Slow 35 shooters?

moouers · Dec 2, 2009

Do most people blow through a couple rolls of 135 in an hour, or are there some that are more deliberate in their use of this smaller format?

It took me two days of about four hours each to use up one 24 exposure roll of Tmax 100. Granted most of the shots were 1-2' night photographs, but I'd spend quite a few minutes setting up the camera for that exact image I knew I wanted in my head.

Despite using a smaller format, I guess I just enjoy slowing down. It's part of the calming process I've come to love from photography.

jonsparkes · Dec 2, 2009

My last roll of 36 lasted for about a week

pentaxuser · Dec 2, 2009

IMHO, it's all down to your mental approach to picture taking and has little to do with the format. I don't blast away either in 35mm and inevitably despite this measured approach still find that in a 24 or 36 frame roll I still have shots that after seeing the negs I wonder why I took them.

pentaxuser

2F/2F · Dec 2, 2009

Sometimes (often, even) I take a 35 and do not end up shooting much, so the roll will sit in the camera. I do not think that this counts for what you are talking about, however.

When I want to take my time, I generally do not use 35mm. (The next step up will be 645 Mamiya or 6x6 Mamiya.) I use 35mm mostly to get pictures that I could only get using 35mm.

This does not necessarily mean that I shoot 35mm like a Gatling gun. It just means that I use it for subject matter where I have no (or extremely little) setup time available.

I do use 35mm for certain pre-envisioned projects, even when I take my time and such. I have done this with the intent to use tiny contact prints, or to make enlarged proofsheets, as well as shooting for a slide as the desired final product. I am using 35mm for a current long-term project, in which I am taking thousands of pictures. The collection of pictures together in filmstrip form is the desired final product, so 35mm is perfect. I'll be able to get a few rolls on each page of the book I want to make this way.

I also take my time with 35mm for 2D copy work, and/or making slides of artists' 3D work.

Joachim_I · Dec 2, 2009

It simply depends on what I encounter. If there is perfect light (like after a thunderstorm), I can expose two films in five minutes. If I don't see anything interesting, a film can last for weeks.

I need the same amount of time per picture for 6x7 and 35mm. 6x7 only takes longer because I usually set up a tripod. But I spend the same amount of time on composition etc.

df cardwell · Dec 2, 2009

I shoot 35mm as it were 8x10,
and 8x10 like it were 35mm.

Which is weird, perhaps.

Poisson Du Jour · Dec 2, 2009

By my training I am very slow and deliberate on 35mm, even with pinhole in 6x6 (with is an entirely different animal!). A roll can be in-camera for a month. No rush. I'm there to enjoy the scenery as much as record it. No spurious guessing and lots of time for taking notes and making additional observations e.g. of variations I might try on my next (and subsequent) visits.

Just one notable exception: if I'm shooting in or near a thunderstorm, I get the whole kit caboodle up, running then packed away smartly — then I skidaddle for cover!

nickandre · Dec 2, 2009

I have two bodies, one for the odds and end roll i blast off during my free time and one of legit pictures.

Ian Grant · Dec 2, 2009

Err my current roll of Tmax100 has been in the Pentax 2 years at least But now I have a decent 35mm camera a Varex IIb I might speed up

As said bhefore once you shoot LF, 5x4 or 1`0x8 you slow down make every frame count.

Ian

Christopher Walrath · Dec 2, 2009

I might go through a roll on a day on the trail but I am slow and deliberate with every shot. Why waste the film, right?

Poisson Du Jour · Dec 2, 2009

Ian,
Huh—? Your TMax has been in-camera for 2 years!? Man, that's real slow. R e a l s l o w. . . .
On any format a slow and studious approach is beneficial and much can be learnt that way. Seen how the tech-happy digisnapparazzi do it? Bang, bang, bang, bang. Delete, delete, delete, delete. Bang, bang, bang, bang (to borrow 2F/2F's analogy, just like a Gatling gun, and still missing the target! ).

Richard Wasserman · Dec 2, 2009

The larger the format the slower I work. I use 35mm to more or less react to things I see, often not very consciously. When I'm in the flow I burn up a lot of film (a roll in 5-10 minutes), with a low hit rate, but it's fun and very interesting to discover later what I was seeing. This is very different from how I work in 4x5 which is slowly and deliberately.

Sirius Glass · Dec 2, 2009

I have two 35mm SLR - one for color print, one for black & white print.

I have three 120 camera - four backs for two of them => one for color print 100 , one for color print 400 , one for black & white print 100 and one for black & white print 400. The folder gets what ever I feel like shooting that day.

I shoot only what I want to, usually slowly and carefully and almost never in a burst.

Steve

jphendren · Dec 2, 2009

Yes, I am. I always shoot my 35mm camera's from a tripod with a cable release. Since early August, I have been through about five or six 36-exposure rolls of Velvia 50. A roll can sit in my camera for weeks before being completed. Galen Rowell said to slow down, and treat your 35mm like a 4x5".

Jared

DWThomas · Dec 2, 2009

Maybe it's a holdover from my early years when I couldn't afford to blast away, but I shoot all formats, including that which shall not be named, in a generally slow and deliberate fashion. Sure, wandering through Venice on a sunny day I might go through two or three rolls in a day, but in general the object is quality not quantity. Ideally I get some good representations of what the place was like, as no matter how many shots I take, I can't truly bring the place back with me.

DaveT

removed-user-1 · Dec 2, 2009

When I was learning on 35mm in the 1990s, I took a lot of pictures; maybe several rolls a day if I went out shooting. One weekend trip to the beach, I brought 20 rolls of film and shot most of it! At that time, film was cheap for me (mostly bulk-loaded b+w or expired E6), and processing was almost free thanks to school. But I generally work more slowly now, even with 35mm.

This past June in Costa Rica, I made my 5 36-exposure rolls of Fuji 200 print film last for almost two weeks, finally running out with three days to go. I left the camera on single frame advance the whole time (I find that helps a lot!). To be fair about this, I also had a digital SLR with me and used it much of the time, but I pulled out the F100 when I KNEW I wanted a negative, or when I wanted the full effect of the 24mm Nikkor.

PS - The one camera I wish I had brought on that trip was the RB67, and some 120 size Velvia.

Colin Corneau · Dec 2, 2009

What's right for you, is right for you.

I've looked all over the box, and I can't find instructions on how fast to shoot the stuff...

bobwysiwyg · Dec 2, 2009

Colin Corneau said:
What's right for you, is right for you.

I've looked all over the box, and I can't find instructions on how fast to shoot the stuff...

You're just not looking hard enough.

chriscrawfordphoto · Dec 2, 2009

I tend to be wasteful of film with 35mm because I don't generally use a tripod when I am shooting 35. If I want to cary that weight around, might as well shoot medium format and get better quality. I always feel unsteady and fear that I'll blur a photo handheld, so I shoot a few of each composition to be sure I get a sharp one. All of them are usually sharp but I do blur one fairly often, so I feel the expense in film is worth it. I do not shoot a huge number of different compositions on each roll, in that I am deliberate, usually every composition is good, but I need the extra shots as insurance against my shaky body

removed account4 · Dec 2, 2009

im not too slow.
i am sitting on rolls and sheets of film and boxes of paper.
my goal / new years resolution every year is to use it up,
but i can shoot fast enough to do that.

i don't understand the shooting slow thing.
if you shoot too slow you miss the image!

but to each their own
-john

Pylon757 · Dec 3, 2009

Ironically, considering I'm coming from d*****l, I shoot 35mm fairly conservatively, mainly since it costs money. My current roll of HP5 has been loaded for about a week, and I still got 7 more frames left. But then I've never shot any of the larger formats.

DLawson · Dec 3, 2009

moouers said:
Do most people blow through a couple rolls of 135 in an hour, or are there some that are more deliberate in their use of this smaller format?

Depends on what I'm up to.

When I first got back into this, I took a late summer walk on some trails I like, got caught up in both the woods and the shooting. The result was a 4 hour walk and 2 rolls of 135-36. I haven't shot two rolls in a day since.

My shooting of late is on lunchtime walks. If I go out with something in mind, I may shoot half a roll. Usually the idea could fill a roll, but lunch isn't long enough. If I'm shooting what I stumble upon while I'm out, I'll shoot somewhere between zero and four frames.

I'm trying to slow down and get overall exposure better. (It's all Ansel Adams' fault. Who knew there could be detail in shadows?) But I try not to let that make me more stodgy than I already am.

eddym · Dec 3, 2009

Well, obviously it depends on what you are shooting. If I'm shooting an event, such as sports, a wedding, or other activity, I might go through several rolls pretty quickly. Shooting street photography may be the same way... or not. When I shoot portraits I usually shoot several rolls. I usually don't put film in the camera unless I expect to finish it. That said, I might keep a roll in one camera just for the occasional "grab shot." In that case it may take a while to finish the roll, and I will often process it before it is finished, especially if I think I may have something on it that I really want to see.

Jesper · Dec 3, 2009

I tend to be rather curious about the result so I usually develop after each time I take the camera out, but if my shooting is slow or fast depends a lot on what I shoot.

spencewine · Dec 3, 2009

I do mostly street shooting. On a good day I can blast through 3 rolls of 36 exp in 3 hours. On a bad day, I might take 1 or 2 shots. While hiking (landscapes), i tend shoot a roll (36 exp) of B&W and another 30- 50 shots on my digi. In general, I go with my gut and just shoot, the results don't always come out the way I had in my head, but I learn by making mistakes.

Slow 35 shooters?

removed-user-1

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