What's with Kodak film pricing?

[Xmas]

There's a completely separate thread here that may repay study especially if statements can be backed up with examples from which others such as I can learn .

If the discussion can be kept at a civilised academic level then maybe some of us can learn a lot from the interaction but tacked on to the end of a Kodak Pricing thread isn't the way to bring what could be a good discussion to the wider APUGer audience.

We need the spirit of "Goodnight and Good Luck" not that of "High Noon"

Anyway of moving this to a separate thread complete with the aim of a search for wisdom and truth and "an agree to disagree" sentiment?.

pentaxuser

If you want to use Tmax100/400 or Delta100/400 or Foma200.
Soup in Tmax or Microphen.

Meter carefully until you get used to the toe.
Note I've not used Tmax100 but the others work ok at box speed for me in Microphen.

I've not used Acros either.
From choice I'd use Tx or HP5+ cause I like the grain...
If the sun is burning my skin I can use PanF I always carry a cassette.

You don't need to know about step wedges.

Noel

 

[DREW WILEY]

Sorry about the "return" thing. It's an ancient office computer overloaded with proprietary software, and it ain't my job to fix it! What this
thread needs to become is "How to knowledgeably choose an expensive film which is actually cheap to use because it has the correct characteristics for the scene in the first place". I know, that's too long a title, but it goes a long way defending premium film like Kodak TMax.
Otherwise, I wonder myself just how many price increases any of us are able or willing to put up with.

 

[flavio81]

Note I've not used Tmax100 but the others work ok at box speed for me in Microphen.

Yes but Microphen is a speed-enhancing developer; it usually gives 1/3rd to 1/2 more effective speed than D76. And an excellent developer, by the way.

For example Fomapan 400 is about ISO 250 in D76, but ISO 320 in Microphen according to Foma datasheet.

 

[Xmas]

Sorry about the "return" thing. It's an ancient office computer overloaded with proprietary software, and it ain't my job to fix it! What this
thread needs to become is "How to knowledgeably choose an expensive film which is actually cheap to use because it has the correct characteristics for the scene in the first place". I know, that's too long a title, but it goes a long way defending premium film like Kodak TMax.
Otherwise, I wonder myself just how many price increases any of us are able or willing to put up with.

Most of the Tmax I've used was expired and cheap, try Kentmere 400 and shoot more film pro rata.

 

[Xmas]

Yes but Microphen is a speed-enhancing developer; it usually gives 1/3rd to 1/2 more effective speed than D76. And an excellent developer, by the way.

For example Fomapan 400 is about ISO 250 in D76, but ISO 320 in Microphen according to Foma datasheet.

I'll only buy 1/3 of a stop for hot PQ soups, but what I posted will work, if you want to step wedge you can do.
Yes I shoot Foma 400 at 250-320 in Microphen.

D76 is quite foggy if you are scratch mixing, BTW, but I gave up on it cause of skin problems. And actually use ID-68 , the published formula for Microphen.

But Kodak and Ilford advise box speeds need to be checked out eg for meter or shutter speed problems. I've checked my speeds and meters.

 

[DREW WILEY]

If you're getting a rash from metol, just wear nitrile gloves. I wear gloves for everything in the sink room. Each film & dev combination needs to be worked out for your own style of shooting and developing. Obviously, the meter needs to be reliable. For a long time I've preferred pyro developers for general photographic use. Due to the different toe characteristics, I find I can shoot TMax films at full box speed, but never Ilford films. Too much loss of differentiation in the shadows unless I cut the working ASA in half. Maybe in a studio or in lower contrast scenes that formula can be compromised. I do a lot of photography at high altitude in the mtns where contrasts can be extreme. Similarly, I can go out in the redwoods here in the morning and there will be a lovely natural softbox effect for awhile, but then when the fog breaks, there can easily be twelve stops of range in the woods. The condition of the wind can change dramatically too during the day. That requires either more than one film in my pack or a very versatile film like TMY. When you're lugging 8x10 gear up steep hills all day long, you have to be a bit choosy about such things, since filmholders are themselves bulky and heavy. And I am very very nitpicky about how my prints come out. Going on the cheap with any bargain film would be counterproductive. Get it right the first time. If I want to simply goof off, well, that's more Nikon territory, where I can afford to waste some shots.

 

[Xmas]

If you're getting a rash from metol, just wear nitrile gloves. I wear gloves for everything in the sink room. Each film & dev combination needs to be worked out for your own style of shooting and developing. Obviously, the meter needs to be reliable. For a long time I've preferred pyro developers for general photographic use. Due to the different toe characteristics, I find I can shoot TMax films at full box speed, but never Ilford films. Too much loss of differentiation in the shadows unless I cut the working ASA in half. Maybe in a studio or in lower contrast scenes that formula can be compromised. I do a lot of photography at high altitude in the mtns where contrasts can be extreme. Similarly, I can go out in the redwoods here in the morning and there will be a lovely natural softbox effect for awhile, but then when the fog breaks, there can easily be twelve stops of range in the woods. The condition of the wind can change dramatically too during the day. That requires either more than one film in my pack or a very versatile film like TMY. When you're lugging 8x10 gear up steep hills all day long, you have to be a bit choosy about such things, since filmholders are themselves bulky and heavy. And I am very very nitpicky about how my prints come out. Going on the cheap with any bargain film would be counterproductive. Get it right the first time. If I want to simply goof off, well, that's more Nikon territory, where I can afford to waste some shots.

I need to take antihistamine as well as barrier remedies, but thanks for thought
See #202 where it says
Meter carefully until you get used to the toe
We almost never get sun here so an incident covers that.
If it is contrasty bright sun I meter for zone1, I'd also swap to PanF - one cassette last year.
The toes vary a lot between films and all the tabular grain films seem to have harder contrast toes.
Kodak film is too expensive for me here Tx is three times HP5+ bulk Tmax only a little cheaper.
I'm happy with Foma and Kentmere for people at six foot or less.
Most photos are one handed cause I got an umbrella in the other.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Drew's posts reminds me of what I know of Bruce Barnbaum.

I'll start agreeing with Drew more when he gets rid of all the unnecessary and extra Line returns in his posts :munch:.

I think he has a sticky return key. Much easier to read without those extra line returns. Now if some others would invest some time to discover the location and use of the shift key and punctuation, I might start reading their posts again.

 

[DREW WILEY]

HP5 is a wonderful film for overcast situations. Summertime is our cold season right here. Today is relatively warm for June because it's in
the 60's F. We call it "natural air conditioning". The hotter it gets inland, the colder it gets here because the marine air is pulled in. Or as
Mark Twain famously observed, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". And my place is on the other side of the
Bay, where its even windier and colder than SF. But the fog is in and out. That makes for a magnificent range of lighting, which one has to
plan for very carefully. I was doing one of my cat-and-mouse shots in the forest a few days ago, where the lighting would change up to four stops every few minutes - and I was taking a twelve second exposure. That's quite a gamble. Figure my odds of getting it right were about 50/50. I won't know until I develop the film. The patterns of light and shade are constantly changing. I love that kind of challenge,
but with 8x10 film it can get expensive. I chose ACROS for that one, due to its nearly ideal reciprocity characteristics. I wanted a bit of
movement in the image, a few blurred twigs, hence the choice of slow film instead of TMY, which I was also packing. Darn this stuff is fun.