Exercising my old film cameras

DaveO · May 20, 2016

I'm thinking of shooting a roll or two of film in my F6 and FM2n instead of just dry firing them. I may take a short driving trip in the next few weeks to take pictures in the mountains and old towns near here. It would be a mix or landscape and buildings and maybe a few of street.
I'm thinking of color and b&w and was wondering about recommendations for b&w. The last b&w I used was when Kodak came out with their b&w color film. Now you know how long it's been for my shooting b&w.
I'll probably use either Ektar 100 or Portra 400 for the color film.
I've got some color film in the refrigerator that is a year or two out of date. I might use some of that also and just take it to Walgreens to get cheap processing in case it has shifted color. I don't want to pay $ 20 a roll to process film that has changed.

cuthbert · May 20, 2016

Do you want to use real B&W or C41?

In the first case I would recommend Ilford Delta 400 or Kodak Tmax, in the latter case XP2+ or Fuji Acros C41 if you can find it.

DaveO · May 20, 2016

I think that I would rather use real b&w film instead of the CN proc type. I'd probably order whatever I get from B&H. We don't have any camera stores within 2 hours of us.

Huss · May 20, 2016

DaveO said:
I'm thinking of shooting a roll or two of film in my F6 and FM2n instead of just dry firing them. I may take a short driving trip in the next few weeks to take pictures in the mountains and old towns near here. It would be a mix or landscape and buildings and maybe a few of street.
I'm thinking of color and b&w and was wondering about recommendations for b&w. The last b&w I used was when Kodak came out with their b&w color film. Now you know how long it's been for my shooting b&w.
I'll probably use either Ektar 100 or Portra 400 for the color film.
I've got some color film in the refrigerator that is a year or two out of date. I might use some of that also and just take it to Walgreens to get cheap processing in case it has shifted color. I don't want to pay $ 20 a roll to process film that has changed.

Your outdated colour film will be just fine. I shoot expired film that is decades old, literally, and as it has been cold stored I have not had any issues. The best thing that happened to me was when I lost my cheap processing location (Costco). At the time I was so happy to use it because they were cheap and quick, so I ignored the continual quality lapses. When they stopped processing film and I was forced to use my regular pro places, I could not believe the difference in quality in processing and scanning. So worth it paying the extra and avoiding incorrect processing due to expired or mishandled chemicals, and poor scanning due to lousy technique and prep.
FYI I use NorthCoastPhoto or TheFIndLab. I avoid thedarkroom as they have repeatedly messed things up.

Paul Howell · May 20, 2016

If you don't have a lab near you send off to a quality color lab. The Walgreens near me send all film to Fuji who process and email the images back to Walgreens who then prints and scan to a low quality CD. I think Wal-Mart uses the same process, Target no longer process at all.

DaveO · May 20, 2016

Thanks, I'll look at NCPS price again, since I'll have to wait even if I take it to Walmart.

Truzi · May 20, 2016

Be careful, you may not get your negatives back from Walgreens or Walmart.

Huss · May 20, 2016

DaveO said:
Thanks, I'll look at NCPS price again, since I'll have to wait even if I take it to Walmart.

for c41 I use thefindlab because they are cheaper than ncps and just as good. for e6 and real B&W I use ncps because they are cheaper than thefindlab.

MartinCrabtree · May 20, 2016

Dwaynes in Kansas. $7 USD for 35mm/36exp develop only. Add 4X6 prints $9.00.

DaveO · May 20, 2016

MartinCrabtree said:
Dwaynes in Kansas. $7 USD for 35mm/36exp develop only. Add 4X6 prints $9.00.

Sometimes the cost to mail back and forth is as much as the actual processing without prints.

MartinCrabtree · May 20, 2016

Their shipping is reasonable at $5 for the first roll and 50 cents each additional.

ciniframe · May 21, 2016

That's the trouble with us old guys. We were so used to cheap corner C-41 processing that $20 (counting both ways post) just seems too expensive. Then I remember that a loaf of bread is $3, not 15 cents anymore (yes, I'm that old). B&W is no problem, I've been doing that for 45 years, with the same equipment. On a fixed retirement now I can't consider color negative anymore, got to save my change for B&W, film and paper.

MartinCrabtree · May 21, 2016

I'll likely attempt E-6 soon. I love transparencies.

DaveO · May 21, 2016

MartinCrabtree said:
I'll likely attempt E-6 soon. I love transparencies.

My Bell and Howell cube projector chewed up the edges of slides quite a bit before it died. The cubes were a great storage system for the slides, though. Now try to find a slide projector without mortgaging your house.

cooltouch · May 21, 2016

I have an old Bell and Howell cube projector I bought back in the 80s. Still works, I suppose, but I haven't used it in years. As for finding slide projectors for less than your average home mortgage, this got my curiosity going, so I checked on eBay. Most projectors there are selling for between $35 and $100, with a lot of them in the $40 price range. Most of these are the Kodak Carousel projectors, about a bajillion different models of which were made.

When it comes to the cost of developing film these days, this is why I've begun doing my own C-41 as well as E-6. B&W I've always done. I save a huge amount of money by doing my own developing. If I want prints then I scan the negatives and take the scans down to some place that will make decent prints from scans. Most of the time, though, I just want to have the film developed so I can archive it and maybe make the occasional print from it.

nolanr66 · May 21, 2016

DaveO said:
Sometimes the cost to mail back and forth is as much as the actual processing without prints.

It's been a while but I shipped a roll to Dwaynes for processing + prints. They did a good job but the cost was significant. Film+shipping+packaging+development+prints+return shipping and the next thing you know I was out $25.00 for a roll of film. The prints are from scanned files.

My son recently starting shooting film when he came across a Contax 35mm camera and a couple of lenses. He is one to go gung-ho for things right away but before you know it he bought a B/W developing kit, a film scanner from Good Will auctions for $10.00, a Bulk loader from GoodWill auctions for $5.00 and he was out shooting film and processing at home for about $100.00 not counting the camera. He bought me a bulk loader as well. It's a Watson model with instructions and it came with some cassettes. I have 100 feet of HP5 on the way to try it out. B/W is my hobby but until now I have been buying roll film as I keep skipping around brands and such. However I am committing to HP5 for a while.

Anyway, however you go about it have fun with the F6 and FM2n. I own a F100 and FM2n and mostly shoot the FM2n using AFD lenses.

DaveO · May 22, 2016

If I send a roll of film to Dwaynes, I won't bother with prints or a disk which will save a little money. My printer does pretty good prints since it has 6 color inks.

Exercising my old film cameras

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