Slow 35 shooters?

Jeff Kubach · Dec 3, 2009

I used to shoot a lot of film when I use 35mm, but when I use my RB67 I slow downed. When I use 35mm now I go real slow. (My mind goes a lot slower now also )

Jeff

TheSohnly · Dec 3, 2009

Didn't read any of the thread besides the first post.

If I have a clear idea in mind and am shooting at a specific location, I will blow through a few rolls of film in a matter of 2-3 hours.

If I have my daily-carry camera with me and just randomly take photos that look good at the time (capturing the moment), I will take weeks to get it done.

lxdude · Dec 3, 2009

df cardwell said:
I shoot 35mm as it were 8x10,
and 8x10 like it were 35mm.

Which is weird, perhaps.

Interesting. Could you elaborate?

nyoung · Dec 3, 2009

I find I'm getting older and slower. I really miss the 20 exposure rolls of Tri-x I learned on eons ago. Thinking of going back to bulk loading so I can load short rolls. Its been years since I've "finished" a 36 before I needed to change film speed or type.

thisismyname09 · Dec 3, 2009

After moving to medium format, I've slowed down significantly in 35mm as well. The main reason I don't shoot 35 so much anymore is because it takes me a month to finish a roll!

moouers · Dec 3, 2009

nyoung said:
I find I'm getting older and slower. I really miss the 20 exposure rolls of Tri-x I learned on eons ago. Thinking of going back to bulk loading so I can load short rolls. Its been years since I've "finished" a 36 before I needed to change film speed or type.

I agree. I wish we had the option of buying 12-frame rolls.

chriscrawfordphoto · Dec 3, 2009

moouers said:
I agree. I wish we had the option of buying 12-frame rolls.

Isn't Tri-X still made in 24 exp. rolls?

MattKing · Dec 4, 2009

For travel photography, I'll shoot a fair bit.

From time to time, I'll use 35mm to approach a photographic challenge. One that benefits from experimentation - from trying a number of different angles, a number of different approaches to lighting, a number of different shutter speed/aperture combinations.

When I'm dealing with something like that, I find it really helps to shoot a lot - to work the subject, as it were. I find it helps to take a shot, and while keeping that shot in mind, adjust and then shoot another, and then continue the process. For subjects like that, I find the photograph can evolve.

Matt

photoncatcher · Dec 4, 2009

The only time I rush film, is when I have new cameras to test. Like now. I have 3 35mms to test, and 1 medium format too. If I try to rush my normal work, I just end up wasting film.

moouers · Dec 4, 2009

chriscrawfordphoto said:
Isn't Tri-X still made in 24 exp. rolls?

They sure do, and it's in my cart ready to buy .

I used to buy 36 exposure rolls, mainly for the price-per-frame ratio, but now I prefer 24 as I generally change scenes and therefore want to change development methods even before the 24 exposures are up (such as switching from contrasty night photography to overcast daylight). Since I don't process my own color yet, I usually buy a 36 roll of slides. For B&W I'd much prefer, in some cases, to buy 12 shot rolls.

Perhaps I should buy a camera body for each type of scene I am doing...let me run that by my girlfriend really quick...

flatulent1 · Dec 4, 2009

When I was in college working on projects I would go through several rolls a week, sometimes three rolls a day, rarely more. In the (many) years since then I have slowed down and become more selective.

All this changed when I bought a 5D four years ago; then it was BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! BLAM BLAM BLAM! BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! Didn't even notice I was doing it, until one day I took a newly acquired T90 out for a day of reminiscences and blew through 36 exposures in ten minutes. In an empty park, no less. How did I become so trigger happy? And I had nothing to show for it.

I have since put Satan er I mean digital behind me, and revel in the quiet introspection of an XD-11, or the occasional folder. A roll of film now lasts me weeks, if not months.

Rol_Lei Nut · Dec 4, 2009

moouers said:
I agree. I wish we had the option of buying 12-frame rolls.

Roll your own!
(Much cheaper too!)

eddym · Dec 4, 2009

lxdude said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by df cardwell View Post
I shoot 35mm as it were 8x10,
and 8x10 like it were 35mm.

Which is weird, perhaps.
Interesting. Could you elaborate?

He means that he holds the 35mm upside down so that the image in the viewfinder is inverted, like with the 8x10.

Steve Roberts · Dec 4, 2009

I'm pretty conservative in my use of film, which undoubtedly goes back to my youth when money was short and every shot had to count.
For me, one of the important things about photography as well as knowing what makes a good shot is knowing when it's just not worth pressing that button. I often take a camera out for a trip and come back not having opened the case. All too often, some seem to gauge their photographic prowess by how much film they can get through or by how much film is in their freezer.

Steve

viridari · Dec 4, 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?

I'm primarily a 120 shooter, so the sort of deliberation that this encourages translates into my 35mm and d* work as well. In fact I had a commissioned shoot last night for a Dead Link Removed, and the time constraints (finished results needed same night) demanded use of the D* gear. They were pretty stunned that I only took 12 photographs, but then happily relieved when 8 of them were delivered as finished images.

Sometimes I have to hand my 35mm SLR to my 8 year old daughter and ask her to finish the roll for me because I'm far too deliberate to get it done.

EDIT: some of you will no doubt be happy to hear that the aforementioned D* camera won't be mine anymore as of 4 hours from now. I hardly used it at all so I sold it before it passed it's short life expectancy.

fotch · Dec 4, 2009

When I started shooting with my 4x5 view camera, or any 4x5 really, I learn to take more time to get it right. I never have gone back to the days of ripping through a roll of 36x and maybe getting a few, if any, good pictures.

Marc Akemann · Dec 4, 2009

moouers said:
......I guess I just enjoy slowing down. It's part of the calming process I've come to love from photography.

Me, too. Generally, I'm a pretty darn slow shooter no matter what format I'm using. I enjoy the calmness immensely and the scene doesn't necessarily need to be a tranquil. I just feel calm behind the camera and slow down to enjoy it. Like letting some Scharffen Berger dark chocolate melt in your mouth rather than gobbling it down in just a few seconds.

-Marc

moouers · Dec 4, 2009

FilmSprocket said:
Like letting some Scharffen Berger dark chocolate melt in your mouth rather than gobbling it down in just a few seconds.

-Marc

Haha, nice analogy. Sometimes we'll give our dog a piece of good cheese and it's gone in less than a second. Just swallowed, not even chewed. Then he wants more. I don't understand!

moouers · Dec 4, 2009

Rol_Lei Nut said:
Roll your own!
(Much cheaper too!)

I've thought about this, and I suppose I really ought to give it a shot.

Sirius Glass · Dec 4, 2009

eddym said:
He means that he holds the 35mm upside down so that the image in the viewfinder is inverted, like with the 8x10.

Thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering about the statement.

Steve

Ektagraphic · Dec 4, 2009

When I am shooting with my Nikon N80 which has a fully automatic mode for those who may not know a roll of 36exp Ektachrome flies buy extremely fast. When I shoot with my Nikkormat FTn all manual a roll goes by very slowly because I take my time.....When my camera is automatic I seem to shoot like I shoot Digital

Pumal · Dec 5, 2009

There are circumstances a roll of 35 have lasted me less then 5 minutes with a Nikon F. The only roll that sometimes stays in my camera is in my Olympus Stylus Epic

denmark.yuzon · Dec 5, 2009

my last roll lasted about a month and a half.. it was a c41 b&w film.. my camera is always with me, but there are times that i dont see anything interesting, other times i dont feel like shooting, other times i dont feel like exposing two or three frames in the same location, but most of the time, i take my time to get a good photo the first time..

dynachrome · Dec 6, 2009

I have enough different cameras that I can leave film in them if I want to. One of my Minolta X-700s had had a roll of TMZ in it for more than a year. A Minolta SRT-201 has had a roll of HP-5+ in it for more than a year. A Canon F-1 has a few frames of CVS 400 speed color print film in it. I started the roll last Sunday at the Botanical Gardens Of NJ in Ringwood.

Prest_400 · Dec 7, 2009

It takes ages for me to finish a roll.

Unless there's an event or something nice going on, It takes me weeks to finish a roll. The first roll I shot, 24exp, took me about 30mins to finish, it was on a family event. My first E6 roll, still sitting at the fridge for sending out, took me a week to shoot; And that's in a nice location!
I remember that I had a roll that stayed 2 months in the camera.

My Kodachrome roll I loaded in the OM1, the 31st of October, is still at frame 14. I'm saving it for special occasions.
I do take my time when I'm shooting with the OM, It takes me about a minute to photograph something. I don't spend a lot of time adjusting the camera, maybe too because I don't have a tripod.

I plan to buy a P&S for carry all the time, something like an XA2. I calculate that I could burn rolls faster with it.

Slow 35 shooters?

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