Lubitel Film questions + a bonus!

lawrie29

lawrie29

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Lawrie
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Evening,

I picked up a Lubitel 166b for a tenner on the car boot this morning.

I thiugh it could be some fun, and if nothing else the waist high view finder is cool!

So, I may want to play with MF film at some point, but will probably start with 35mm and a conversion kit.

Can anyone give me any pointers on this? From what I have seen the size of fram covers the whole film, including the holes, which I like, but is this something I can get processed anywhere?

I understand that its not going to capture the entire frame, just the central section, which is fine, anything else to look out for?

The camera does come with a roll of exposed film in it. Any suggestions on what to do with it? I dont have an MF cannister to put it into, but as with anything like this would be interested in seeing what was shot. Any recomendations for developing it? Anyone here fancy giving it a go if I post it to you?

Thanks in advance



Lawrie
 
Hey Lawrie.

I've used adapters with 35mm in 120 film cameras before. It's fine, if a little bit of a faff. Images do include the sprocket holes, and it doesn't make a difference to development. Some labs will just scan it as 35mm though so you won't get the holes in the scans unless you ask them to, or DIY.

Be wary of what direction the film loads in. My Rollei is vertical, so any 35mm will give vertical 'panoramas', whereas my old RB67 and current 5603CW work horizontally which is much easier to work with. Just pay attention when loading the film, and bear it in mind.

Is the film colour or B&W? If colour, places like Filmdev will dev it very cheaply and give you some small scans too. If B&W, IDK which lab is currently cheap as I dev my own.

Enjoy, good luck, and let's see your photos when they're done!
 
lawrie29 said:
Evening,

I picked up a Lubitel 166b for a tenner on the car boot this morning.

I thiugh it could be some fun, and if nothing else the waist high view finder is cool!

So, I may want to play with MF film at some point, but will probably start with 35mm and a conversion kit.

Can anyone give me any pointers on this? From what I have seen the size of fram covers the whole film, including the holes, which I like, but is this something I can get processed anywhere?

I understand that its not going to capture the entire frame, just the central section, which is fine, anything else to look out for?

The camera does come with a roll of exposed film in it. Any suggestions on what to do with it? I dont have an MF cannister to put it into, but as with anything like this would be interested in seeing what was shot. Any recomendations for developing it? Anyone here fancy giving it a go if I post it to you?
Click to expand...
If the film is 135 (standard 35mm film), it must be rewound back into its cassette in camera, or else unloaded in a dark bag or a completely dark place and then rewound into the cassette by hand. Once rewound, it doesn't mater if you don't have a canister, you can just wrap it in foil and put it in your envelope.

If the film is 120 then it winds forward, the backing paper protects the emulsion, and when you take it out there should be some tape saying "Exposed" or similar, to keep it sealed. Make sure it's tightly wound, you don't want light getting in at the edges. I usually add a small rubber band, and may also add a foil wrap.

AG Photographic and The Dark Room in Cheltenham are good and inexpensive for black and white develop-only (and have Freepost), but their scans are expensive. If you want scans, in either case I'd suggest Filmdev as Ian says. Black and white is usually a bit more expensive, and with Filmdev you do have to pay the postal charges both ways; however you will get your scans back by WeTransfer (and when I've sent in a blank roll, they have only charged me for the development, but YMMV, as they say.

Good luck, and have fun!
 
skysh4rk said:
Why are you planning to use this 120-format camera with 135 film?
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I'd agree with this, having owned a lubitel in the past. I think 35mm images are going to be quite disappointing, and you'd be much better off with 120 in there.
 
Definitely use 120 film as MF is better for image quality. If you want to use 35mm film, then get a 35mm camera.

Developing (colour or B&W) is easy. It just takes a little investment - the price of someone else developing about ten films at a guess. It will then only cost a few quid per film thereafter . . .
 
I once owned a Lubitel 2 and it was my entry into the world of medium format. The taking lens was very sharp, stopped down a bit. The camera's weakness was the self-timer, which was always hesitant and then jammed the shutter completely, I think it would be wise to avoid using the self-timer even with the later versions of the Lubitel.

It were a long time ago when I lived in Darwen. Not sure about the film I'm afraid.

PeteAdy - Copy.jpg
 
PeterSpencer said:
I once owned a Lubitel 2 and it was my entry into the world of medium format. The taking lens was very sharp, stopped down a bit. The camera's weakness was the self-timer, which was always hesitant and then jammed the shutter completely, I think it would be wise to avoid using the self-timer even with the later versions of the Lubitel.

It were a long time ago when I lived in Darwen. Not sure about the film I'm afraid.

View attachment 407815
Click to expand...
Is that Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall?
 
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