taken on the film. Alas it was APS...

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

Film prices in the UK start here. My local lab does a develop and scan to CD for about three pounds. Very useful when I've just spent another pound on a film camera and need to know if it works.

Regards, David

 

[Spanik]

Film development in Belgium isn't hard, but prices are nowhere near Germany. I pay 6 euro for b&w or colour, 7 euro for slides. 100% surcharge for push/pull. But they do 4x( or 18x13 as well (but that are other prices). Scanning is possible but you better do not ask that price. And we are talking development only.

Don't know why Italy would be such a problem, Ferrania is the only one that is really starting up new production!

 

[tunalegs]

I give up, have a good day... you win.

I think I was too vague, I meant to imply that museums do not care if you value the authenticity of film or not, not to imply that museums reject work of those who don't.

I also don't give a rat's toot if somebody places no value on authenticity. As long as they don't try to tell me a plainly obvious fact is not a thing just because it doesn't suit their particular concepts. If everybody had the same priorities, photography would be a lot less interesting. Which is another reason for film, photography is a lot more interesting if people are shooting on different mediums, printing on different mediums, and so on. I don't believe film photography to be "more photography" than digital. Just that film itself is a tangible, visual, artifact, in a way digital cannot be. This doesn't make a digital image any less real, just less tangible.

Bringing it round to my original point, a lot of people enjoy working with their hands. In this day and age when life is saturated with phones and games, and streaming content - when you don't even go to a store and buy a CD or a tape to listen to music, actually having and working with a tangible medium can be immensely satisfying.

 

[pepeguitarra]

Hi,

It might be an idea to write on the back just who the picture is of and the date. Nothing's more annoying than a good photo of someone without knowing who it is or was in relation to you, the family and so on.

Regards, David

Although a good image is worth thousand words!

 

[PaulDalex]

Thanks everybody for interesting info
HH,
I wrote to ars-imago some time ago. They have an external lab here in Italy. They suggested to send a roll just to test the lab
Come on! One cannot shoot the same photo twice.
I am considering Ag Lab in Birmingham. Expensive but they have Imacon scanners.
Anybody that can tell me how good it is?
Regards
Paul

 

[PaulDalex]

Another problem for me regarding Germany is that German internet sites seldom have an English version
I would have liked to learn German but I could never find the time

 

[JChrome]

Just that film itself is a tangible, visual, artifact, in a way digital cannot be. This doesn't make a digital image any less real, just less tangible.

It also doesn't make digital any less authentic which is also my main point. It may seem intuitive to you that tangibility and authenticity have something to do with each other, but that's just not the case.

 

[BuzzyOne]

Developing B/W film is dead easy and cheap. Google Diafine. Dirt cheap, lasts forever, almost idiot proof. A simple set up with a cheap light table and DSLR on a tripod to scan your negatives and you are all set. I shoot during the week and develop on the weekends.

This is a simple scan that I left a bit rough so you can see it is film. Took seconds to scan with my D7200 and invert in Lightroom. The full res version is great.

leica M3 DS, Leica Summicron 50MM DR, Kodak T-Max 400.