Hi everyone

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

I have recently been getting back into photography, since I found my dads old SLR back in 2019. Prior to that, I used to use a hand-me-down DSLR in the 2010s, and a cheap "focus free" P&S as a kid in the late 90s. I shoot mainly 35mm, with a couple of 120 rolls here and there. I had converted the bathroom in my old studio apartment to a (semi permanent) temporary darkroom. I had to disassemble and carry the enlarger out of the bathroom and put it on my bed every time I wanted to take a shower, but it was so worth it. When me and my girlfriend moved in together, she gave me the go-ahead to start a new temporary (dry) darkroom in the spare bedroom, so that's my current big project. B&W darkroom work is mostly a seasonal thing for me, I shoot all spring and summer, and I retreat to the darkroom during the dark Swedish winters. I do shoot some colour, and have done some RA4 prints, though I struggle with getting the proper filtration. It's a steep learning curve for sure, and I really dont feel as passionately about it as I do about traditional B&W printing.

I also wanted to say thank you to all of you, this forum has been a wealth of knowledge while I was trying to learn film- and print processing.

albada · Nov 23, 2022

Welcome to Photrio! You'll find this is a friendly and helpful place.

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

albada said:
Welcome to Photrio! You'll find this is a friendly and helpful place.

Thank you! I subscribed to the forum RSS feed for a while before joining, and I was struck by what a friendly place it seems to be.

Sirius Glass · Nov 23, 2022

Hvesterlos said:
I have recently been getting back into photography, since I found my dads old SLR back in 2019. Prior to that, I used to use a hand-me-down DSLR in the 2010s, and a cheap "focus free" P&S as a kid in the late 90s. I shoot mainly 35mm, with a couple of 120 rolls here and there. I had converted the bathroom in my old studio apartment to a (semi permanent) temporary darkroom. I had to disassemble and carry the enlarger out of the bathroom and put it on my bed every time I wanted to take a shower, but it was so worth it. When me and my girlfriend moved in together, she gave me the go-ahead to start a new temporary (dry) darkroom in the spare bedroom, so that's my current big project. B&W darkroom work is mostly a seasonal thing for me, I shoot all spring and summer, and I retreat to the darkroom during the dark Swedish winters. I do shoot some colour, and have done some RA4 prints, though I struggle with getting the proper filtration. It's a steep learning curve for sure, and I really dont feel as passionately about it as I do about traditional B&W printing.

I also wanted to say thank you to all of you, this forum has been a wealth of knowledge while I was trying to learn film- and print processing.

Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio!!

rcphoto · Nov 23, 2022

Welcome! When I learned RA4 in college, we used a wall mounted automatic processor and I think that spoiled me. I can't imagine learning it with processing tubes although I'm sure plenty of people have.

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

rcphoto said:
Welcome! When I learned RA4 in college, we used a wall mounted automatic processor and I think that spoiled me. I can't imagine learning it with processing tubes although I'm sure plenty of people have.

Thank you! I've made do with an ilfochrome drum, and sous vide stick so far. If/when I ever get a permanent/large enough darkroom, I'll probably invest in a jobo processor. I figure it will be worth it, just by enabling large batch colour film processing. I have a huge backlog, just because I dread the days it's going to take to manually process it all.

Eric Rose · Nov 23, 2022

Welcome, ask questions post photos!

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

Eric Rose said:
Welcome, ask questions post photos!

Thank you! I wasn't aware that you could share photos here. I might post some, once I figure out how.

mshchem · Nov 23, 2022

If you want to print your color negatives stick with one type of film, I mostly shoot Kodak Portra, once you get the filtration worked out for one film/paper combination usually stays pretty stable. Of course that's true in daylight, or flash

Jobo machines are great but I managed for many years with a water bath and a aquarium heater. Nothing so luxurious as these lovely sous vide machines.

Welcome!!

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

mshchem said:
If you want to print your color negatives stick with one type of film, I mostly shoot Kodak Portra, once you get the filtration worked out for one film/paper combination usually stays pretty stable. Of course that's true in daylight, or flash

Jobo machines are great but I managed for many years with a water bath and a aquarium heater. Nothing so luxurious as these lovely sous vide machines.

Welcome!!

Thank you for the tip. I felt like I just had to try any colour film I could get my hands on, so my negatives are quite mixed. I think most of them are gold though.

I've recently been thinking about whether it's worth the price increase to switch to portra 160. Do you think the grain size/sharpness/colour will make a difference if I don't print larger than 8x10?

Andrew O'Neill · Nov 23, 2022

Welcome to Photrio, Hvesterlos! It's very easy to post in the Gallery, here. If you have any questions, just ask!

mshchem · Nov 23, 2022

Hvesterlos said:
Thank you for the tip. I felt like I just had to try any colour film I could get my hands on, so my negatives are quite mixed. I think most of them are gold though.

I've recently been thinking about whether it's worth the price increase to switch to portra 160. Do you think the grain size/sharpness/colour will make a difference if I don't print larger than 8x10?

I love Portra I think it's amazing film. There's nothing wrong with Kodak Gold. Film is way picky about the color temperature of the illumination. Pretty hard to get good color prints optically unless the film is exposed with flash or 5600° K daylight. This is what is so amazing about digital is auto (or manual) white balance, really remarkable.
All the color correction filters and color meters of the good old days, yikes!

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

Andrew O'Neill said:
Welcome to Photrio, Hvesterlos! It's very easy to post in the Gallery, here. If you have any questions, just ask!

I think I figured it out. This seems like a really cool place, I regret not joining sooner!

rcphoto · Nov 23, 2022

Hvesterlos said:
Thank you for the tip. I felt like I just had to try any colour film I could get my hands on, so my negatives are quite mixed. I think most of them are gold though.

I've recently been thinking about whether it's worth the price increase to switch to portra 160. Do you think the grain size/sharpness/colour will make a difference if I don't print larger than 8x10?

I don't think you will see much difference between 400 and 160 portra at those sizes from 35mm. At least I don't, but might as well try both. I do agree that once you find a color film you like stick with it. Although you will need to tweak the filtration some, you'll be able to get to your starting point much quicker when printing.

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

mshchem said:
I love Portra I think it's amazing film. There's nothing wrong with Kodak Gold. Film is way picky about the color temperature of the illumination. Pretty hard to get good color prints optically unless the film is exposed with flash or 5600° K daylight. This is what is so amazing about digital is auto (or manual) white balance, really remarkable.
All the color correction filters and color meters of the good old days, yikes!

That's the advantage of B&W, no colour temperature to deal with. Though cherry blossoms and autumn leaves dont look quite as nice in B&W as they do in colour...

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

rcphoto said:
I don't think you will see much difference between 400 and 160 portra at those sizes from 35mm. At least I don't, but might as well try both. I do agree that once you find a color film you like stick with it. Although you will need to tweak the filtration some, you'll be able to get to your starting point much quicker when printing.

Might make sense to go for the 400 speed then, it will give more flexibility with regards to the lighting conditions.

aparat · Nov 23, 2022

Welcome! It's a great community. I learn something new every day around here. You will, too.

Hvesterlos · Nov 23, 2022

aparat said:
Welcome! It's a great community. I learn something new every day around here. You will, too.

Thank you! It feels like at least half of what I know about photography comes from here, thanks to photrio popping up in my google searches over the years.

koraks · Nov 24, 2022

Hvesterlos said:
n I ever get a permanent/large enough darkroom, I'll probably invest in a jobo processor.

I find a Jobo very convenient for developing color film, but for RA4 prints, it's not my favorite. They're expensive these days, but if you can find one, a roller transport processor makes RA4 a whole lot more fun. I've done it in plain trays for years and that works fine, too. Room temperature even gives very acceptable results with replenished chemistry, and can work in a pinch.

And welcome to Photrio! I hope you have a fun time here and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you

Lew_B · Dec 29, 2022

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