Film Camera Recomendations

john.margetts said:
It seems strange to me that Filmdev offer no indication beyond small, medium and large as those are essentially meaningless. Other places either give you the file size or pixel dimensions either of which allow me to understand the quality I am going to get.

I understand that I could do a Google search to find out but really that should not be necessary. As a new customer, Filmdev should give the the information that I need. I would not be happy giving my custom to people who are pointlessly vague about rather important aspects. It does not really bode well for the rest of the process.
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That is a good point, it should be clear what you are purchasing as what is essentially a product without having to dig for the info
 
john.margetts said:
It seems strange to me that Filmdev offer no indication beyond small, medium and large as those are essentially meaningless. Other places either give you the file size or pixel dimensions either of which allow me to understand the quality I am going to get.
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Shaun Palmer said:
That is a good point, it should be clear what you are purchasing as what is essentially a product without having to dig for the info
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You can download sample scans which will show you the sizes they offer from the two available scanner choices: http://www.filmdev.co.uk/?page_id=730

Shaun Palmer said:
Depends what your using the images for really doesn't it, if your selling large prints for example then yeah, lab is always going to win no doubt about it. But for hobbyist/enthusiasts as a cost effective way to digitize their own shots, then I wouldn't class the results as subpar. Then again it also depends how competent the individual is I suppose to get a desired result. I'm no expert by any means, I've developed only 6 rolls of 35mm film since starting with film 2/3 month ago.
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I'm not talking about resolution or sharpness; that's for the digital guys to worry about. I'm worried about colour, contrast, highlights, consistency, etc. For me, the flatbeds simply can't cut it. Of course, I can't fully rule out that I'm terrible at operating my scanner, but the evidence from other photographers suggests to me that the flatbeds simply aren't good enough for what I'm looking to do (for colour photography anyway; I have less of an issue with black and white).

Shaun Palmer said:
The image below was from my 3rd roll I think it was, home developed and scanned, so you could say a lot of margin for error. I would think I wouldn't have got an image that was that much better quality than what I would need or have use for. I've ordered a 12x8 print of it, so that will be the real test of quality I suppose.
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As I said, I'm not concerned about the resolution or sharpness really. I have a 12x12 scanned by my Epson hanging on my wall that looks fine in that regard. That photo though, like the one you've posted, doesn't have a very wide subject brightness range, so I just about managed to get colour and contrast to my liking. With a wider SBR or more challenging lighting, however, I find the Epson can't keep up (or again I'm seriously failing as the scanner operator).

Another thing worth mentioning for me is the time involved with scanning. If folks want to develop and scan everything, that's great, but I'll be out shooting or doing other things. I've shot 700 rolls of medium format since March 2013. If I developed and scanned everything myself, no one would ever see me.
 
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skysh4rk said:
You can download sample scans which will show you the sizes they offer from the two available scanner choices: http://www.filmdev.co.uk/?page_id=730



I'm not talking about resolution or sharpness; that's for the digital guys to worry about. I'm worried about colour, contrast, highlights, consistency, etc. For me, the flatbeds simply can't cut it. Of course, I can't fully rule out that I'm terrible at operating my scanner, but the evidence from other photographers suggests to me that the flatbeds simply aren't good enough for what I'm looking to do (for colour photography anyway; I have less of an issue with black and white).



As I said, I'm not concerned about the resolution or sharpness really. I have a 12x12 scanned by my Epson hanging on my wall that looks fine in that regard. That photo though, like the one you've posted, doesn't have a very wide subject brightness range, so I just about managed to get colour and contrast to my liking. With a wider SBR or more challenging lighting, however, I find the Epson can't keep up (or again I'm seriously failing as the scanner operator).

Another thing worth mentioning for me is the time involved with scanning. If folks want to develop and scan everything, that's great, but I'll be out shooting or doing other things. I've shot 700 rolls of medium format since March 2013. If I developed and scanned everything myself, no one would ever see me.
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Fair points :) 700!!! I've got some catching up to do lol. I dev & scan when the little one goes down for bed, nice relaxing time for me rather than watching horrendous TV lol
 
Shaun Palmer said:
I dev & scan when the little one goes down for bed, nice relaxing time for me rather than watching horrendous TV lol
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I've recently been much more into playing my bass guitar and studying Japanese than engaging with my scanner/darkroom equipment, but I definitely hear what you're saying. (y)

As long as you are enjoying it and getting what you want out of it, then you're golden.
 
skysh4rk said:
I've recently been much more into playing my bass guitar and studying Japanese than engaging with my scanner/darkroom equipment, but I definitely hear what you're saying. (y)

As long as you are enjoying it and getting what you want out of it, then you're golden.
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Thats really cool to be fair. Photography is pretty much my only hobby, and even then time is stretched working 45+ hours a week and looking after a toddler with infinite energy haha
 
From #34:-
What can you expect from a cheap scanner using 120 negs, well I picked up the Epson 4180 photo at the bootie for £3 by arguing it might not work and didn't have a power supply (didn't let on I had a spare)...anyway I knew it was quite good with colour negs but thought I'd try it with 120 B\W and the results are good as below. I'm not saying go out and buy this model as really is a PITA being slow and only takes two 6x6 or one 6x7...but thinking I might be using the wrong neg holders as have a few spare from other scanners and have one that takes four 6x6 but not sure how it works as it seems you lay the strip of negs on the holder but there is nothing stopping it moving around unless you put glass on top or whatever. :rolleyes:

FP4 120 dev in Unitol and camera was RB67 with 180mm lens with diffuser over the lens and some might like less contrast but it looks ok to me. Strange the scan had a brown cast but removed it in Photoshop and scanned with Epson software @ 2400dpi
gQPKFZw.jpg

crop for pixel peepers
7EWRc5A.jpg
 
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