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302w

Photo developing in North Jersey

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5 minutes ago, Tunaman said:

20 dollars a roll?  Thats bullshit man...used to be like 5 bucks.  Time to go digital.

Costco was actually $2 until two years ago when they dropped it. 

I'm dabbling in film for the fun of it

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34 minutes ago, sota said:

Fuck digital.

Maybe some of you forget how stunning a 48"x60" print from a 6x7 slide is, but I don't. Digital can't touch it.

How about a 4x5? Nor can digital b&w come near a silver b&w print.  A 35mm negative has more resolution than most digital cameras deliver.

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Color or B&W?

Off the top of my head, likely Unique photo in Fairfield for color, and Boonton Photo *may* be able to still do B&W for you.  Unique may also do B&W, or they may send it out.  Which if you have a few rolls at a time to develop, may also be an option for you (I haven't looked).  I still have a roll of B&W in one of my SLRs that I started shooting in 2010/2011 and haven't bothered finishing, and I used to work somewhere where it was free for me to develop.  I never particularly enjoyed shooting film, and I'm glad I didn't spend more than $225 on my EOS3.

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As of a few years ago, Walmart would send film out for developing at a very reasonable price.  Not sure if they still do, but they do still sell 35 mm film.   I've got an underwater camera that uses film; it's the one camera I use so infrequently that I couldn't justify converting to digital.

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On 6/14/2018 at 11:37 PM, sota said:

Fuck digital.

Maybe some of you forget how stunning a 48"x60" print from a 6x7 slide is, but I don't. Digital can't touch it.

Yes you are right but... who wants to lug around a medium or large format camera? How may 48x60” prints are you planning to print? Digital SLR’s have caught up and in most cases surpassed 35mm in terms of overall resolution. I get the hobby or artistic uses of the old formats but for most everyone else in the world digital is the way to go.

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I LOVE film & can still teach how to use it.  All formats.  I did news photography starting at age 12 (Dad was a full-time Photog at the local paper) but stated learning B&W photography at age 8 (now 50 years ago).  I ran a photo business & freelanced for newspapers & the Associated Press.  I have used a changing bag to travel to foreign countries with Kodak High Speed Infra-Red in 35mm cassettes & handle them in total darkness, even to load the camera.  Gave TSA lessons in how to "see with their hands" using a changing bag at the airports so my film wouldn't be ruined by exposure to ambient (room) light.  So if you wanna learn how to develop yer own B&W, or do anything else w/ traditional "wet" photography, look me up. 

I speak silver halide fluently & still own a complete Leica M6TTL rangefinder collection w/ 21-135mm optics, many of which are apochromatic (all wavelengths of light fall onto a single image plane which requires no adjustment/focus compensation to shoot infra-red).  Apo lenses are the sharpest in the world and were first designed under contract to the CIA for use in the SR-71 Blackbird Spy Plane.  To this day they serve an excellent purpose as they don't let light scatter and cause "color fringing" aka chromatic aberrations.  These aberrations cause a slight overlapping of the various colors of the visible spectrum as the light is transferred onto the emulsion.  I have a 20" x 30" wall portrait of my son that was taken with the Leica M6TTL & my 135mm F3.4 Apo using Kodak Portra 160 rated at 100.  Tack-sharp & hardly any grain noticable, with beautiful bokeh.

Slowing down and using film requires THINKING.  The THINKING instill LEARNING, especially about exposure & composition.  Digital mavens shoot pix with telephone poles growing out of peoples' heads.  Real (FILM) Photogs adjust angle of camera and/or subject to GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME :)  Film photography MAKES YOU A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHER instead of the receiver of "Happy Accidents".

Looking forward to discussing film with anyone here.

Rosey

F8 & BE THERE!

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So.. 

My Argus has shutter speeds of 10, 50, 100, 300. If using 200 speed film, what should my speed be?

I have my first canister being developed. I'm going to be bummed when they're all horribly exposed.

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48 minutes ago, 302w said:

So.. 

My Argus has shutter speeds of 10, 50, 100, 300. If using 200 speed film, what should my speed be?

I have my first canister being developed. I'm going to be bummed when they're all horribly exposed.

In days of old, without a meter, you matched your shutter speed to your film speed (200 ISO film gets a shutter speed of 200 or thereabouts), and then used the "Sunny 16" mantra. F/16 aperture for a bright sunny scene, adjusting down from that. And always bracket if possible.

Film boxes used to have a chart. I am sure 12 seconds on Google would get you the chart you need.

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8 minutes ago, dajonga said:

In days of old, without a meter, you matched your shutter speed to your film speed (200 ISO film gets a shutter speed of 200 or thereabouts), and then used the "Sunny 16" mantra. F/16 aperture for a bright sunny scene, adjusting down from that. And always bracket if possible.

Film boxes used to have a chart. I am sure 12 seconds on Google would get you the chart you need.

Yes, but my confusion arises with being unable to set my shutter speed to 200. It's 100 or 300

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Sunny 16 was taught to me half a century ago:

Shutter speed is expressed as a fraction, E.G.:  1/200th sec. for 200 speed film, 1/100th sec for 100 speed fine grain film.

Bright sun w/ distinct shadows F16

Hazy sun w/ very light shadows F11

Cloudy bright w/o any shadows F8

Cloudy dull (like prior to a summer rain storm) F5.6

Open shade under a shade tree on a bright sunny day F5.6

NOTE:  Doubling the exposure TIME (going from 1/200th to 1/100th sec.) is equivalent to "opening-up a full F-stop", so you can use F-stops & shutter speeds IN COMBINATION to obtain desired effect such as more or less depth-of-field.  Cloudy dull 1/200th sec at F5.6 is the same exposure as 1/100th sec. at F8 or 1/50th sec at F11.  The F8 iris setting (F-stop) will yield more depth-of-field and the F11 setting even more than F8. 

Going from 1/200th sec. to 1/300 sec. is the same exposure as closing down the lens aperture by half an F-stop.  So at 1/300th sec. in bright sun with 200 speed film, the correct exposure is 1/300th sec. at F16 - F11 (right between the two numbers).

Print this out on your printer & carry it with you.  It works for any film speed :) 

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200 speed film w/ shutter speed of 1/300th sec. exposure table:

Bright Sun F16 - 11

Hazy Sun F11 -8

Cloudy Bright F8 - 5.6

Cloudy Dull F5.6 - 4

Open Shade (on a bright & sunny day, under trees) F5.6 - 4

 

200 speed film exposed at 1/100th sec. shutter speed exposure table:

Bright Sun F22

Hazy Sun F16

Cloudy Bright F11

Cloudy Dull F8

Open Shade (on a bright & sunny day, under trees) F8

 

Note:  Antique cameras' top shutter speeds are often slower than marked because dust gets into the shutters' lubrication and SLOWS IT DOWN.  Experiment & enjoy learning how to compose to make every exposure count :) 

Rosey

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You are better off overexposing color negative film a bit (1/3 to 1/2 stop) than underexposing.  Color is richer.  Lab may return light prints just tell them to print them over. 

If you're using 400 speed set meter to 320.  200 speed 160.

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My first roll of film is very overexposed. I was not aware of bumping up one F stop because I was shooting 200 film at 100. 

That should actually help in low light, correct? I was taking pictures of my pets at 2.8 in a darkish room. I wonder if it will display anything. 

I want to keep shooting 200 speed film at 100 to keep learning at this time, but I should probably jump to 1/300 if taking pictures in snow or on a beach, no?

How abysmal is 200 speed in an average indoor setting at my speed? Should I accelerate my speed to 1/50?

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4 hours ago, 302w said:

My first roll of film is very overexposed. I was not aware of bumping up one F stop because I was shooting 200 film at 100. 

That should actually help in low light, correct? I was taking pictures of my pets at 2.8 in a darkish room. I wonder if it will display anything. 

I want to keep shooting 200 speed film at 100 to keep learning at this time, but I should probably jump to 1/300 if taking pictures in snow or on a beach, no?

How abysmal is 200 speed in an average indoor setting at my speed? Should I accelerate my speed to 1/50?

Based on what you're saying your film was severely underexposed.  The negatives were pretty much clear weren't they?  If overexposed they would be very dark.

If you were shooting f2.8 @ 1/100 with 200 iso in a  darkened room that was underexposed. Most people don't realize the difference in the intensity of light.  Bright sunlight is thousands of times brighter than average room light.  Exposure for a brightly lit gym with 1600 iso would be f2.8-f4 at 1/250.  A well lit office (much brighter than your average home lighting) would be f2.8-4 @ 1/30 with 400 iso.

I did a lot of available light photography.  Theater, art, and surveillance photography.  I used 1600 for color and 1600, 3200, or 6400 for black and white.  Most times with b&w negative film it was push processed. For example 400 iso shot at 1600 by developing it longer.  Some color slide films were capable of being push processed but never knew anyone really successfully pushing color negative film.

When you push process b&w film what you do is expand the tonal range in the negative.  You can also shoot b&w at the rated iso and extend or shorten developing time to expand or contract the tonal range.  That's getting into Ansel Adams and Minor White stuff that Adams popularized as the "Zone System of Exposure".  Really way beyond what we're talking here.  I did a bit of work with photographic chemistry.

All film has a certain degree of exposure latitude. It varies with different types of film.  That's a range of over and under exposure where you good still get a decent print.  2 stops either way is very good.  Slide films has much more narrow exposure latitude.

Using 200 speed film in a brightly lit office would call for f2 to F2.8 @ 1/30.  Not knowing how much light your "darkened room" had, I would guess your exposure should have been 1/4 or 1/2 second with iso 200.  You really should be using a tripod.  You can't handhold at that speed without camera shake.  If you're shooting anything that doesn't stay still you're going to get subject movement.

Try using faster film if you want to shoot low light.  If you want to try black and white try Ilford XP2 film with a iso speed of 400.  It is black and white film designed to be processed in C41 chemistry the same as color negative film.   It can't be printed on color or black and white paper.  It normally comes out sepia toned when printed on color paper but if the printer knows what they're doing they can adjust the filter pack in the enlarger to make true black and white.

Do yourself a favor and when you get color negative film processed pay the few bucks extra and have them cut a cd.  Much easier to knock out a few extra small prints that way.

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8 hours ago, GRIZ said:

Do yourself a favor and when you get color negative film processed pay the few bucks extra and have them cut a cd.  Much easier to knock out a few extra small prints that way.

OR.. Use a digital DSLR or mirrorless four thirds camera and write everything to a SD card. IMO you would learn faster and save a lot of money and time in processing if you went digital. You can take as many pictures and experiment all you want with digital. You can play with shutter speed, aperture,  ISO speeds till your heart's content and learn what each change has on your photo almost instantly. Want to dabble in post processing?? Shoot in RAW format and use lightroom. I'ts a digital darkroom and much much more. Embrace technology man! :) 

 

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1 hour ago, carl_g said:

OR.. Use a digital DSLR or mirrorless four thirds camera and write everything to a SD card. IMO you would learn faster and save a lot of money and time in processing if you went digital. You can take as many pictures and experiment all you want with digital. You can play with shutter speed, aperture,  ISO speeds till your heart's content and learn what each change has on your photo almost instantly. Want to dabble in post processing?? Shoot in RAW format and use lightroom. I'ts a digital darkroom and much much more. Embrace technology man! :) 

 

I would agree with you on that.  Most people never set their camera to manual.

The only reasons to use silver photography IMO are:

1.  Perspective control.  You can get it using perspective control lens in 35mm but you don't have the full range of tilts and swings like you do with a view camera.  There are Photoshop programs that pretty much duplicate a view camera though.

2.  The proven permanence of a black and white print.

3.  Large prints.  Most digital is no where near the resolution of film.  However you have to understand that you need to view a large print from a distance for proper perspective.  Digital wins as its much easier to do large prints that way than in a wet darkroom.

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My developed photos were outdoor only, sorry.

I'd prefer to stick to one film speed. My available shutter speeds are 10, 50, 100, and 300. 

I'm going to keep learning by trial and error!

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I'm having focus issues. My close up pictures are blurry 

50+ feet, no problem. Shots are nice and crisp.

3-15 feet and my photos are coming out very out of focus. I am lining up the edges in my rangefinder but everything is blurry on my developed photos. I had someone at the camera store/lab take a few shots and their photos were even more blurry. This is all across various lighting and aperture settings.

I was using Fuji 200 speed film shot at 100. Any suggestions? User error? Mechanical issue?

I compared my rangefinder distances with a tape measure. It appears correct. This is on my Argus C4

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You say you are using an Argus with shutter speeds limited to 10, 50, 100, 300.

I am not an Argus expert, but it sounds to me like you are using a 60 or 80 year-old camera.

I tried doing that a few years back with a vintage Agfa folding 6x6 with similar results. It was not very satisfying at all and cost me a mess of money. It now decorates a bookshelf in my living room.

Argus was never a great brand when new. Simply put, your camera is most likely only suitable for decor at this point. If the camera has sentimental value, make a display case for it.

If you really want to learn film photography, pick up a decent SLR so you can have consistent results.

A SLR lets you see exactly what will appear on the film. If the image is in focus in the viewfinder, it will be in focus on film.

If you can afford it, nothing beats a Nikon FM series camera with a 35mm or 50mm lens. The Pentax K1000 has always been a good film camera for those on a budget. I recently bought an example of my first real camera that I got in high school in 1985. I bought a mint Ricoh with a 50mm lens for a total of $43 off of ebay. You really don't need to spend much to get a decent film camera.

With an older SLR, you want to pay attention to the foam used to seal the back and at the mirror. If the foam is sticky, it needs to be replaced. It is not a huge deal, but you need to be aware of it. A good repair shop should only charge you around $100 to replace the foam. If you shop smart, you can avoid this.

I know it is not near you at all, but the camera shop I use, and most of my fellow pros in the Trenton area use, is Allen's Camera in Levittown Pa. They have a large supply of used film cameras, from Pentax to Leica. Pm me for a contact there. Drop my name and he will treat you right.

Chasing good images out of a worn out ancient camera will only lead to frustration. I recommend you spend a few bucks to get a decent machine.

EDIT......

302w,

I really want to see you succeed. I started out my career shooting film and I miss the craft terribly. Nothing beats shooting a roll of film and then making stellar enlargements from a good negative. I am here to assist as much as I can.

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