First Film Images off my Nikon F80

[cambsno]

Been shooting digital for a while, if I say so myself am pretty accomplished especially with portraits. Last had a film camera when I was a kid, and ventured into film again a year ago with a Zorki. Then got a Nikon FE which is fun, but manual everything. Then last week picked up a F80 from Grays of Westminster. Remembering a tip when using a film camera for 1st time - shoot a roll asap to see if it all works as it should, no point in taking careful shots if it is knackered - I whizzed through a film at the weekend and got developed at a local Snappy Snaps today.

I am looking for any critique on the shots below with regards to technique and general feedback. It was shot on 200 Superia and I appreciate that the subject matter is not that interesting, it was more of a test, and that it is more the technical stuff I am bothered about rather than composition (like something shopped off). All shot with a 50mm 1.4G lens at f/2.8 in manual mode. Tweaked in LR, just a bit of exposure, brightness, sat & odd WB too. One question - lips seep quite red??

1. Natural light

2. Swing

3. B&W

4. Looking down

5. Swing again

6. Smiles - natural light

 

[MWHCVT]

Really nice work I only hope I can do this well on my first attempt with film I'm hoping to have a go later this year

I don't have the F&C knowledge to really give any technical advise

Matt
MWHCVT

 

[simon ess]

Nice shots. 1 and 6 especially.

And what a coincidence. I've just posted my first ever film shots - taken on an F80.

Loving it already.

 

[cambsno]

Cheers guys, should they look this noisy?? Was 400iso.

 

[trencheel303]

film is generally a lot noisier than modern digitals. Modern films like ektar and portra are better but being "noise free" at silly high ISOs is not what film is about, really.

 

[Asha]

I only shoot b&w film so I'm not up on commenting on colour but for me they look fine.

Compared against shots that have from my F60 with 400iso b&w film, yours look on a par if not better......the grain would be about the same too so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

You look all set for a 2nd roll imo

 

[TheBigYin]

Cheers guys, should they look this noisy?? Was 400iso.

As has been said, they don't look particularly grainy - though as you say there is a suggestion of digital noise, which really is the fault of the scanning process, rather than the film. One thing i've noticed, is that after a "machine scan" - i.e. a scan done for you by the shop, often using a general purpose scanning profile on their machine, the scan will probably be pre-sharpened for printing - and often a little over-sharpened to take into account the fact that they're normally working with joe-public's plastic lensed point and shoot or disposable cameras

Also, sharpening film shots without exaggerating grain effects is a bit of an art form in itself. I've found that one way that works for me is to use CS5's to add a high pass filter layer in overlay or soft-light mode, adjusting the pixel radius until the degree of sharpening you want is achieved, without the grain going bananas.

 

[cambsno]

Thanks - just got the images done in an hour at Snappy Snaps so guessing they were probably not the best scans.

 

[Andysnap]

Like these a lot Simon, really good shots especially the last one, lovely.

Andy

 

[trencheel303]

Thanks - just got the images done in an hour at Snappy Snaps so guessing they were probably not the best scans.

try getting film dev'd and scanned at a real lab like Peak Imaging and you'll really see the difference... we stopped using Snappy Snaps after they managed to ruin several films and one or two even had evidence of chemicals running all over the place! :nono: