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Color or b&w?


sblitz

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Not a big broad philosophical question, a travel one, I am heading to Spain with m9 and m4 in tow ( my back up that I am getting increasingly attached to :D ). Wondering whether to bring color or bw film for the m4. Yes I can turn color to bw etc but it still doesn't have the look of delta 100. On the other hand, a lot of what is beautiful about Spain is the color and capturing in film as well as digital seems right to me as well. Yes I can take both but then it's ooh I should have the other film in the camera. Better to go with one mind set. Just trying to gather some opinions about which way to go.

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Colour in the M9, B&W in the M3.

Simple! All bases covered.

.... and you can change your mind when there you know. It's legal. :D

Just keep shooting and the opportunity to switch occurs every 36.

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Colour in the M9, B&W in the M3.

Simple! All bases covered.

.... and you can change your mind when there you know. It's legal. :D

Just keep shooting and the opportunity to switch occurs every 36.

 

+1

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+2

 

I'm picking up some Adox 20, some FP4, a few Velvia 50 and E100G (last 3 rolls!) for people and my M9 for digital.

 

This is a hobby, so bring all toys and enjoy all of them.

 

If you are married, do not forget to speak to your wife while shooting to prevent her from getting jelous of your cameras :D

 

Franco

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yes but should i shoot them in color or b&w with a yellow filter?

 

thanks to all for your comments so far. haven't shot ektar 100 yet but will give it a try. have been trying out portra 160 and i finally found results i like when i shoot it as an iso 100 film. will pick up some ektar 100 and fiddle about with it. i have read elsewhere that it is great when exposed right but not so forgiving otherwise -- up to me to find out. great thing about nyc life, no problem here finding film.

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Expected responses so far. All great films (though I don't like any Ilford offerings personally).

 

I've often wondered about which films to bring on a trip but have found on those occasions that I haven't really bothered to get any particular film that I like the results as much as I otherwise would have. Rarely, for me, it is about which film I bring.

 

Still it really feels nice to load a Velvia :)

 

But why not try something more unusual, like some Efke 25 or a simple Kodak Color Plus 200?

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thanks ..... i tried a role of efke 25 a few months back and have another in the fridge....it scanned rather grainy and i showed one of the shots in the photo forum and someone wrote that efke 25 doesn't scan well at all....so i am reluctant to bring it, although i suspect there is plenty of light in spain for a iso 25 film... and yes, film is a bit like bringing casettes in the pre-mp3 era, it was never the ones you brought but the one you forgot .... when my kids were young and i only had my film camera the choice was simple, color prints with a 400asa.

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yes but should i shoot them in color or b&w with a yellow filter? .

 

I generally used a yellow filter when I shoot B&W. I used red filter to make landscapes dramatic.

 

I just started learning to shoot efke 25 but haven't had much time these days. I don't scan so I cannot comment on that. My fav is Tri-X for color I prefer Portra.

 

Have a great trip

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Shot some ekta 100 to see whether I want to take it with me. I get what a lot of people write. Gear vivid clean colors vs portra 160. But not too forgiving Still playing with some choices

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Ektar has muddy, saturated colours to my eyes. Some people like that nostalgic look, but I'm not one of them. If Ektar was the last colour film on the planet, I'd shoot Delta 100.

 

Portra in its various guises is much more natural and easy to work with, if C41 is your thing.

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Ektar has muddy, saturated colours to my eyes......

 

Ektar 100 is an interesting emulsion and is intended as a C41 alternative to some transparency films. If you have a dedicated film scanner and know how to use it, Ektar produces fine-grained files of very nice quality with the bonus of being well-suited for conversion to monochrome. Unlike many C41 colour films, it needs a little experience of working with it to get the best out of it.

 

You do need to pay attention to your metering technique with Ektar. Get it right and the resulting scans are second to none.

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I would bring both color and B&W film (and a light meter) for the M4.

 

Why? Because there are no guarantees in this life. Let's say your M9 breaks, locks up, craps out or otherwise gives up the ghost.

 

Then what??

 

If you have both. C41 and B&W emulsions, the day is saved. If not, :(

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Ektar is definitely more finicky can remind me a bit of Kodachrome II but it really needs sunny bright skies. The m4 is definitely coming with a light meter. Funny how quick though you can look at a situation and know the right setting. Still a meter is good to keep me on course. Still undecided on the bw film, been convinced to rake both.

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sblitz, when you wrote "a lot of what is beautiful about Spain is the color", you probably have the places in mind you are going to see and want to photograph. Spain is very diverse - which are your priorities, cities, monuments, landscapes - plains, mountains, seascapes -, beaches, people?

How would like to see what you're going to see in b&w? With the references of the films you know in mind: more or less detail, contrast, matter & grain, pencil stroke vs charcoal etc.? You already mentioned Delta 100. I'd also pack 1-2 rolls of a 400 iso for the evenings (even to push), since much life gets started then, and for insides. Different (and more) grain could be Foma 100 and 400, Ilford Pan F and HP5. You could also buy what you find on spot - makes for a souvenir ;)

For colour, I'd be careful with Ektar 100 alone, too, and prefer lower contrast like Fuji Pro 160 S and Pro 400H in cities, or the Portras. They also handle mixed light sources better. For slides, Provia 100F can serve all-round, people and scenery, Velvia as add-on, 400X can get beautifully gritty in low light.

Enjoy seeing Spain also around the finder!

Alexander

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