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Yes the whole roll look like this image... I put ISO to 400 and use the same method that my color rolls, which were "successful". By the way, the film was develop by a lab.

 

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Edited by Vsisishi68
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23 hours ago, Vsisishi68 said:

Hello everyone,

I’m jumping in on the topic proposed by David because I’m in the exact same situation with the same setup (MP and 35mm summicron) ! I’m enjoying it just as much, but I had an issue with a B&W (400TX) film that ended up being completely overexposed, even though I followed the same process as I usually do with color film. What do you think?

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Labs are rarely good with B&W and they or the machine they use have no way of knowing what the scene was like especially with no colour reference to go by. Despite it being a low quality image with blown highlights I've run it through Photoshop and it starts to come out looking quite normal. So maybe the scans they do for you need working on to get a nicer contrast range that matches your memory of the place.

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23 hours ago, Vsisishi68 said:

Yes the whole roll look like this image... I put ISO to 400 and use the same method that my color rolls, which were "successful". By the way, the film was develop by a lab.

Yes. The colour image is fine. It's not your or your camera's fault.  Have you considered B&W home dev? I'd give it a try. It's a medium rabbit hole when you know what you are after. The scanning is the biggest chunk of the learning curve in my experience. But you can shortcut that by getting a modern 1:1 macro and the Valoi Easy35–if you own a DSLR already.

I started it because of similar experiences; only the images looked good, but on the heavy, grainy side. The lab's negs were fully developed, not overcooked, and had high acutance. They were true pros who learned their craft in the 80s. So far, so good.

But I found the grain to be a tad too much in my face. I realised they were using D76, as most labs do because it's somewhat the golden standard. And they had no alternative in their arsenal. So I read myself up and learned that Kodak introduced Xtol in the nineties as the superior successor to D76. But it came late to the party and failed to become the new standard (there are reasons for that beyond quality). However, Xtol did develop more fine-grained images for me right from the start. So, I kept shaking and didn't look back because the results I got were not inferior to those of that lab; on the contrary. And it's way cheaper, so much so that it makes a remarkable difference in my photography budget.

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Welcome to the film shooting experience! I really encourage you to learn how to develop B&W film yourself so you’ll have total control over your negatives. The next step is printing your work. The darkroom is incredibly addictive, and it’s the main reason I keep shooting film. Enjoy! Also, don’t get too focused on gear. The LUX is nice, but it’s heavy and slow. I’d suggest using the 35mm Cron and investing in paper, film, and chemicals instead.

Edited by cesc
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On 1/27/2025 at 2:50 PM, davidsuchoff said:

Yes - I've been shooting digital now for ~10 years.

This is a very genuine open question. As you are using a lab to process and scan film, are you printing digitally? If so can I also ask what benefits you see from using film as the capture medium?

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18 minutes ago, pedaes said:

This is a very genuine open question. As you are using a lab to process and scan film, are you printing digitally? If so can I also ask what benefits you see from using film as the capture medium?

Great question. There's something I find more organic about film from the process of shooting, developing, and the end result. Can you get similar results with digital? Certainly. I still shoot and love digital. 

I also found that the process of shooting film, with its limitations (compared to digital), allowed me to be more present and in the moment than I am with digital. Additionally, I have to be more thoughtful with my photography since film is expensive and a roll is finite.

All that being said, can I be more thoughtful in my digital shooting? Absolutely! In fact, I find that shooting film has made me a better digital photographer.

One final reason is that I see shooting film on a Leica as an entry into digital Leica M. The initial investment is lower than buying a new Leica M. And, in full transparency, I've been somewhat hesitant to jump into Leica M11 territory given the multiple reports of freezing as well as the white balance issues I see regularly. 

I currently shoot with a Hasselblad 907x 100c and love the files.

These of course are just my opinions and experiences.  

 

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38 minutes ago, davidsuchoff said:

There's something I find more organic about film

I agree - and it starts with the smell when you open a new canister of film.

Having been a film/darkroom guy for 40+ years I am still in awe at the convenience and image/print quality achievable in the lightroom, but absolutely nothing wrong with using film if you enjoy doing so. The only thing I miss is the gloss of Cibachrome!

You re also correct about the considered shot as opposed to a 'quick fire' approach. In fact it took me several years to get out of the film shooting mode. Anyone who has used transparency film with a wafer thin dynamic range  successfully probably can't understand  the exposure difficulties some have. Probably why the local Art College insists students use film for the first two semesters..

Enjoy your film experience! 

Edited by pedaes
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Negative film responds differently to light than positive digital sensor, in colour response and light intensity response, and film grain is different from digital grain/noise. Even if the workflow is partly digital, the output is different.

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On 1/27/2025 at 3:34 AM, davidsuchoff said:

Greetings all!

This past December I decided to dive into film photography for the first time. I bought a new Leica MP and used 35mm summicron ASPH (v5). I took the camera and a number of different film stocks on a family trip to Taiwan. What a joy to use! I finally understand what others have said with regards to the pleasure of using these cameras, regardless of how the photos come out. 

A few things I learned:

I tended to underexpose and need to get a better handle on the exposure meter.

As a wearer of glasses, the 35mm framelines at 0.72x magnification can, at times, be challenging to see. I also found myself wanting to frame tighter (50mm Summilux is on the wishlist!!).

I need to get better at ensuring that the camera is level - I had to straighten a few photos in post.

I need to work on white balance and editing in post.

Either way, I'm really excited to continue down this path and looking forward to more participation in this forum!

Here are a few photos from the trip:

 

 

Have you ever shot the Summilux before? I've gone through a few 50mm lenses before landing on the perfect one. I wouldn't just spend on a Summilux right away. I ended up getting the Cron v5 50mm and never looked back. The 50 and 35 combo is perfect. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

You can buy a very nice 50mm Canon LTM lens with Leica M bayonet adapter for about $300. After shooting with it for a while if you still have the Leitz craving, you can trade up.

I have two M2 bodies and both Canon and Leitz lenses (35mm & 50mm). I’m not sure I could reliably tell the difference between them in the finished prints.

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