Film comparisons / B&W / Developing

cowasaki

cowasaki

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Does anyone know of a comparison of different films? Preferably with examples. I have been looking at all the different films at Silverprint but I really have no idea which I should buy!

Also which black and white films should I buy? I love B&W and have just bought some Ilford XPS super 400 C41 - There seem to be lots of others but they are not the normal process. Will I have to go to a specialist to get them developed?

Same question for IR film

I will be doing my own developing eventually (probably just for black and white) what do I need and are there any starter kits/best buying second hand

Lots of questions


Thanks
 
right BnW home developing is E6 chemistry so ilford delta film and ilford hp5/fp4 this can't be sent off as easily though some places do it (inc Ilford themselves)

you also get BnW c41 film which the XPS is, that gets sent away - though most places will print it onto colour paper which kills it a bit

home developing is FUN and hard :( might be worth finding a local forum member or maybe doing a college course in how it all works before you jump in - I am at uni and there's a darkroom pre stocked so I just use stuff as I feel really so all I waste is paper while I learn which is great (pos another reason to do night classes at college)
 
e6 is colour reversal ,,,,slides

c41 chemistry is for colour print film ,,,so anywhere that does ya normal colour pics will do it ,,
 
you can get Ilford prepaid mailers for "proper" black and white film from 7dayshop - 10.99 direct from ilford, 8.99 from 7dayshop. Still processed by ilford, turnaround usually within a week, proper black and white prints on proper black and white paper, and they come in a solid box for storage rather than a scrappy envolope. Having said that, for about £60 you can probably get the bits together to develop your own.
 
This is all very helpful!

Mrs C decided about 6 years ago to try home developing and I bought a complete kit off a friend. We bought all the chemicals for both b&w and colour, safe lights and paper. After 3 years of it sitting there I sold it on ebay for her - DOH.

I am building a studio in my garage so I thnk I will set it up as a dark room as well but just for B&W probably.
 
For b&w, I'd stick with Ilford XP2 for now as the dev is a lot cheaper from a high street lab than it is using the ilford mailers.

For kit to dev at home, all you really need is dev and fixer, tank and somewhere to load it (changing bag), thermometer and a couple of graduated cylinders. Use 1 shot dev such as rodinal so you dont have to store it diluted and fix you can keep diluted in a milk bottle.

Probs get the whole lot for under £60 quids, or the same as it would ocst you to do 6 films from ilford mailers.

plenty of info around here, on the ilforrd website and such!

As for what film to buy, depends on what look you like and what you are shooting really. Ilford films are a good place to start as they are pretty reliable etc.
 
Thanks everyone, I am just having a play with my new camera now. By new I mean NEW !!

Wow is an understatement. It looks just as old as my D700 ie last week. The seller said that it had had two films through it ever and I can believe that because they were selling all manner of film cameras such as an F4 etc. Only things missing were the eye piece cover (I had a spare) and the genuine Nikon strap plus the box inserts.

I have now stuck a roll of Ilford XP2 in it and taken 3 shots. As its Mrs C's birthday we are going out for tea and will be coming home via the docks to take a few more shots then off to my grandads tomorrow (he was 90 last week). So will put it in for development on Friday. Looking forwards to seeing the results!

F80101.jpg


F80102.jpg


F80103.jpg


F80104.jpg


F80105.jpg
 
i'd say for sixty squids you got an absolute bargin.

anyway , I R film ,,,not used any myself , but i've got a feeling if its proper stuff , not ilford sfx ( ? ) you have to load it in total darkness ,i think ,, maybe ,possibly,,,then use a red filter as well ,,,oh and have a nice sunnier the better day for it .

this is ilford hp5plus developed in ilford I D 11



 
donutagain said:
i'd say for sixty squids you got an absolute bargin.

anyway , I R film ,,,not used any myself , but i've got a feeling if its proper stuff , not ilford sfx ( ? ) you have to load it in total darkness ,i think ,, maybe ,possibly,,,then use a red filter as well ,,,oh and have a nice sunnier the better day for it .

this is ilford hp5plus developed in ilford I D 11
Click to expand...

I love the tones and contrast from film and I am hoping that it will teach me something about photography. With a digital camera I can take 400 pictures in a day and then just go through them to find 40 good ones and 5 that I am really pleased with. I am hoping that when it costs me 10p per picture for the film and 15p per picture to develop I might take more time, get the composition right and end up with less shots and more pictures :)

Do I take it from your post that Ilford SFX is no good? I have no knowledge of any of this stuff so any pointers are appreciated. I bought Mrs C an OM10 and the person that sold it to me ran two rolls of the XPS film through it the day before and I really liked the results. Obviously IR film is a little bit more specialised.
 
SFX is pseudo IR, nice to use but not a classical look.

Rollei 400 IR has better sensitivity, use it with an R72 filter.
You can shoot it at 400 and process it as ordinary b/w, or shoot it with an R72 at iso 12 and process it in the same b/w chemicals for IR.
I think Maco make it too and probably somebody else I forget, just check what filter you are supposed to use with them because it matters.
An R72 definitely works well with Rollei 400 IR.

I shot a roll, they're carp but it was my first and only roll, and kind of experimental
 
joxby said:
SFX is pseudo IR, nice to use but not a classical look.

Rollei 400 IR has better sensitivity, use it with an R72 filter.
You can shoot it at 400 and process it as ordinary b/w, or shoot it with an R72 at iso 12 and process it in the same b/w chemicals for IR.
I think Maco make it too and probably somebody else I forget, just check what filter you are supposed to use with them because it matters.
An R72 definitely works well with Rollei 400 IR.

I shot a roll, they're carp but it was my first and only roll, and kind of experimental
Click to expand...

That's the ticket!! Just what I was looking for :)

I will buy a decent R72 filter and give it a try then if I get really in to it I can always replace the IR blocking filter inside my D1x with a clear filter and use the same R72. I am really liking this F80 and love the fact that it is literally like brand new. I think a cheap dark room setup is definitely on the cards though as it could get rather expensive to do all this processing.
 
Just had a quick look on MIR about the F80, as I'd vaguely remembered something about using IR film. They didn't recommend IR film with the F80 as it uses a IR sensor to count the film perforations for wind/rewind registration and the IR source in-camera causes fogging to the film. How bad the fogging is, I'm not sure - just reporting what i'd seen. :(
 
TheBigYin said:
Just had a quick look on MIR about the F80, as I'd vaguely remembered something about using IR film. They didn't recommend IR film with the F80 as it uses a IR sensor to count the film perforations for wind/rewind registration and the IR source in-camera causes fogging to the film. How bad the fogging is, I'm not sure - just reporting what i'd seen. :(
Click to expand...

Thanks that is a really useful page but not the information I wanted to see :( Now I need to find out which Nikon F mount camera DO work with IR. I can then buy one specifically for IR. I love the fact that everyone is dumping film just as I get interested in it......... rich pickings :)
 
cowasaki said:
Thanks that is a really useful page but not the information I wanted to see :( Now I need to find out which Nikon F mount camera DO work with IR. I can then buy one specifically for IR. I love the fact that everyone is dumping film just as I get interested in it......... rich pickings :)
Click to expand...

Sorry to be bearer of ill-tidings, but better than not knowing and wasting a roll of film/processing costs. I'm in the same boat with my newly aquired EOS-3, Lovely camera, mint condition, does everything I want to do, and i'll live with it not handling IR film (I'll dig out the old Yashica 108 if I decide to use IR) - and it's pretty much a pro-quality body for a fraction of the price of an entry-level plastic digital camera.
 
TheBigYin said:
Sorry to be bearer of ill-tidings, but better than not knowing and wasting a roll of film/processing costs. I'm in the same boat with my newly aquired EOS-3, Lovely camera, mint condition, does everything I want to do, and i'll live with it not handling IR film (I'll dig out the old Yashica 108 if I decide to use IR) - and it's pretty much a pro-quality body for a fraction of the price of an entry-level plastic digital camera.
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I am really glad you found that information because I would have assumed it was a bad film and put another through it !! So you have saved me about £30 thanks.

I think it might have to be an older camera as I really do fancy IR. I have a D1x that I planned to convert then changed my mind, at this rate I might just change it back.
 
I have a quick question which you lot should be able to help me with. I just took Mrs C out for her birthday tonight and on the way home went to Preston dock. This was to have a play with our new film cameras (I bought her the OM10 as an extra birthday present). I took the D700 with me JUST to take a record of the shot and this is the shot that I got on the D700:

dock100.jpg


Now the problem we were having is this, we both had ISO400 film in our cameras and were looking at the above shot. Unfortunately due to the amount of light the shutter speed was too low and we didn't have a tripod with us. Had we been shooting digital we would have upped the ISO but can we do this with film? The film is ISO400 does that mean that that is the BEST setting or can we go up or down and if so by how far? Or would we just have to rewind the film and fit a higher ISO one. These might be really basic film questions but I am a total newbie when it comes to film. The only film cameras I have ever had were completely p&s.

Thanks all....
 
you can use a different iso to the one that it's rated for. but you really have to stick to whatever you go for all the way through that particular film .,if you use hp5plus ( iso 400 ) at iso 800 you will have pushed the film one stop , and you would need to adjust developement times ( longer ) or if you send it away let them know you pushed it one stop and used it at iso 800 . as to rewinding halfway through a film ,i've never done it but would think its a pain ,
anyway now that you need another body for ir ,may i suggest an fm2n ,,,if you can get a decent one an absolute joy to run some ilford through ,standing close to someone with a nice olly om10:D
 
if there's a setting on your camera to leave the film header out of the canister on rewind, it's really not that much hassle to rewind and change film part way through a roll - i've done it when i've had Colour slide loaded, and the weather's gone pear shaped, but i've had BnW with me. Just remember to mark the film canister with "wind to frame XX" when you remove it. Then load other film and shoot away. When you want prior roll, load as normal and shoot off XX+1 frames (just to be sure) WITH THE LENS CAP ON and VIEWFINDER COVERED. Can you tell I've always been too poor to have matched bodies for colour and BnW ??? :LOL:
 
cowasaki said:
I love the fact that everyone is dumping film just as I get interested in it......... rich pickings :)
Click to expand...


:LOL:

Everybody dumping film, dumped it 3 or 4 years ago.
We're all on the return bus :D
Stuff is cheap, but not as cheap as it was..:(
 
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