B&W in a P&S

[Mike Kennedy]

I want to thank everyone for their response to my query.I shot a roll of Tri-X with my T4 and was quite pleased with the results.
I have a tip that might help those who bulk roll their film and also want to beat the automatic DX coding. When I first started to roll my own film I became flustered with the Kodak metal cassettes and their temperamental tops. A friend of mine who teaches photography at the local college suggested reusing film cassettes which were discarded by photo labs.It works wonderfully.I can even match the DX code with my bulk film (Tri-x and FP4).
Heres how you go about it. Get some good quality scotch tape and attach the small bit of film in the cassette to your bulk film. I stick a piece on the bottom portion first,then affix the top.Really make sure the film pieces are well joined by drawing your thumb nail over the tapped joint.Feed a bit of the film back into the cassette then roll away. This method works well for me.
NOTE:As in life the only sure things are death and taxes.I have had the film joints separate when using an automatic advance camera.Its a rarity but it does happen.You then must remove the film in a changing bag or darkroom.
Mike

 

[Jim Chinn]

There is another way to fool the camera. In Cason Graves book, "Zone System for 35mm" (not sure if that is the exact title) he shows how by using either metalic or black plastic tape you can cover the different parts of the code on the canister to make the camera expose the film to your specifications. He has a table that shows what parts to alter to change exposure of a 400 speed to 200, 100 to 50 etc. I would imagine that somewhere on the web there is a site or individual that has the information available.

 

[dbltap]

Tried an interesting experiment once, and it actually worked for me. Had a 'way out of date roll of Fujicolor 1600. Carefully removed the cap and loaded in some HP 5+. Shot the roll in my Oly Stylus Epic. Took quite a few available darkness pix. Processed in Acufine 1:1. Negs were just a tad thin, but very printable.
Jim

 

[Nathan Smith]

There is another way to fool the camera. In Cason Graves book, "Zone System for 35mm" (not sure if that is the exact title) he shows how by using either metalic or black plastic tape you can cover the different parts of the code on the canister to make the camera expose the film to your specifications. He has a table that shows what parts to alter to change exposure of a 400 speed to 200, 100 to 50 etc. I would imagine that somewhere on the web there is a site or individual that has the information available.

Good idea, google popped out a couple of interest:

1. Nelson Tan's page on DX code-breaking
2. a more general DX code info page

Nathan

 

[Nathan Smith]

one more thing ...

Here's another site on the subject:
DX Coding for 35mm

Porter's has self-adhesive labels for this purpose:
Dead Link Removed
(search for "DX Coded Film Labels")

Nathan