Confused Newb!

B

b16a2

Guest
Hey people,

I started in film, but never experimented with different types, or learned about processing...

I recently decided to take the film body out of a box, and play around with the reason people shoot film... the film itself! I did a bit of research, and found that Ilford 400 HP5 sounds like a good place to start for a medium contrast black and white result.

That is where my knowledge of film ends, I have never been lucky enough to process my own film, nor have I learned anything about the technical side of developing film.

I finished two rolls of the Ilford today, and decided to walk into Boots, and then Jessops, and then Jacobs to find out that all of them needed to send the film away to get it developed, and that it is likely to be three weeks before I see the prints... I am curious why it isn't possible to get these done in-store, and also, in doing some homework, I am thinking there's quite a lot of variables relative to how an photograph ends up after the shutter closes.

In my hunting, I found the following document:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20106281054152313.pdf

This seems to infer that there are different temperatures, chemicals, and times for developing the film... are all of those things variable? Or are they more specific depending on the film itself?

In reading the film developing sticky in this forum, I read that there are two main (are they the only?) processing types (C-41, and E6)... am I correct in assuming that most high-street developers use only C-41, and therefore my film is probably E6, and therefore, not something that they can deal with? How are you supposed to know which process to use on a specific type of film?

Another question, should I be developing with companies like Jessops, or Boots, or am I better off sending film away to a company like Loxley? If so... are there any companies that are better to look at than the few that I have mentioned?

Also, when I look at price-lists, I am lost when trying to find out how much it will cost to process my film. Look at the following link:

http://www.loxleycolour.com/docs/film_processing_professional_process.pdf

...is someone able to explain where my film belongs in this list? Or how about this one:

http://www.trumpslab.co.uk/scanning/processing.html

Am I correct in thinking that they are 135/24? Also, does 'process and contact' mean develop, and print?

Sorry, there's a load of questions here, but I am confused!

In any case, if I am looking for prints from my roll, am I in fact looking for:

Process and Contact of 135/24 in E6?

Many thanks if you've taken the time to read through this, and even more thanks to those of you that decide to respond!

Cheers,

Evan
 
Your film is ordinary b/w film, to develop in ordinary b/w chemicals at room temperature.
Unfortunately high street labs only usually do C41, so you'd need to shoot b/w film made to be processed with C41 chemicals.
There are quite a few on line labs that you can send your film away to be processed, but its really quite easy to do yourself.

135/24 is 35mm film with 24 exposures, I would expect HP5 to be 36 exposures but maybe they make it in 24's I dunno

process and contact is processing the film and then making a contact sheet from them...its like an a4 sheet with all the frames printed on it, it is not 24 or 36 6x4 prints
 
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b16a2 said:
Hey people,

I started in film, but never experimented with different types, or learned about processing...

I recently decided to take the film body out of a box, and play around with the reason people shoot film... the film itself! I did a bit of research, and found that Ilford 400 HP5 sounds like a good place to start for a medium contrast black and white result.

That is where my knowledge of film ends, I have never been lucky enough to process my own film, nor have I learned anything about the technical side of developing film.

I finished two rolls of the Ilford today, and decided to walk into Boots, and then Jessops, and then Jacobs to find out that all of them needed to send the film away to get it developed, and that it is likely to be three weeks before I see the prints... I am curious why it isn't possible to get these done in-store, and also, in doing some homework, I am thinking there's quite a lot of variables relative to how an photograph ends up after the shutter closes.

In my hunting, I found the following document:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20106281054152313.pdf

This seems to infer that there are different temperatures, chemicals, and times for developing the film... are all of those things variable? Or are they more specific depending on the film itself?

Great thing about black and white you can experiment to your hearts content.
I've not experimented that much as the image is always more important to me, than how you get there. ID11/D76 and XTOL are the industry standards.
Each film will have it's own development time, just read off the chart film type and temp and dilution and job done.
Digitaltruth.com is a good starting point

In reading the film developing sticky in this forum, I read that there are two main (are they the only?) processing types (C-41, and E6)... am I correct in assuming that most high-street developers use only C-41, and therefore my film is probably E6, and therefore, not something that they can deal with? How are you supposed to know which process to use on a specific type of film?

Print film is C-41 and most common. If it's 35mm then it will say process C-41 on the can.
E6 is less common and for slides, most likely you will have to post the film.

Another question, should I be developing with companies like Jessops, or Boots, or am I better off sending film away to a company like Loxley? If so... are there any companies that are better to look at than the few that I have mentioned?

Try a few test rolls and make your own conclusions. I process my own c-41 so can't really comment, although Loxley do my prints.

Also, when I look at price-lists, I am lost when trying to find out how much it will cost to process my film. Look at the following link:

http://www.loxleycolour.com/docs/film_processing_professional_process.pdf

...is someone able to explain where my film belongs in this list? Or how about this one:

You will want a develop and print package

http://www.trumpslab.co.uk/scanning/processing.html

Am I correct in thinking that they are 135/24? Also, does 'process and contact' mean develop, and print?

No, contact is an A4 print with the images printed at the same size as the neg. You will get 24 tiny images on the paper. Good if you want to save money but if you want all 6'x4' prints off the roll of film then a process and print package is what you want.

Sorry, there's a load of questions here, but I am confused!

In any case, if I am looking for prints from my roll, am I in fact looking for:

Process and Contact of 135/24 in E6?

You need a Process and print package if your film is C-41 colour.
You mentioned HP5 in your opening post, this is B+W film which will require a Black and white process and print something like this shop offers http://www.blackandwhitefilmprocessing.co.uk/pricelist.html

Many thanks if you've taken the time to read through this, and even more thanks to those of you that decide to respond!

Cheers,

Evan
Click to expand...
 
Forgot to add, the best thing about black and white film is processing it yourself, dead easy once you have done it a few times. :)
 
b16a2 said:
Hey people,

I started in film, but never experimented with different types, or learned about processing...

I recently decided to take the film body out of a box, and play around with the reason people shoot film... the film itself! I did a bit of research, and found that Ilford 400 HP5 sounds like a good place to start for a medium contrast black and white result.

That is where my knowledge of film ends, I have never been lucky enough to process my own film, nor have I learned anything about the technical side of developing film.

I finished two rolls of the Ilford today, and decided to walk into Boots, and then Jessops, and then Jacobs to find out that all of them needed to send the film away to get it developed, and that it is likely to be three weeks before I see the prints... I am curious why it isn't possible to get these done in-store, and also, in doing some homework, I am thinking there's quite a lot of variables relative to how an photograph ends up after the shutter closes.
In my hunting, I found the following document:

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20106281054152313.pdf

This seems to infer that there are different temperatures, chemicals, and times for developing the film... are all of those things variable? Or are they more specific depending on the film itself?

If you look at the Massive Development Chart, you'll find that pretty much every different proper black and white film requires a different amount of time in the developer - hence, pretty much every black and white film ends up getting at best small batch processed, or at worst hand processed. Hence it's slower, more technical, and more labour intensive than looping a roll of C41 film into a minilab machine and pressing "go".


In reading the film developing sticky in this forum, I read that there are two main (are they the only?) processing types (C-41, and E6)... am I correct in assuming that most high-street developers use only C-41, and therefore my film is probably E6, and therefore, not something that they can deal with? How are you supposed to know which process to use on a specific type of film?

No - your HP5+ is "real" black and white film. E6 is slide film, and produces colour positive images. C41 is colour negative film, which generally produces a orangey coloured negative strip, which is then used to produce prints from. There is a variant on C41 which produces black and white negatives from a colour process - Ilford XP2 being one type, which can produce black and white images at your local minilab.

Another question, should I be developing with companies like Jessops, or Boots, or am I better off sending film away to a company like Loxley? If so... are there any companies that are better to look at than the few that I have mentioned?

If you're sending them away - for black and white, I'd send them back to Ilford Labs - not cheap, but lovely quality proper silver gelatine prints. Peak Imaging are also good, and may be a bit cheaper. Personally, I don't use the cheaper companies, so I can't give a recommendation, though someone will be along soon to recommend one, I'm sure

Also, when I look at price-lists, I am lost when trying to find out how much it will cost to process my film. Look at the following link:

http://www.loxleycolour.com/docs/film_processing_professional_process.pdf

...is someone able to explain where my film belongs in this list? Or how about this one:

http://www.trumpslab.co.uk/scanning/processing.html

Am I correct in thinking that they are 135/24? Also, does 'process and contact' mean develop, and print?

Process and contact is process the film, and produce a "contact sheet"a bunch of thumbnail shots, procuced by laying the negatives in contact with the photo-paper, and exposing them to light. print of the negatives -


Sorry, there's a load of questions here, but I am confused!

In any case, if I am looking for prints from my roll, am I in fact looking for:

Process and Contact of 135/24 in E6?

No - it'll be135/whatever number of exposures on the roll (either 24/36) and Black and White.


Many thanks if you've taken the time to read through this, and even more thanks to those of you that decide to respond!

Cheers,

Evan
Click to expand...
 
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lulz...:LOL:


this forum is an unstoppable info machine
 
Incredible! Thank you all for taking the time to respond! Sense has been made!

Looking forward to getting these sent away. I am looking forward to learning how to process black and white at a local school later this month, or next month...

I've now been sucked into trying to learn a bit about medium format... so much more to learn than digital, photography is getting exciting again!

Thanks again for the comments, and recommendations!
 
Try the above ,£6 for dev and contact sheet plus they do a scanning service,also try a firm called scanitall.co.uk for film scans ,they offer a good price and both are faster than using the high street
 
Nomad Z said:
While you work out how to go about processing yourself, you can take your exposed rolls to Trumps in Edinburgh...

http://www.trumpslab.co.uk/index.html

I've used them for colour stuff, and a workmate uses them for B&W - no complaints from either of us. This is the page you want for dev+print packages...

http://www.trumpslab.co.uk/digital_prints/frontier_bw.html
Click to expand...

Thanks mate! I took the rolls to Trumps on Saturday... looking forward to their return, I think I might be able to pick them up tomorrow. Will post decent results (If I've got any!)
 
Got my prints back today... here are some scans, very happy with results, and looking forward to shooting more film.

IMG_01.jpg

IMG_13.jpg

IMG_08.jpg

IMG_04.jpg

IMG_11.jpg

IMG_06.jpg
 
Some lovely shots there Evan, looks like Trumps did a good job on 'em too...

/pimp mode
Just think how much more satisfying it'll be when you develop your own and see them come out of the tank :)

/pimp mode off...

:LOL:
 
Haha, yeah... It will be pretty satisfying! :) glad you like them!
 
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