Getting to know your film - what does that mean to you?

markbarendt said:

You make a great point Smudger.

It's hard for me to find a film that I don't like.

Metered at box with an incident meter and processed per the instructions they all seem to work well too. I do view as important knowing what situations I like the results of each film in.

Where I see using one film and highly tested processes as an advantage is in repeatability. That's great for commerce or setting up an assembly line darkroom process or even teaching because the results are measurable.

I'm not so sure that absolute repeatability is an important artistic quality or that that ridgid, one film, style of working is the best. In fact I find it stifling artistically.

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I agree somewhat with what yos say Mark. However, knowing how a specific film and developer combo works also allows a person to bend the outcome easier, alowing for greater freedom to play. I believe that is what makes getting to know your film important.

Rick A said:

I agree somewhat with what yos say Mark. However, knowing how a specific film and developer combo works also allows a person to bend the outcome easier, alowing for greater freedom to play. I believe that is what makes getting to know your film important.

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Don't get me wrong, I believe it is important to know what to expect when you put a certain film in the camera.

What I'm getting at here is that perceived freedom is a matter of working style and preference for a certain result.

Your freedom, if you stick with one film, is limited by that film's intrinsic qualities. That allows you to think about others things in the process though.

I love Delta 100 but it has real limits, Delta 400 is more flexible but it's harder to work with in my RB when it's bright out. XP2 has a look that I really like for some subjects and I'd really have to struggle to get the Deltas to match it. they each have there place in my bag.

It seems to me that anyone who feels the need to use three films and two developers really is unsure just what subjects they want to photograph. Do they want to do landscapes. street scenes, figure studies, etc? Once this decision is made it is easier to find a single film/developer combination. Avoid being a "jack of all trades ..."

Gerald C Koch said:

It seems to me that anyone who feels the need to use three films and two developers really is unsure just what subjects they want to photograph. Do they want to do landscapes. street scenes, figure studies, etc? Once this decision is made it is easier to find a single film/developer combination. Avoid being a "jack of all trades ..."

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It seems to me that anyone who feels the need to stick to one subject on one film really is just unsure their ability to photograph various other interesting subjects. Do they want to live on a strict diet of bacon, eggs, and tatters the rest of their life too? Once the decision is made to experiment with other subjects a single film/developer combination seems truly boring and quite a constraint. Avoid being a "one trick pony ..."

In that case anyone who wants to mix and match different subjects - maybe on the same roll - is better off with a mor universal combo, especially as a beginner.

But especially beginners fall for the marketing bla and hunt for the finest grain, the best tonality and the best push development and buy specialty products that are a bit too tough to master (or just mediocre products with an extra portion of marketing bla). And then they they are not happy with the results and start trying more and more and more... and often they do not develop good habits like proper exposure and proper processing but enter a vicious cycle. I saw that many times. In the end they buy digital cameras.

Knowing my film means that when I open the fridge, it says "Hello buddy" and I feel better about grabbing my last beer. I know it likes sunsets on the beach, climbing mountains, canyoneering--a lot like me actually. Then, when it comes to long trips in the backcountry, I read to it in the tent at night and we discuss all the beauties and evils of the world. It's really great.

But when it comes time to shoot, I know exactly what to expect and how to expose each shot for what I see in my head.

I'm not espousing sticking to one film one developer, quite the contrary. I am saying that whatever film(s) you choose, know their capabilities and which developers will render whatever it is that you want to portray. I shoot basically three b&w films, and use three developers. I try to know when to grab the one that I need for the situation I will be experiencing. Like Mark says, Delta 100 doesn't do what Delta 400 will, and vice versa. Knowing when to shoot which makes all the difference between getting the money shot and having a roll of negatives that aren't worth printing.

Rick A said:

Knowing when to shoot which makes all the difference between getting the money shot and having a roll of negatives that aren't worth printing.

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Yes.

cmo said:

In that case anyone who wants to mix and match different subjects - maybe on the same roll - is better off with a mor universal combo, especially as a beginner.

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I agree.

cmo said:

But especially beginners fall for the marketing bla and hunt for the finest grain, the best tonality and the best push development and buy specialty products that are a bit too tough to master (or just mediocre products with an extra portion of marketing bla). And then they they are not happy with the results and start trying more and more and more... and often they do not develop good habits like proper exposure and proper processing but enter a vicious cycle. I saw that many times. In the end they buy digital cameras.

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The thing I think is great about the Lomo craze is that they understand that photography is for many of us is all about fun, not necessarily about line pairs per millimeter, pushing or pulling, stand development, being within 0.1% of perfect exposure, and all the techie nonsense.

Sure its fine to enjoy the geeky stuff but there's nothing wrong with shooting like HCB either.

I've been shooting for a couple of years and have used only a couple of different films: mostly fp4+ and hp5, sometimes neopan1600. This is not a real choice, since I buy them in a local shop which has very few products, but at least now I can say I really know these films, and expecially fp4.
Better, I know what I get when using fp4 with one of my cameras and a specific developer (taking into account also time, agitation...). Most important thing, I trust this film, know its potential and try to get the best from it.
On the other hand, I'm getting quite bored with it, and so I just bought other films from the web. It's good to experiment, but if someone asks me to do an important work now, I would use fp4, because knowing a film means trusting it.

The paradox of knowing one film and developer, your favorite film is the same film that drives you crazy.

Why not there be only one film of ASA 100 and another one of ASA 400? I mean why many manufacturers, only 2 manufacturers will be fine, say they keep Fuji Acros 100 and Kodak Tri-X 400 and they discontinued all other films in B&W, or if some prefer keep Delta 100 and TMAX 400 and discontinue all other films, sure those any two films will do the job in all cases and lights and conditions, even keeping only 2 developers in production there, no need for many developers out there, if keeping one film and one developer is the best way, why not all of us photographers in the world united for one film only over the world with one developer, and saying that each film give different look or style so each one choose what suit him i feel is pointless, one film can be manipulated to have flat or contrasty or big latitude, many times i take 4 different films rolls developed and i look at them, i can't hardly tell which is better or suit me, all of them giving me the results i want under same situations, for Example i tested Delta 400 and HP5+ and Tri-X and TMAX 100, i used same developer for all of them, believe me, if i didn't see the name of the film on the edges of the roll i will never tell which film is which.

TareqPhoto said:

Why not there be only one film of ASA 100 and another one of ASA 400?

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Because a good amount of competition between the manufacturers is good for the consumers and leads to better films.

cmo said:

Because a good amount of competition between the manufacturers is good for the consumers and leads to better films.

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And as long as there is competition, there is a market strong enough to support several manufacturers. That is definitely good news for us.

Karl-Gustaf

Then i hope they don't discontinue more films, instead they produce better and better film all the time if they want to keep film world.