Film, darkrooms and the past....

9designs2

9designs2

9designs2

Soldato
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5 Jan 2003
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Been tempted lately to go back and restart traditional film photography :eek:
Partly because I found I still have 20 rolls of film in the fridge, all now out of date, but being kept cool I hope will still be useable. :(

I rattled an old roll of Fuji slide film off yesterday to test it..... Working with film again was good, of coarse I have no idea if I shot 36 frames of rubbish or a couple of keepers....

I have all boxed up a complete darkroom kit, and now in my current house a loft I could easily make one end into a darkroom...... Will I ever find time to use it, that is the dilemma, digital has made me lazy and a casual photographer.

Also I'm tempted to purchase a film scanner again, sadly not a used Nikon as the prices have gone through the roof. The new Plustek 8200 looks tempting.

Still like the film route, scan to 7200 dpi, having shot with Carl Zeiss lens gives more detail and information than I'm going to get from my 5D.....
For Black and White into the Darkroom.....

The hobby seems to have gone with digital, it seems more of a throw away commodity and pass time.
But it's hard to compete with the dust free results and photoshop corrections so easily available on a PC....

Nostalgia or a worthy trip ?....... Does anyone else still get their fingers wet ?
 
Well I proceed a roll of Ilford Delta100 last night, despite it being a 2 years out of date, and the chemical possibly more so, but new in an unopened bottle, ... all came out well :). So I can steam into the remaining 19 rolls !!!

I've done my own dev and printing for close on 30 years !!! (I started young ;).... Black and White mainly.
Have done a little C41 dev for XP films ..... and I have an E6 kit for some rolls of slide film.

I use to print in the darkroom as well, but when film scanners came along I ended up doing both, and then just scanning.... Had a Microtek Artix4000TF, 4000 dpi, sold it a few years ago with the intention of getting a Nikon scanner.... but never got round to it, and the DSLR took over.

Feeling motivated, for now, to build an area in the loft, and get the enlarger back out of the box...... Some 12x16" or 20x16" prints are good challenge...

Agree, scanner is good as well to help pick a few favourites and do general pictures, then save the best ones for the darkroom enlargements....

I thought digital would killed it all off, but I see the local town is still running darkroom classes, really surprised me.......
 
Yes it's much more rewarding isn't it..... I've looked so many times at MF kit, problem is I'm a Contax junkie, a 645 kit still fetches big money.... Then a more sensible option would be a Bronica.
Also MF film scanners have gone through the roof, a Coolscan 9000 goes for over 2K. Hense I going for Plustek 35mm only scanner. I also don't have a 120 neg holder for my Durst M370.... Or suitable lens..... All becomes a big investment for a play.
 
Kicking myself as couple of years back before they stopped making them a used one would sell for about a grand on eBay :(

You studying photography and they still teach darkroom skills in this digital age!:cool:
 
The roll of Fuji slide film came back yesterday, looks like 36 shoots of nicely exposed film, not bad for being about 5 years out of date!!!
Detail in highlights and shadows looks great, huge dynamic range...... Just need that scanner now.
 
PermaBanned said:
On most scanners you probably won't want to go above 2400dpi, beyond that the actual resolution doesn't increase. It's just making up data through interpolation. Which often results in lower image quality.
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Click to expand...

Hmmm nope they are optical resolutions I was speaking of, dedicated film scanners not flatbeds. The Nikon's are 4000dpi, as was my old Microtek, the new Plustek are 7200 optical dpi.... I think at that level you have probably exceed what some lenses or films will resolve anyway.

Spec :-
Optical resolution: 7200x7200 dpi
Bit Depth: 48-bit color (16-bit channels) and 16-bit grayscale
Sampling: Multi-sampling capable
Infrared Scanning: Yes (for dust and scratch removal)
Buttons: Power, Intelliscan (launches SilverFast), QuickScan (launches PageManager)
Maximum Scan Area: 25.4x36.8mm
Light Source: white LED
Sensor: Color CCD image sensor
Interface: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
 
Well when it states "Optical resolution" forgive me for believing it and not expecting it to be interpolated... Same as Nikon claim 4000, and Minolta had one at 5400. Now I would agreed that could deteriorate if it has sloppy stepper motors and judders along, as you would end up loosing some sharpness.

I use to scan to 4000 with my old Microtek, so I know what sort of files that created.

I have no plan to scan everything, I only scan the frame I want to print or work with.... Negatives and slides are a better archive format than digital anyway ;)

What size is needed, easy one, 4961 x 3508 as a minimum, that is A3 @ 300 dpi...Which is what I work to for many years. Which close to a 12x16 inch paper I have in the dark room as well... Also have some 20 x 30 inch and trays to process it :)

Actually more because I'd like the option to experiment with something a bit bigger for the wall.
No point have thousands of pounds worth of Carl Zeiss glass if your not going to try and pull as much detail out as possible. ;)

Just watched a few scanners go on the bay.... for some silly prices :eek:
Still makes this Plustek look like a good deal.
 
Yeah if I go MF I'll get a top end Espon Flatbed, as I'm not shelling out 2K for Coolscan 9000 !!! :eek:
Yes Flatbeds do like to give you a slider that is "ambitious" with resolution. ;)
 
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