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separate film M for both color and b&w?


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Does anyone have separate film Ms for color and b&w?

 

Today, during my first ever session with a M (:)), there were times when I had the wrong film for the subject, but still had a few shots left on the roll. At these times a second camera would have been handy.

Edited by andyedward
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Not a second M, but I sometimes use a Contax T3 with slide film (its stellar 35mm lens seems particularly well suited for shooting slides) alongside my M with a 50mm and loaded with b/w film. Gives me the additional advantage of having two focal lengths and one camera with AF.

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Over the "film years" this was quite common. In college I had a Canon FT (TTL meter) for color and an FP (non-meter) for B&W. Later got a new M4 (non-meter, B&W) and Leicaflex SL (color). Later kept the M4 and added an M6 for color. Shooting slide film the TTL meters were an advantage, while Tri-X was more forgiving.

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I have two M6s and often load one with B+W and the other with color negative or positive film. Mine happen to be chrome and black just by chance. But when I had both black, I taped a piece of blue gaffers tape on the top of one to identify it.

 

You can of course remove the roll in one camera and reload with a different film. It's a bit slow and you can lose a frame or two (of unexposed film.) Just be sure to leave the film tongue out and mark the exposure number on the film leader (or remember in your head.) Then advance the film once again to the frame number where you left off (with lens cap on of course.) You can go back and forth with the same rolls of different film. It works, but again a bit slow. Cheaper than another body, however.

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While there may be a decent, as distinct from a work notebook, digital in my future, it is not yet, and now, I use only film. The fact that I cannot get anything but C41 processed here is a bit of a pain, and it is way too hot (and a bit too primitive) to try to use Rodinal.

 

The MP has B & W, largely for the ease of metering through filters, typically with a 90 or 28 Elmarit, and the M3 has Velvia, typically with a 50 lux. With both cameras over my shoulder, the lens choice is great.

 

All pretty normal, except that I have recently started to load the IIIf with C41, behind a 35 Summaron. Oddly enough it is now very often the camera I grab when I run out the door, and is a delight to use.

Edited by jdsheepdog
The grammar police caught me.
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In my youth, when I shot a lot of weddings, I carried a Rollei for colour and a Mamiya for B&W (or was it the other way round?). Then I graduated to a Hasselblad with multiple magazines for the same purpose. Brilliant system.

 

Now I have 3 M film bodies but for some reason never carry more than one at a time. I do load different films in them but seem to shoot with a B&W or Colour mindset. Maybe my subject matter and demands are changing. The point of all this is, Only you know if you want the versatility, and bulk, of carrying two bodies. Think about how and what you shoot. Will two bodies improve what you are doing? Only your answer to that is the key to your next expense. ;)

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I have never used more than one body, simply because I don't want to carry too much equipment. I have, however, on occasion switched rolls. Not a big problem at all on an SLR but more of a hassle on an M, though still doable.

 

If you only (want to) use/have one camera, shoot film and convert to BW. It may be like cursing in church but most of the BW look can be achieved in post.

 

I hope you get your MP soon, Andy. It really is taking quite a while, isn't it?

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In the days when colour neg film was primitive and prints from slides were poor and/or difficult to do I used to carry one body for slides (Kodachrome usually) and one for B&W (FP4) so that I could make big black & white prints to put on the wall.

Once I mastered (:D) Cibachrome, and later scan/inkjet, I stopped using B&W and now the two bodies carry a slowish and a faster slide film (usually Provia 100 & 400x)

It used to be 2 x M3s, now M6ttl & M3, sometimes the Voigtlander R2 or the Leica III come along for more choice, but now Astia has gone that's not common, I don't like Velvia much unless the light is VERY flat.

 

Gerry

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Excellent idea that most ‘serious’ photographers followed. I always used to carry two bodies; one for B&W, one for colour, later when I switched to slides exclusively, one for Kodachrome 25 or 64 and the other for Ektachrome 400.

 

Another reason for 2 M bodies came out of necessity - no zoom lenses. So, I used one body for wide and the other for telephoto lenses - this saved time as one did not have to change lenses so often. Still do that today - got myself a second M8 for exactly the same reason.

 

Cheers,

 

Jan

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I have two M bodies but my reasoning was not that one would be for E6 and one for B&W. I tend to use one film at a time, depending on the project I'm working on

 

I bought the M4-P after my MP broke and was off visiting Shetty Krauter leaving me high and dry in terms of M camera shooting. Longest three weeks of my life. :(

Edited by Messsucherkamera
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Hello andyedward,

 

Sometimes I use 2 separate rolls of the same film in 2 different cameras w/ 1 lens.

 

A 135mm Tele-Elmar can be quite useful on an M3 for most things from medium distances on out. The .91 range/viewfinder works just fine. A nice, big image w/ space around it.

 

The same Tele-Elmar on a Minolta 101 can be useful when it is better to have a larger than .91X image to focus & compose w/ whether @ medium distances or far away. Also nice when you want to get closer than 1.5 meters. All the way to 1 : 1

 

Sometimes 2 different cameras each w/ their separate rolls of the same film sharing the versatility of 1 lens gives you the best of both Worlds.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

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There is a cheaper alternative though, that I know it's not the same thing but it works for me. I shoot mainly color film, like Portra 400 for example, and shoot everything in color. Development is cheap (C41), I then scan the images with ICE on to remove dust and scratches and when I get to Photoshop/Lightroom I then process the photos just like I would a Raw file from a digital camera, meaning I then choose if I want each shot in color or convert to black and white, giving contrast to the tones I want.

 

It means I can carry only 1 body, only one type of film, and I don't have to rewind and reload films.

 

Occasionally I will force black and white only shooting using the excellent Ilford XP2, which has the big advantage of C41 fast and cheap development and the ICE possibility during scanning.

 

I know it isn't the same as black and white traditional film but it works very well for me and the C41 and ICE are big advantages over traditional film development and scanning, at least to me.

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I am not bothering with colour film any more, principally because I can't develop it myself. And I don't care for the idea of digital black and white: I much prefer to develop my film, and it is easy to do. So for me it is the M9 for colour, and a film M for B&W, with the advantage that they can share all my M lenses. However, I tend to make up my mind beforehand one way or the other, so both cameras are rarely in my bag at the same time.

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I am not bothering with colour film any more, principally because I can't develop it myself. And I don't care for the idea of digital black and white: I much prefer to develop my film, and it is easy to do. So for me it is the M9 for colour, and a film M for B&W, with the advantage that they can share all my M lenses. However, I tend to make up my mind beforehand one way or the other, so both cameras are rarely in my bag at the same time.

 

That's what it has come down to for me - but two changes have come along lately. I am about to receive the first M9M in Canada and I have discovered medium format film B&W. I shall need a much larger bag and much better developed deltoids and trapezii if I am to preserve choice! Not that this will change anything for anyone else!

 

Chris

Never understood Texas until the Texas Leica came along...

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