Just shot my first film for a looong time

Freester

Freester

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Mark
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Hello there,

I just wanted to say hello to members in this corner of TP world! I may be turning up here now and again.

I am pretty new to DSLR photography (about a year) and this year I started a C&G Level 2 Photography course at my local college. We have to do a couple of weeks of film - shooting and developing B&W - as a minimum. I suspect our tutor hopes we will get bitten by the bug and do more of our work on this medium as the year progresses...

Anyhow I bought an old Canon EO5S film camera for £50 off a member on here and managed to break it as soon as I got my hands on it :bang: (currently trying to repair like here).

So in the meantime I have borrowed an EOS500N with 35-80mm lens off a work colleague. I got given my film last night (Ilford FP4 ISO125) and loaded it up today after changing the battery in my camera. Shot a couple of shots at lunchtime. What a wierd feeling not being able to review and correct the shot if necessary. I guess this will get better and make me better plan my shots.

Anyway thanks for listening to my ramble. Hope to share a couple of 'all my own work' shots with you soon...

Mark F
 
Glad to hear you are on the road to proper photography ;)

There are a lot of people that would do well to drop their dSLRs and try out a film camera for a week or so, certainly makes you think more about composition and exposure, rather than shoot, check/delete and retry.
 
Hey, welcome to the film forum:wave:

I only started with film a few months ago and was bitten by the bug instantly. I also have a 500N and use it all the time - great little SLR.
 
Well I saw my negatives (briefly) tonight.

Transferred the film onto a spiral and then into a development cannister in the complete dark. Interesting - glad I could run through the drill in the light first with a piece of duff film.

I then developed my first roll in the cannister - developed, stopped then fixed. Got a quick look at the film before it got washed and put in the dryer.

It's left at college - apparently next week we will print a contact sheet. Good fun so far and the dark room transfer of the film seemed to go OK without a hitch...
 
Freester said:
apparently next week we will print a contact sheet. Good fun so far and the dark room transfer of the film seemed to go OK without a hitch...
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hmm, contact prints :love:

I want to do that with 10x8's :)

let us know how you get on, do they have a scanner ?
 
I am sure they have a scanner at college. Not sure if I'll get time though. Otherwise I can scan the sheet at work or use my mum's at the weekend.
 
Scanned film is kinda disappointing, scanning a 24x35mm print will be yak.
Try to make time to scan the film if you can.....even if its only at super quick low res. (y)
 
Ahh yes I see what you're saying. No I wasn't thinking of scanning one of the images on the contact print and then enlarging although it might have sounded like that.

I was going to scan the whole contact sheet as my first film 'evidence'.

Also thinking about scanning the negs at high res - dpi in order to enlarge for a print.
 
Will you not have a work book to do as you go along on the course?

Why not stick you first contact sheet in that?

We have to do a work book at the course I am doing always stick nearly everything in there. Thats if I remeber :D
 
Knikki said:
Will you not have a work book to do as you go along on the course?

Why not stick you first contact sheet in that?

We have to do a work book at the course I am doing always stick nearly everything in there. Thats if I remeber :D
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Apparently there is a workbook but the lecturer doesn't seem to concerned about getting it started or telling us about it at the moment. I jumped on the course straight at Level 2, but there is much consternation amongst the students who came on to the course via the level 1 as apparently the level 1 workbook was left a bit 'last minute' which meant a last minute rush and midnight oil burning to get the workbook to the required standard with the correct content.

I want to avoid this and keep it up to date as I work along. So think I will press the issue again next week.
 
with film its a more considerd appeoach and you tend not to just shoot for the sake of it to.

personaly i would buy a old nikon camera like the 301 they are real cheap now

and then you can access some of the old superb nikon lenses also at good prices now.
 
Well I did my first test strip and contact sheet last night. I cannot explain how rewarding it was to take the images out of the fix in the dark room and take them into the light to have a look before rinsing.

I can see myself getting addicted to this. I am just not sure whether I have or can make the time to start doing this seriously at home. Maybe home developing and scanning negs is the way to go?

Ah well things to think about I guess. I'll do a scan of my contact sheet and post it here for interest. Next week will be doing some enlargements.
 
Here's the contact sheet (apologies bit of a rushed scan at work at lunchtime) - the scan's a bit darker than the real thing. I feel quite proud. Not sure if there are any decent shots on it though :shrug:

 
Freester said:
Well I did my first test strip and contact sheet last night. I cannot explain how rewarding it was to take the images out of the fix in the dark room and take them into the light to have a look before rinsing.

I can see myself getting addicted to this. I am just not sure whether I have or can make the time to start doing this seriously at home. Maybe home developing and scanning negs is the way to go?

Ah well things to think about I guess. I'll do a scan of my contact sheet and post it here for interest. Next week will be doing some enlargements.
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It seems that you have just discovered one of the greatest satisfactions that photography has to offer. It is even more of a kick with a finished print rather than a contact sheet.

You are of course quite right to have a concern over the possibility of an addiction and my advice to you is to quit while you still can! ;) I can also warn you that once you are completely hooked it is a lifetime addiction which will leave you needing sunglasses on even an overcast day and with all your clothes smelling of hypo.

Looks like you have one or 2 nice shots on that sheet as well :)
 
:D good to see you falling in love with film:)

although digi has it's fasination it's just not the same :D
 
Freester. welcome to the world of film.if youre after another cheap camera try cash converters or their equivilant by where you live.ive just picked up a vivitar 3000 quite good £25.also have a minolta500dynax and just got a 7000 off flea bay £21 .worked out cheaper to buy complete instead of individual lenses.good luck on the course hope to see some of your shots here and if you become a convert to the dark side of photography.
 
Cheers for the welcome and encouragement. It's an even friendlier corner (if that's possible) of a friendly forum.

I think I am beyond saving myself. I mentioned to the guy who loaned me his film camera I was looking at buying some developing gear and he said I could have all his... Dev tank, thermometers, jars etc. Obviously I will have to offer him some cash for it.

I just need to talk it through with Mrs F. I think the practical way forward for me is home devloping but printing isn't going to happen. I just don't have room in our tiny bathroom to make a darkroom, house an enlarger. So developing and scanning negs is the way forward until I win the lottery and get a bigger house!

Cheers for the advice on checking out the pawn shop for some film gear. Also my local camera shop is quite good on 2nd hand gear but prices are over the odds compared to Ebay...

Will be printing a few from the contact sheet tomorrow night. Can't wait.
 
Freester said:
Cheers for the welcome and encouragement. It's an even friendlier corner (if that's possible) of a friendly forum.

I think I am beyond saving myself. I mentioned to the guy who loaned me his film camera I was looking at buying some developing gear and he said I could have all his... Dev tank, thermometers, jars etc. Obviously I will have to offer him some cash for it.

I just need to talk it through with Mrs F. I think the practical way forward for me is home devloping but printing isn't going to happen. I just don't have room in our tiny bathroom to make a darkroom, house an enlarger. So developing and scanning negs is the way forward until I win the lottery and get a bigger house!

Cheers for the advice on checking out the pawn shop for some film gear. Also my local camera shop is quite good on 2nd hand gear but prices are over the odds compared to Ebay...

Will be printing a few from the contact sheet tomorrow night. Can't wait.
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Obviously the lottery win and the permanent spacious darkroom is the preferred choice!

You will be amazed at how little room you can get by with for a temporary darkroom however. Surprisingly most bathrooms contain a bath, and this is perfectly large enough for an enlarger and 3 trays if you put a sheet of wood on top of it. For most baths an offcut of kitchen worktop is about the right width. OK it won't be at an ideal height and neither will you have the seperate wet and dry areas that one would have in an ideal world but still perfectly serviceable.

In fact the issue with any darkroom which get used for another purpose is rarely that of space, it is blacking it out in a manner that is aesthetically acceptable to the domestic authorities who are likely to take the unreasonable attitude that such rooms should be used from time to time for their originally intended (but less important) function. There is also the hassle of wasting time setting up and clearing away but when the d&p obsession really gets a grip on you this will be seen as an unavoidable annoyance rather than an insurmountable obstacle.
 
Nicos Rex said:
In fact the issue with any darkroom which get used for another purpose is rarely that of space, it is blacking it out in a manner that is aesthetically acceptable to the domestic authorities who are likely to take the unreasonable attitude that such rooms should be used from time to time for their originally intended (but less important) function.
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:LOL: :LOL: :clap:
 
if you can adapt the bathroom for your needs or a large cupboard as said by the others, wholesale fabric places do the black out material cheap.double it over. i started with b/w and a gnome beta. really simple minimal space you can make a frame for the paper to sit on for aligning . above all though if an opportunity arises try to go for it . some colleges still do evening courses for b/w and you use their kit.
 
Well here's my first print. It's a quick scan but you'll get the idea. Pleased as punch and definitely addicted. Was surfing the net for dev chemicals this morning. Where do you guys get yours?

 
SilverPrint, but most Jessops stock ilfosol s, it was my first developer and although I've tried a few that give different results, I always feel comfortable with ilfosol, the standard timings are nicely spaced, (not too fast or slow), it lasts a long while even when opened and its yellow, so its difficult to get it mixed up with fixer.....I mean.....I have ofcourse......but its difficult :LOL:

OOOGod....I was mad about that :annoyed:

Nice shot btw, looks a shade soft but its early days/quick scan (y)
god knows what sheep have against metal detectors..
 
Cheers Joxby.

Thanks for the comments on the picture. I guess a black and white sign like that is going to show up any softness in the image. Looking at my print it isn't as soft as the scan but it is a bit soft still!

I've been confusing myself about chemicals all afternoon but I think I'll start a new thread on that...
 
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