Title Change - A Journey back into film! Multiple Film Cameras.

[Derek W]

Evening all,

As some may have seen in the New Gear thread I recently bought a Canon AE-1 with 50mm 1.4 FD lens from ebay which was fully working with new seals. Once I had got new batteries and a few films I've now received some photos from the first Black and White film that I've shot for about 20yrs.

All shot on Ilford 100 B&W film with an f-stop between 5.6 and 11 and a shutter speed between 1/125th and 1/500th of a second.

EDIT

Title changed for incoming camera!

 

[Derek W]

Lovely

Thanks.

I've been watching a number of film photography youtubers for tips on shooting film cos its been that long with digital that I'd forgotten its better to overexpose slightly than underexpose which is what I'd normally do for digital. I'm most of the way through a roll of Kodak Gold 200 so that'll be getting developed after next weekend. I've been looking on Analoguewonderland.co.uk for different film types as well and I'm intrigued by the Lomography Metropolis film so I'll probably buy a couple of rolls to try out in the streets of Dundee shortly.

 

[Derek W]

I have all ways dismissed the going back trying film as a fad but must say there great looking with out the modern content I would be convinced number 2 would be worth a large print.

It possibly is a fad for me as well. I've enjoyed shooting that first roll again and I'm almost finished my first roll of colour film. Going for a walk this weekend so I'll get those shots fired off and this thread updated in due course. It's always good that the film camera and old lenses are about half the weight of my 5d2 with whichever L lens I decide to put on it so to a degree it encourages me to take a camera with me when I go out to do something.

 

[Derek W]

Thought I'd best change the title since this arrived today!

Got some 120 film on order so I'll be giving it a spin shortly.

 

[Derek W]

Where are you all getting your film developed? I keep flirting with the idea of getting back into film but the reason I stopped was the increasing cost of development and difficulty of getting good scans.

For the black and white roll I went back to Ilford (harmanlab.com) and I've just sent a colour film off to analoguewonderland.co.uk so I'll need to see what like their scans are like. I went with high quality jpgs for both but there is an option for high quality tiffs as well.

 

[Derek W]

Got my Kodak Gold 200 shots scanned through to me today. I wasn't as happy with these ones as I was with the Black and White images.

The settings used were similar to the previous set with the images being slightly over exposed as film will allow for this better than under exposing. I'll see how i get on with the Yashica with the final 6 shots also on the Kodak Gold 200 film. I've had to fully meter them manually and i suspect with the light meter app I should have allowed for a shutter speed beyond the camera limits to ensure I wasn't over exposing the shots beyond the 1/300th of second limitation of the camera.

 

[Derek W]

There’s a certain je ne ce quoi about them though. Is it the dynamic range?

I’ve been browsing Bronicas on account of your posts…

I've been watching a few videos from grainydays on YouTube. He makes reference to the dynamic range of various films and he also refers to the films latitude or how well it can handle the detail / colours / noise when the film is under or over exposed. Different film stocks have different chemical mixtures to give the different looks of the final image.

Apologies for camera browsing! On that note thought if you've got Instagram take a look at flints auctions. The post they stuck up yesterday they're giving away a hasselblad 500cm so that might be worth doing just for a couple of tags and a share.

 

[Derek W]

I've not tried that one yet. Straightforward to do in lightroom I guess.

 

[Derek W]

Got the first scans of 120 Kodak Gold 200 back today.

McManus Gallery in Dundee

V&A Dundee

Jokeresque Staircase in Aberdeen

 

[Derek W]

Beautifully exposed. Do you use a light meter or an app?

I’ve tried a few labs recently.
Analogue Wonderland - good but pricey.
Take It Easy Film Lab (Leeds) - relatively cheap but service wasn’t great and they scratched up a few of my negatives pre-scan.
Come Through Lab (Manchester) - good value, fast turnaround, and great output. My favourite so far.

I’ve just sent two rolls of 120 and a roll of 135 to a local lab in Southampton to see how they come out.

I used light meter app on my phone. I was a bit disappointed with other photos from Aberdeen as although it was a glorious day the sky came out quite a bit over exposed.

 

[Derek W]

Cheers for that. Generally since I'm just getting back into film photography I'm keeping everything at box speed for now. I've been watching a number of videos on youtube from a guy by the name of Grainydays so I am looking at getting some other film stocks. I do like the look of the lomo metropolis (just seen its back on analogue world) but I'll have to pay through the nose for that one from foreign shores. A few others that I'm looking at are Portra 400, santa 100 and I'm sure there was another one that i can't think of the name off the top of my head. Also looking into getting a fridge / freezer to store it in should i get a stockpile going!

 

[Derek W]

Order placed for Metropolis on both 35 and 120 film along with some expired Cinestill 400D on 120. Only expired in February so should be ok for a wee while and I'll be punting it into the Freezer till i use it.

 

[Derek W]

Some freezer items arrived today!

 

[Derek W]

Interested to see what the Cinestill looks like when you get round to shooting it. I keep adding the 800T to my basket but it costs the same as two rolls of Gold and I don’t need it for any particular project yet.

Yeah, it'll be an interesting one to shoot. I think it 'suffers' from halations in particular areas of brightness from lights so I'll see how i get on with that. I'm possibly looking at getting out tomorrow to shoot the Kodak Gold that I've loaded into the Yashica. I've been stuck indoors this week waiting on deliveries so not been able to shoot any film earlier on.

 

[Derek W]

Another roll of gold to be sent for developing tomorrow and two more shots of the Ilford before that's getting sent away. Managed to get a free roll of portra 160 from analogue wonderland with the 120 processing albeit I had to pay postage. With the weather being so inconsistent here I'm not sure when I'll be able to get out next and what film I'll end up shooting. Hopefully I can get back down to Dundee this weekend and give the metropolis a go.

 

[Derek W]

Mechanics Institute, Brechin

Church Street, Brechin (looks like there's a thread / scratch on the road during the scan process unfortunately)

Cortachy Church, Kirriemuir

Some trees during the Cortachy walk.

All shot on Kodak Gold 200 on the Yashica B.

Going to be heading up a bit further North this coming week so I'll get a change of scenery for using the Portra 160 and Metropolis.

 

[Derek W]

Got one of my four films back today. It's been a while since i shot these so forgot what half of them were!

Back to the earlier shoot in Dundee with another of the V&A looking towards HMS Discovery. Albeit it is cluttered!

First of the Castle series of photos that I'll be posting.....not the best castle to be shooting in black and white but I'll hopefully have something decent in the colour films that are being processed just now as well!

Both shot on the Canon AE-1 with the 50mm lens if i remember correctly. Ilford 100 B&W

 

[Derek W]

Love that first shot.

Have you used the Lomo Metropolis yet? I have a 120 roll here which I'm almost certainly not going to use. You're welcome to have it if you'd get some use out of it.

I've got a roll of 120 and 35mm in for development along with the Cinestill 400D which I'm hoping I'll get back by the end of the week if not the start of next. Are you not getting on with the Lomo Metropolis? Can you stick it in the freezer till you'll get round to using it?

 

[Derek W]

I've had it a while now but every time I think I might use it, and consider the likely results, I always go for another stock. I just don't think it'll fit with what I want to shoot, and at £12 a roll for dev & scan, I can't foresee a time when I'll actually choose it. So if it's something you can use and enjoy, PM your details and I'll put it in the post.

In 120 I'm a big fan of the Lomo CN800 at the minute with a few rolls left, and I have about 10 rolls of Kodak Gold, a box of Fuji 400H, Kodak 400TX and an Ilford Delta 3200. Also got 15 rolls of expired Fuji Superia 800 in 35mm. Plenty to keep me going!

I'll see how my films turn out when I get them back. But if I'm happy with them I'd appreciate the film if it's surplus to requirements. Cheers.

 

[Derek W]

Lomo Metropolis shot at 400ASA on 35mm.

Gamekeepers Cottage at Craigievar Castle.

Rear Elevation of Drum Castle

A tree knot that looks like an eye

An old abandoned cottage at Backwater Dam, Kirriemuir

Trees at the River Esk, Brechin (The place that got knackered by Storm Babet last year)

Craigievar Castle looking a bit more pink in this one!

General thoughts on the film are that i do quite like it but the subject matter is quite important. I don't think it lends overly well to warmer tones as it does crush them along with the blacks to give that grittier feel. Completely forgot to take a note of my settings while i was taking this series but i think i need to expose more for the shadows to get the best out of the film in general.