Usage of color film / B&W film

Usage of color film / B&W film

  • 100% B&W

    Votes: 77 15.1%

  • Over 80% B&W

    Votes: 174 34.1%

  • 60-80% B&W

    Votes: 93 18.2%

  • About half-and-half

    Votes: 68 13.3%

  • 60-80% color

    Votes: 40 7.8%

  • Over 80% color

    Votes: 41 8.0%

  • 100% color

    Votes: 18 3.5%
  • Total voters
    511
I just sold my DSLR and gone fully to film. I don t know how to develop film by myself so I m shooting color most of the time. As soon as I learn to develop b&w I ll shoot it more often.
 
I am not into digital though I have a digital camera and I find the color from it so good and "subjective accurate" that there is no need to shoot color film. Besides, if I shot color film I'd end up scanning it for a digital file anyway. These days there aren't many analog choices for color. I like the look of 400x but there no analog output option now that Cibachrome (Ilfochrome) is dead. B/W film is what photography means to me now days.
 
I mainly shoot digital now. But when I shoot film its mainly color. Previously (pre digital) it was mainly black and white film - color process (XP2 more often than not) due to the ease of getting it developed. But now as most negatives end up being digitised anyway, I prefer to shoot in color and then convert to black and white in post processing. This gives maximum flexibility both because it gives me a color version of the shot as well as a black and white version of the same shot and because I can get the nicest black and white version available by manipulating the conversion process.
 
Okay, what did i put down...? Yes, 60-80% b/w. The rest is color, and 95% of all this is via film. I have two digital cameras at my disposal, but they don't get out much save for some basic, utilitarian stuff, or the very rare gig where the client insists (whether for logical reasons or not), where they need me to shoot digital.

Among the b/w stuff, over two-thirds of what I shoot at the moment is chromogenic, since I'm still sorting out my film-developing suite (can't do it in the kitchen, and the basement's being redone as I write this, so it'll be a while, and I have 30+ rolls awaiting souping). Lately it's been all Kodak BW400NC because (1) it's always available, and (2) it's a damn sight cheaper than XP2 Super at the moment, although I love XP2 enough to occasionally ignore that second factor...assuming Factor #1 doesn't intercede. :bang:


- Barrett
 
Good poll!
I just realised that in the last 5 years I haven't shot a single roll of colour film, either 35mm or 120.

I think I'll do both in the next few weeks just to see the results!
 
I'd love to shoot more B&W (probably running less than 20% now). Mostly shooting colour for reasons mentioned by others: convenience.

One point I haven't heard mentioned: I enjoy shooting most while on vacation and travelling. I easily find colour minilabs and colour print film while travelling, rarely do I find any kind of slide or B&W film.

I intensely dislike adding any additional hassles/uncertainty to airport security - I travel through some pretty annoying airports, far too often, in places not known for their (ahem) official hospitality. Protecting the film I travel with would add another level to that. So colour makes it possible for me to enjoy my hobby without aggravation.

I know there are a lot of caveats that could be added to this: most airport scanners are ok (wouldn't trust them in my case though), colour film not so readily available (my experience is decent), etc.

For example, I was just in the former Yugoslavia in a smallish city, granted, with a tourist industry (mostly local). Minilabs in several places, 5 Euro a roll for prints, developing and another (no-name) roll to feed my habit. Quality not bad. I saw the kind owners of the minilab every night after a day exploring, picked the prints up in the morning and pored over them with coffee at the cafe across the street before heading out again.
 
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For film i choose b&w just because I can process everything myself in the comforts of my own home. I enjoy searching for contrast in images I want to take rather than the color arrangements. Although I'm beginning a color project for a dslr, color is nice in that but medium and large format films>everything else hehe.
 
For 120 shooting currently shooting B&W (mix of Fomapan 200 and EDU 200
For 35mm doing test of B&W C41 films to see which I like best
For development/processing Snap shot go to Costco and the important stuff goes to a local photography chain, that send everything to a central processing center in Richmond VA, Turn around time is 1-3 days depending on what type of film/processing/scanning.
 
What differences do you see in the Costco vs. Photo Chain 35mm lab work?

I ask because I suspect that Costco work may vary. My Costco photo-manager is careful with keeping his equipment in good repair and chemicals up to spec. If you are doing machine prints, or develop only, or machine to CD, then I suppose a higher quality processing setup might do better than my local Costco's Noritsu (ten years old) processor. I don't know. Of course, custom prints are another topic.
 
I shoot mostly colour negatives. I got into film shooting with toy cameras, and wanted to develop at home, so c-41 and cheap film was definitely my best route at the time. Since I've gotten into shooting 35mm(2 years ago or so) I've been trying to see in black and white, and shoot more, but I'm progressing very slowly. The almost constant disappointment in the results I get just puts me off shooting black and white more. I did recently get a second body though, which is constantly loaded with b&w, so it's no longer a mental competition that colour's just bound to win when I'm picking my next roll to load.
 
I have been shooting about 90% black and white for the last couple of years. Every once in a while I like to load in some funky color film just for fun, usually my still-formidable stockpile of expired Fuji reversal and transparency film. I had been using this local mini-lab for all my chromogenic B&W and for every roll I'd get developed, he'd give me a free roll of Centuria color film. So now I have about twelve rolls of the stuff and have added that to my rotation as well. I suspect that in the coming months I'll be shooting a few color rolls every so often so I voted Over 80% B&W. I do like the way my Summicrons can look with color negs, expired or fresh alike. Even when I have a DSLR with me the look I can get with color film is unique.

I finally got the materials to develop my own B&W at home again as well as a halfway decent scanner so B&W will definitely be the majority but I suppose I'll still want to run the odd roll of color film through my Leica every so often so there will be at least five rolls of some kind of color film in my fridge at some point.
 
mfunnell said:
I said 50/50. I think I intend to shoot more BW than colour but that logistics often defeat me. I'd like to shoot real BW but don't develop my own (I know, I should change that) and am usually too impatient to have it sent out. So, I mostly shoot BW400CN, which is acceptable even if it isn't Delta 400. But I've only found one minilab which reliably processes that without nasty colour-casts, so I tend to use them - which builds in delays as I can't often get to them. With others I find it easier to get a good result doing my own BW conversion from lab scans of colour negs. (I'm trying to avoid the time taken doing my own scans, but often find I need to scan my own negs from colour-cast C-41 BW.)

Also, Fuji makes decent ISO 800 and 1600 colour film. And, finally, its often handy to have colour loaded if I only have one camera with me. For those shots that need colour, its there. And for those better in BW, well, I just convert the scans. Again, probably not quite as good as even C-41 BW but more convenient.

...Mike
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I thought Kodak's cast was intended to make it a breeze for mini-labs to print on colour paper? That's too bad. When I knew I was going to be getting a new scanner (and not paying for prints from the mini-lab anymore) I switched over to Ilford XP2 because it lacks the cast on the negative. Another reason was that it also makes it possible to do wet prints down the road, should you be inclined.
 
Just got back to photography after a long break and will be processing my first b&w film for years at the weekend! Been finding myself mostly taking colour film but converting the scans to B&W so will probably end up using 50/50....mind you haven't thought about slides yet!
 
kshapero said:
Totally agree, but I can't find a reliable slide projector anywhere.
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Granted, it's getting harder. I got one off ebay that sucked. Then I found one at a local ACTS type store that is fine. I just don't shoot that much slide film any more due to the cost. But I sure love a good projected shot.


In the poll I voted 60-80 % color. That is due to mostly convenience of the local CVS. Now that I have my own enlarger, I think that will change.
 
I chose "Over 80% B&W".

For some reason, I cannot shoot in colour but I know it's probably my silly mind telling me I can only shoot in black and white, which is probably true.

I can't seem to capture the real deal with colour.

Friends tell me "just shoot in colour and change it to black and white in Photoshop"

Me: "WHAT?."

and no, I do love the real deal black and white thank you very much.
 
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