My (maybe brief?) return to film...need some help

[logan2z]

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48 minutes ago, Mikep996 said:

FWIW...I ordered a SS tank/Hewes SS reels a few days ago.  I found the Paterson reels to be too annoying to futz around with.  When I got the SS stuff I practiced twice in the daylight and then twice more in the changing bag and then started using the them "for real." I can load the SS reel in the half the time of the Paterson PLUS have no difficulty re the length of the film (24 vs 36) or any issues re Phot-flo, cleaning the plastic reels, using pencil lead to help feeding, etc. 

ADMITTEDLY, when I had darkrooms (up until around 2002) I used SS tanks/reels so I may have some left-over muscle memory for loading them but, TBH, I don't recall having any particular difficulty in learning to use SS reels back when I started.  Of course, that was quite a long time ago so my memory may be faulty!   I'm not recommending anybody switch what they are doing; if something works well, stick with it.  But Paterson reels didn't work well for ME.  Also, since I only shoot 35mm, I like the fact that the SS 35mm two-reel tank is much smaller than the plastic tank.  

I liked the Hewes SS reels for 35mm but not 120.  I switched to Jobo 1500 series reels/tanks and never looked back, but if I was only shooting 35mm I might have stuck with Hewes.  

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[madNbad]

I've been using Hewes reels for several years. A retriever to pull out the leader, trim to ensure two solid sprocket holes at the end of the film, nip the corners a bit then just load from the cassette. No loose film in the changing bag. Glad you're sticking with it.

[Mikep996]

'Glad you're sticking with it.'  

Thanks!  I'm probably going a bit overboard.  I tried the DF96 as a good way to easily try film/developing again without buying a bunch of chemicals.  Certainly convenient but after developing 6 rolls, decided that good old D76 would produce results more to what I like so I'll order some of that/stop/fixer as well..🥴

Geez, what's next, an enlarger?  😱

 

[grahamc]

After reading ALOT that the hardest thing about b&w developing is loading the reels, I started with SS hewes reels. Never had a problem they load themselves.  
 

I also bought their reels that are made for Paterson tanks (larger reels and with a hole in the middle ).  They are very good also but not quite as easy to load as the smaller ones for the SS tanks. The smaller ones I think are impossible to go wrong 

Edited November 2, 2022 by grahamc

[madNbad]

56 minutes ago, Mikep996 said:

'Glad you're sticking with it.'  

Thanks!  I'm probably going a bit overboard.  I tried the DF96 as a good way to easily try film/developing again without buying a bunch of chemicals.  Certainly convenient but after developing 6 rolls, decided that good old D76 would produce results more to what I like so I'll order some of that/stop/fixer as well..🥴

Geez, what's next, an enlarger?  😱

 

It's the slippery slope of processing your own film. Either you spend the money to build and equip a darkroom or chase the right setup for scanning.

[Ko.Fe.]

1 hour ago, madNbad said:

It's the slippery slope of processing your own film. Either you spend the money to build and equip a darkroom or chase the right setup for scanning.

I never build a darkroom. I used bathroom in the basement. 

 

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[Ko.Fe.]

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On 10/26/2022 at 2:29 AM, Mikep996 said:

Yesterday I went out with my M6 and two rolls of HP5.  First time shooting film/using my M6 since 2001.  I won't go into any details other than to say I enjoyed the shooting far more than I do with digital.  Everything about the process was more satisfying and fun...up until I had two strips of film hanging to dry.  🤔

It then occurred to me...what now?  If I scan the film then haven't I just made film into a far more difficult way to produce a digital image?  It's much easier to use a digital camera to do that and the "conversion" process alters the image.  IOW, without a darkroom (which I do NOT want to get back into) it seems to me that the hybrid method - shooting film, scanning it, printing it - produces something that is inferior to either all digital OR all analog.  If I just want images for computer/web/sharing, it seems to me to make even less sense to use film.  

 I know many folks here shoot film and then digitize it, without concern about the issues that I'm worrying about.  I bought a Plustek scanner as part of my "return to film" but I'm currently thinking of just returning it unused/unopened.  Some guidance/suggestions would be appreciated because I really liked using my M6/film but I really don't like the idea of making/gearing-up another darkroom.  😱

Get small enlarger. I have small Vivitar. Print on postcard size, 5x7 and 8x10. Scan print, share on the web.

I quit from film in 2021, because color film isn't critically different from digital color (IMO) and it is next to impossible to print color in DR, just scan.

And I quit from bw scans, because it was only real if on DR print even on the web. 

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[Mikep996]

Thought it appropriate to update:  I have really enjoyed the film escapade...to the point that I decided AGAINST purchasing a new M6 (since I have an old, perfectly functional M6), and decided to do something that I never did in all the years of my old film days...medium format!  I purchased a Bronica SQAI with an 80mm and a 50mm lens.  I decided that if I was really going to go back to film, it seemed to make more sense that if I was going to do the whole darkroom thing, med format (as well as 35mm) would be a NEW way for me to go.  

Now I have to put together a(nother) darkroom.  Should be interesting... 🧐 

Of course, in a few months I could end up saying,  "What the heck was I thinking?"  😱

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Mikep996

[TomB_tx]

1 hour ago, Mikep996 said:

Thought it appropriate to update:  I have really enjoyed the film escapade...to the point that I decided AGAINST purchasing a new M6 (since I have an old, perfectly functional M6), and decided to do something that I never did in all the years of my old film days...medium format!  I purchased a Bronica SQAI with an 80mm and a 50mm lens.  I decided that if I was really going to go back to film, it seemed to make more sense that if I was going to do the whole darkroom thing, med format (as well as 35mm) would be a NEW way for me to go.  

Now I have to put together a(nother) darkroom.  Should be interesting... 🧐 

Of course, in a few months I could end up saying,  "What the heck was I thinking?"  😱

 

I know the feeling. When I got back to film after retiring I added a medium format... and a few more. Now have a few TLRs in 6x6, a 4x4 TLR, a Hasselblad SLR, and  Pentax 6x7. My old Omega enlarger can do 6x6, but I scan the 6x7. 6x7 Ektachrome slides are impressive! I agree that SS reels are a challenge with 120 film, so sometimes use a plastic tank for those (which I needed for the 4x4 (127 film) anyway). I still have a Yankee plastic tank from the 1960s that adjusts for 127 film.

I also have old Kodak folders in 127, 120, and even 122 film sizes. 122 is postcard sized negatives - but just try to find film! (or extinct 120 Autographic film!) I remember my grandparent using this 120 Autographic folder & film to write notes on the negative - the film roll had a carbon-paper like material coiled with it to make the notes with a stylus through a fabric section on the camera back.

[Matlock]

1 hour ago, TomB_tx said:

I know the feeling. When I got back to film after retiring I added a medium format... and a few more. Now have a few TLRs in 6x6, a 4x4 TLR, a Hasselblad SLR, and  Pentax 6x7. My old Omega enlarger can do 6x6, but I scan the 6x7. 6x7 Ektachrome slides are impressive! I agree that SS reels are a challenge with 120 film, so sometimes use a plastic tank for those (which I needed for the 4x4 (127 film) anyway). I still have a Yankee plastic tank from the 1960s that adjusts for 127 film.

I also have old Kodak folders in 127, 120, and even 122 film sizes. 122 is postcard sized negatives - but just try to find film! (or extinct 120 Autographic film!) I remember my grandparent using this 120 Autographic folder & film to write notes on the negative - the film roll had a carbon-paper like material coiled with it to make the notes with a stylus through a fabric section on the camera back.

My first camera was a Kodak Folding Autographic 120 Brownie that was given to me by my aunt when I was about 7 years old. I still have it and have used it recently (no 120A film though). I had to replace the bellows about 55 years ago as the original had become rather porous. I have had a couple of photos published that I took with it in 1960.

[Mikep996]

Ironically, (and kinda' sad) my most "successful" photo was taken with my iPhone 10/converted to BW/16x20 print!  🙄

 

 

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[Huss]

21 minutes ago, Mikep996 said:

Ironically, (and kinda' sad) my most "successful" photo was taken with my iPhone 10/converted to BW/16x20 print!  🙄

 

 

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Sweet pic!  Nothing sad about that, they are all just tools.  

[TomB_tx]

2 minutes ago, Huss said:

Sweet pic!  Nothing sad about that, they are all just tools.  

Fine tools are also "functional art" in themselves. 

[Mikep996]

Well, it reinforces the old saying that, "The best camera is the one you have [with you]."  We were at Stonehenge with some friends who were visiting so I wasn't into "photography" and only had my iPhone when another old photo saying made itself known -  "F8 and BE there!"

Edited November 10, 2022 by Mikep996

[Topsy]

20 hours ago, Mikep996 said:

Thought it appropriate to update:  I have really enjoyed the film escapade...to the point that I decided AGAINST purchasing a new M6 (since I have an old, perfectly functional M6), and decided to do something that I never did in all the years of my old film days...medium format!  I purchased a Bronica SQAI with an 80mm and a 50mm lens.  I decided that if I was really going to go back to film, it seemed to make more sense that if I was going to do the whole darkroom thing, med format (as well as 35mm) would be a NEW way for me to go.  

Now I have to put together a(nother) darkroom.  Should be interesting... 🧐 

Of course, in a few months I could end up saying,  "What the heck was I thinking?"  😱

 

Ironically when I decided to get back into film I also went back to a Bronica SQ-Ais (I did have one before digital) I also had kept one of my Canon F1ns and a few lenses so I thought I was set up. At the time I was shooting Fuji X-Pro1s for small format digital and Fuji GFX 50S for Medium Format but I then found Leica with an M9 (then 2 more) so I decided to get into film Leicas with M4-P, M2, a brief fling with M6 then MP. The real irony is after all that spending I only use my Bronicas for film shooting I use my M9s for general stuff and the Fujis are for my landscape pgotography. My 3 film Leicas and the Canon sit idle as I don't really think 35mm gives me enough IQ against the 120 and the M9s give me a pleasurable shooting experience whilst being better IQ than 35mm film (IMO).

I hope you enjoy your Bronica as much as I do Mike. 👍

[Mikep996]

Thanks!  After a couple of days shooting with it, I have a feeling that the Bronica is now going to be THE film camera I use.  I've had so much fun with it AND I can actually see what's on the negatives!  So I'm doing the usual GAS thing, and have added a 150mm lens, an AE prism, and a speed handle though I have to say I think my normal use will be with the WLF rather than the AE prism and no speed handle.  No different than my M's - I have the Leica grip for them but never use it.  

AND I have a enlarger on the way!   Who woulda' thought...🙄  I found a NOS Omega B22 (still in the box) pretty cheap.  I figured that although I'd rather have a more substantial enlarger, the ridiculously low price I paid for the "new" B22 made it a great way to see if I REALLY want to get back into darkroom work without spending much at all.  And heck, the B22 might prove sufficient in any case, perhaps with a better enlarging lens than the ones supplied with the enlarger.  A Rodenstock would be a good Christmas present from my wife... 🤔

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mikep996

[Topsy]

I found a 45 degree finder (not cheap) it has a spare magnifying eyepiece lens and I can get the dioptre right for my eyes which is a great bonus.

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[Mikep996]

NICE,  I like that 45 degree finder, might have to start searching...🥴

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[Topsy]

12 minutes ago, Mikep996 said:

NICE,  I like that 45 degree finder, might have to start searching...🥴

Good luck with the search, it took me ages to find one and as I said it wasn't cheap around £350 but I think it's worth every penny I use it almost exclusively.

[Mikep996]

Latest update...I have decided that using DF96 as opposed to develop/stop/fix is a better process FOR ME!  I can't see enough difference to matter with Ilford Fx5 or FP4 to justify the effort involved in the multiple step process.  The DF96 seems the perfect process for me considering the results and the number of rolls per month that I will shoot.