Film Photography

[Bismuth]

Yesterday I pulled out my Pentax Z20 that I had bought for a photography course a few years ago. Main reason I haven't used it for so long was a flat battery, and my procrastination in getting a replacement one (and also difficulty in find the 2CR5 battery). Went to the shop I bought the camera from, and found some second-hand Circular PL filters for virtually nothing. I have a thing for PL filters, I guess, lol. Also got a 2x extender there, until I can find a +300mm lens (zoom or prime), that won't break the bank. Also got some film from the Prolab in Pretoria. Let's see if I can remember how to do this, heh.

Anyway, just curious if anyone else here still shoots on film, even as a complement to a digital kit?. I saw an old post here about it, that eventually degenerated into an argument about film vs. digital, imo two different mediums that shouldn't be compared. My intention behind this thread is about film, not digital.

B

 

[battmann]

I have a Pentax fz7, unfortunately it stopped working

 

[bwana]

I've got several film cameras, none of which I have any desire to use.

The juice just isnt worth the squeeze anymore.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I'm mostly of the same opinion as bwana, although I do make exceptions, particularly when I play with sub 100 ISO film (Velvia 50, for example). I still have a Pentax K1000 and an old Canon 500N. The K1000 sees very little to no use, simply because I have much better lenses on the Canon system.

 

[bwana]

I'm suddenly feeling nostalgic. Maybe I will pick up an old rangefinder and a couple hundred feet of b/w film . . .

 

[koffiejunkie]

I'm suddenly feeling nostalgic. Maybe I will pick up an old rangefinder and a couple hundred feet of b/w film . . .

 

[bwana]

I've always rolled my own film. I figure setting myself up with the necessary gear to develop my own film and then scanning the negatives will be a happy compromise between digital and analog.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I've always rolled my own film. I figure setting myself up with the necessary gear to develop my own film and then scanning the negatives will be a happy compromise between digital and analog.

I was more commenting on the length. I don't think I've shot a couple of hundred feet of flim in total in my life! In part because for most of the time that I had only film, I also had no money, and routinely made a 36 roll last a year at times...

 

[koffiejunkie]

Then again, if I had to scan hundreds of feet of film, I'd rather just shoot digital

 

[bwana]

I was more commenting on the length. I don't think I've shot a couple of hundred feet of flim in total in my life! In part because for most of the time that I had only film, I also had no money, and routinely made a 36 roll last a year at times...

100ft of film is only about 20 rolls of 36 exposures.

Go big or go home!

 

[koffiejunkie]

100ft of film is only about 20 rolls of 36 exposures.

Go big or go home!

LOL, OK. You mean "couple" in the literal sense Way back when my old man was still shooting, he took rolls of several hundred metres with him to Antarctica. I'm not sure how long exactly but I remember something hundred.

 

[bwana]

LOL, OK. You mean "couple" in the literal sense Way back when my old man was still shooting, he took rolls of several hundred metres with him to Antarctica. I'm not sure how long exactly but I remember something hundred.

Yeah, a couple. I was thinking a ISO 100 and ISO 400. That's only 1400 frames - people in this forum shoot that when their cat does something cute.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Yeah, a couple. I was thinking a ISO 100 and ISO 400. That's only 1400 frames - people in this forum shoot that when their cat does something cute.

I plead innocence - I don't have a cat!

But to be serious, even though I'm taking a lot more now, I haven't gotten rid of my film era mentality yet. I've got just under 2000 shots on my 7D (three months in) and that includes two overseas trips, a wedding and a boat load of focus tests shots. The 50D had about 11k shots on (two years) and the 40D had just over 10k (a year).

The most I ever took in the film days was 9 rolls in two weeks - first time I went overseas. That's a staggering 324 shots - 23 shots per day!

 

[MadMailMan]

Developing film is now considered a "specialist skill" here in Switzerland and the last time I heard it costs about CHF140 (R1130 - that's not a mistake) to develop a 36 exposure film. Could buy a new Canon 550d for what it costs to develop 5 films.

To shoot film here, now, would need an DAMN cute cat.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Geez, even E6 doesn't cost that much here. Maybe you should just post your negs this way to have them developed?

 

[MadMailMan]

Geez, even E6 doesn't cost that much here. Maybe you should just post your negs this way to have them developed?

Can get return tickets on SleezyJet to the UK for CHF79. Besides it helped me justify my 7D.

 

[bwana]

Developing film is now considered a "specialist skill" here in Switzerland and the last time I heard it costs about CHF140 (R1130 - that's not a mistake) to develop a 36 exposure film. Could buy a new Canon 550d for what it costs to develop 5 films.

To shoot film here, now, would need an DAMN cute cat.

B&W film is ridiculously simple to develop yourself and the chemicals shouldn't cost that much.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Can get return tickets on SleezyJet to the UK for CHF79. Besides it helped me justify my 7D.

You can probably get tickets on Swiss for that much. That's about what I paid last December.

 

[Logo]

Yeah I still shoot film, develop myself and then scan, but I do develop and print manually every now and again, still have an old enlarger as well so have to put it through it's paces every now and again

Have a Lomo that I like to mess with, a Pentax ME F, Minolta x370n, Yashica TLR and then my latest addition a Nikon S2.

The best part of still shooting these old cameras especially the Pentax is that you can get good quality lenses at a really good price, and that is why I also have amongst others a Pentax digital because they kept the K mounts going through most of their models. You may not get auto focus always but when you shoot a lot of film with these older cameras you get use to manual focusing very quickly. And if you have a Sony digital the old Minolta lenses still fit the Sony bodies, I think it is the MD mounts that fits on Sony.

Forgot to say I think you are mentioning my previous thread about film. Unfortunately posts in a general photography forum like this one often end up in an argument about film V digital. I am not really interested in which is better as they are different beasts but I love film purely for the look it gives you. There is something about shooting black and white especially with older equipment that gives it a different look and feel. Portraits done on medium format black and white film is simply amazing. Medium format just lends itself to portrait photography of course.

 

[koffiejunkie]

You may not get auto focus always but when you shoot a lot of film with these older cameras you get use to manual focusing very quickly.

Yep, I find that lenses hat have a nicely loaded focus ring are a lot easier to manual focus, even with the tiny viewfinders in DSLRs and without the aid of the micro/split prism. My 24-105mm f/4 is a lot easier to focus manually, despite being much darker than the 50mm f/1.8.