My First Photo with film

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

Your comments are welcome...

clogz · Apr 12, 2011

Welcome! I like the pictures. They're bit grainy so ...what film, developer etc?

Hans

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

I have no idea about film and film speed before I see my first roll developed.

I used ILFord Delta 3200(way to much for a beginner like me) and gave it to well known lab in the town I live.

All those shots were hand-held and shot with Euro 30 SLR(EOS 650) camera. Now, I upgraded to Olympus OM-1n.

clogz said:
Welcome! I like the pictures. They're bit grainy so ...what film, developer etc?

Hans

moki · Apr 12, 2011

They're actually pretty good... Congratulations on coming to the dark (-room) side

Delta 3200 is indeed not a good film for beginners, especially when exposing it to 3200 as I assume you did. It usually only gets you about 1000ASA and needs to be pushed a lot, which makes it even more grainy and kills the shadow details.I propose, you try lower speed films first to get the hang of things. Shooting at night and in low light with film is a science in itself that needs to be learned with time.

marco.taje · Apr 12, 2011

I suspect Delta 3200 was a "dangerous" choice as your first roll: next time maybe try some 400iso one like HP5 or TriX.. but anyway, welcome to the dark side! I bet you'll become addicted to it ;-)

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

moki said:
They're actually pretty good... Congratulations on coming to the dark (-room) side

Delta 3200 is indeed not a good film for beginners, especially when exposing it to 3200 as I assume you did. It usually only gets you about 1000ASA and needs to be pushed a lot, which makes it even more grainy and kills the shadow details.I propose, you try lower speed films first to get the hang of things. Shooting at night and in low light with film is a science in itself that needs to be learned with time.

I really enjoy the calmness of black-and-white photos. Hope, I will find more low-light subjects in my town.

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

marco.taje said:
I suspect Delta 3200 was a "dangerous" choice as your first roll: next time maybe try some 400iso one like HP5 or TriX.. but anyway, welcome to the dark side! I bet you'll become addicted to it ;-)

I really like the grains but after these prints, I realized that I do not want it on every photo. ;-)

Further, I do not know whether it is a good idea to stick with ILFord, may be there are some better options which deliver better results.

Rol_Lei Nut · Apr 12, 2011

Nice to see the Bremen Rathaus again...

If you want a source of cheap mail-order film, look at:
http://www.fotoimpex.de/
You also might consider getting a developing tank, thermometer and chemicals to develop your own B&W (you just need a room which can be darkened - even at night - most bathrooms will do).
The quality advantage and enjoyment you'll get are certainly worth it!

If you end up using industrial quantities of film, get a film loader and buy by the metre...

Viel Glück!

bblhed · Apr 12, 2011

Your off to a good start, and it appears you have a good lab as well. Do yourself a favor and use your lab often and show them you prints and ask what you can do to get them to come out the way that you want them to look. Note I did not say better, I said the way you want them to look. Right now you want to take lots of notes about what you are doing and see if the result matches what you expected, if it does not then you will at least know how to get the result you got.

marco.taje · Apr 12, 2011

baachitraka said:
I really like the grains but after these prints, I realized that I do not want it on every photo. ;-)

Further, I do not know whether it is a good idea to stick with ILFord, may be there are some better options which deliver better results.

Not to sound patronising, but I believe you -and me, as well- have a LONG way to go before being limited by Ilford's materials.
One precious thing with the film process, is that you don't need to chase the latest gear. It's only as good as YOU are. There are no lies around that, I'm afraid. For some it's a curse, a blessing for others.

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

Rol_Lei Nut said:
Nice to see the Bremen Rathaus again...

If you want a source of cheap mail-order film, look at:
http://www.fotoimpex.de/
You also might consider getting a developing tank, thermometer and chemicals to develop your own B&W (you just need a room which can be darkened - even at night - most bathrooms will do).
The quality advantage and enjoyment you'll get are certainly worth it!

If you end up using industrial quantities of film, get a film loader and buy by the metre...

Viel Glück!

I will atleast consider buying a kind of developing kit, which I saw in lots of youtube videos.

Unfortunately like my bath room, all other rooms have windows in my rented apartment. :-(

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

marco.taje said:
Not to sound patronising, but I believe you -and me, as well- have a LONG way to go before being limited by Ilford's materials.
One precious thing with the film process, is that you don't need to chase the latest gear. It's only as good as YOU are. There are no lies around that, I'm afraid. For some it's a curse, a blessing for others.

All these samples were shot with Euros 30 SLR. ;-)

I personally feel the most important is 'composition' of shot, either with natural or studio lights.

Erik Petersson · Apr 12, 2011

I like the portrait and the hands. Do they belong to the same person?

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

No, they are not the same person.

Erik Petersson said:
I like the portrait and the hands. Do they belong to the same person?

Rol_Lei Nut · Apr 12, 2011

baachitraka said:
I will atleast consider buying a kind of developing kit, which I saw in lots of youtube videos.

Unfortunately like my bath room, all other rooms have windows in my rented apartment. :-(

A towel, closed into the bathroom window at night, is enough...

moki · Apr 12, 2011

If you don't want to do prints right now, you could at least develop the film and scan it yourself or give it to the lab for scanning or printing... you'll save a lot of money and don't really need a darkroom, just a changing bag or thick blanket in a darkened (not completely dark) room. A cheap development tank is around 20 and the chemicals aren't that expensive either. There are also starter kits with everything you need, if you don't want to buy everything separately.

It's hard to say if there's anything "better" than Ilford films. They are very good, but there are a lot of cheaper films that can be just as good for you. I like Agfa APX (same as Rollei Retro) and Fomapan very much. Half the price and still very good films. Actually there are almost no "bad" choices, just films you like or don't like. Feel free to try everything you can get you hands on and stick with whatever you like most.

baachitraka · Apr 12, 2011

Yes, I am thinking to have starter kit atleast so that I don't have to wait for four days to see my negs. :-'(

moki said:
If you don't want to do prints right now, you could at least develop the film and scan it yourself or give it to the lab for scanning or printing... you'll save a lot of money and don't really need a darkroom, just a changing bag or thick blanket in a darkened (not completely dark) room. A cheap development tank is around 20 and the chemicals aren't that expensive either. There are also starter kits with everything you need, if you don't want to buy everything separately.

It's hard to say if there's anything "better" than Ilford films. They are very good, but there are a lot of cheaper films that can be just as good for you. I like Agfa APX (same as Rollei Retro) and Fomapan very much. Half the price and still very good films. Actually there are almost no "bad" choices, just films you like or don't like. Feel free to try everything you can get you hands on and stick with whatever you like most.

JohnRichard · Apr 13, 2011

Delta 3200 is one of my favorite films to use. I LOVE the glorious grain.
I like your work very much.
Just to echo what the others have said: You seem to be on the right track, and have a great lab to work with!

guitstik · Apr 13, 2011

moki said:
don't really need a darkroom, just a changing bag or thick blanket in a darkened (not completely dark) room.

That is not correct, any light hitting the undeveloped film will cause it to fog and destroy your images. A simple and cheap changing bag is the best option, reels and tanks aren't that expensive either but don't skimp on reels as the cheap ones have a tendency to warp. Hewes reels are the best and last a life time,

Jeff Kubach · Apr 14, 2011

At least you are on the right track. Keep it up!

Jeff

baachitraka · Apr 14, 2011

3200 seems to be a magic under low-lights, when somebody is too shy to carry a tripod.

JohnRichard said:
Delta 3200 is one of my favorite films to use. I LOVE the glorious grain.
I like your work very much.
Just to echo what the others have said: You seem to be on the right track, and have a great lab to work with!

film_man · Apr 14, 2011

Like you I do not have the space (nor the time) to do my own processing. Which is a bit of an issue with true B&W films as they really do shine when you do your own development, choose the chemicals, etc, otherwise they just come back as slightly lifeless and dull when processed generically in a lab. However, by using the same lab (assuming it is a good one) you can work with them and find what they can process best.

If you really do like B&W film, I would recommend that you try the following B&W films: Kodak BW400CN, Fuji 400CN and Ilford XP2. The difference is that these 3 films are processed like colour film, i.e. the process is fixed so any lab will process them exactly as it should.

Personally I love BW400CN (Kodak why did you stop it in 120... ) and find that it can be easily used not just as 400 but 800. Another option for a fast film is using the new Portra 400. This is colour but people have shown that it can be used at 3200 (with 1 stop push in processing) and still have a great results. Convert to B&W and there you are. Not the same look, not to everyone's taste and some will consider it impure/bad/whatever to convert colour to B&W instead of using a "proper" old-man's B&W film but I always find that results are a combination of film, lab, particular location and the look you want. And you won't know if it is any good till you've tried it.

Diapositivo · Apr 14, 2011

Guitstik, I think moki meant that you can load a tank under the thick blanket - as the operation takes place under the thick blanket, it is not necessary to do it in a completely dark room. I, like you, use a changing bag myself and I think it is probably better than a blanket, because the blanket might collect dust or wool particles.

guitstik · Apr 14, 2011

Diapositivo said:
Guitstik, I think moki meant that you can load a tank under the thick blanket - as the operation takes place under the thick blanket, it is not necessary to do it in a completely dark room. I, like you, use a changing bag myself and I think it is probably better than a blanket, because the blanket might collect dust or wool particles.

I was worried that the OP might misconstrue moki's post to mean that you don't need a completely dark environment to load film. A changing bag is an inexpensive way to develop film with limited space. If the OP has never done this it would also be a good idea for him to practice in the light with an exposed roll of film and a reel until he is comfortable.

My intention was to be instructive but sometimes I come across as rude, if I did I apologize.

I think that the OP is on the right track but his choice of film needs to be fine tuned to his experience/comfort level although there is something to be said for jumping in the deep end first and learning from there.

moki · Apr 14, 2011

I didn't know, it could be read that way. I meant, what Diapositivo said... please don't ever try to load film in a room that's not completely dark, as in "I've been in here for an hour and still can't see anything but total blackness". A changing bag is is of course a good solution (apart from a darkroom), but working under a blanket does work, if you don't have the money for the real thing. Getting dust and wool onto your film is quite possible, but usually not a big problem, if you wash it very thoroughly. Many things work (I even tried an old pullover and an army backpack and got decent results), but this is a relatively safe and user-friendly way.

I started with Kodak BW400CN too before I built my own little lab... It's a nice film and very beginner friendly (can be exposed between 100 and 800 ASA withouth changing the developement), but it just doesn't have that classical black and white look, that I came to love so much. It's made for those, who want black and white pictures, but don't want to develop it themselves or pay the price for having it developed outside of the big labs... Giving a true black and white film (anything but Ilford XP2 and Kodak BW400CN) to your local drugstore for processing is not a good idea. Did it once and got bad contrast, scratches and dust all over it... they just don't know how to do it right, because it's so rare.

My First Photo with film

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