film and processing

[scurrvy]

Hello, I'm new to using a rangefinder and film.

What type of film are you using? Where do you buy it? And where do you get it processed?

So far I only know of Ruby's by Peninsular for buying film. Is there a better place? I'd also like to get different slide film, and black and white film.

Thanks,
Jesse

I'm using a Bessa R3A and nokton 40mm f/1.4 right now (mostly because it's the cheapest and fastest lens available), but looking to purchase a 12mm for landscapes when I travel.

 

[baboonish]

I am using Tri-X 400, bought from Ruby.. quite a versatile film for shooting at ISO 400, 800 and 1600 although I had heard much from people praising the Ilford HP5 as a better film for pushing. You can get black and white films from Ruby and Triple D at Burlington Square.

Processing for Pure black and white film (Tri-X, Tmax, Ilford HP5, Neopan, Delta 3200) could be done at commercial labs (Ruby, Triple D, FotoHub) but the cost is slightly higher compared to C41/E6 films such as Kodak ultramax, Fuji Superia etc. It could be $4-5 more per roll without the scanning cost. Thus, if you shoot alot of pure black and white films, it's better to develop it yourselves. You can get the self-processing kit at Ruby for about $200+. In the long run it is a better investment imho.

There are also C41 Black and White films such as Ilford Xp2 and Kodak BWC 400. You can get those developed at commercial labs at the same price as with other normal negative films. However, imho, after a certain period of time, you might be curious to try the pure black-and-white films.

Hope you have a good time shooting.

 

[raytoei]

Of course, you could search the "mass buy" forum in Club Snap and see if people are bulk buying film online to share.


After 80 rolls of self-development, I am setting Arista Premium (Tx400) as my standard b&w. Previously, I used alot of Legacy Pro, XP-2 Premium etc, and a whole bunch of Ilford Film. It was fun and I am settlng down on TX400 because I like the grain, push factor and the fact that I can get it cheaply.

Each film has its own characteristics, I didn't know this but found out that certain film pair better with certain developer, and some film like to be overexposed while some like to be "pushed". Grain and tones are different. Different ones react to bright light and low ambient light. This makes the whole process quite fun to explore, and inexpensive if you do your own development.

cheers!

raytoei

 

[Yapper]

you can go to chiif to buy your kit. (im guessing you got your bessa 2nd hand cos he's the main man for all things voigtlander)
The AP kit is much better with an easier to use film reel. Trust me, i got the paterson one from ruby and it's much harder to load!
that said, with practice i can still load 2 rolls in about 3 min
you can also start by shooting some lucky sdh100, very cheap 1 roll less than $3

 

[nstclicks]

Should cost a lot less than $200. Just under $100 for the essentials ( http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5832490&postcount=10). Film clips, funnels, measuring cylinders etc. can be improvised or bought elsewhere.

What's the difference between the AP and Paterson tanks ? I bought mine from Seng Cheong. Not sure what brand it was.

 

[scurrvy]

I'm set up for home developing of black and white. It's pretty simple, but difficult to get the recommended 20°C here in Singapore. Thanks for your tips on B&W film, I'll have a look and try to find them.

I'd also like to do some color photography. I've never tried slide film. Anyone know more about that?

 

[raytoei]

hi.

I am still struggling with it.

Here are the choices:

* do it at room temperature.

There are some who develop, fix and wash at room temperature.

The formula commonly use is:

New time = Old time × exp(-0.081 × (New temp °C - Old temp °C))

I think the common range is about 15-25C. I have tried 31C development using the formula above. The downside is that warmer temp = larger grains. Some people also attribute warmer temperature to reticulation of the silver.

See example in 100% crop of room temperature development (see filename):
http://retro.ms11.net/dev-37-legacy400-hc110-4.5min-dilutionh-room.jpg

My method of developing the C-41 XP-2 is to use Rodinal Stand at room temperature because the method calls for leaving the tank alone for one whole hour.

Example of Rodinal Stand method at room temperature : http://retro.ms11.net/dev-58-xp2-fullstand-ei250.jpg

* Develop at 20C

I tried this successfully with 2 rolls so far and find that the Development temperature and Initial Water Bath should be the same. If the development and water bath is different, i get grains. I know many don't care about the water bath temp consistency.

I re-use fixer, so that can't be at 20C because I am not storing it in the fridge.

What I do is mix the solution with cold fridge water from a 1.5ltr coke PET bottle. Say out of 300ml for a roll, I mix around 250 in cold water and 50ml in warm water giving ideally 18.5 that is my start. I then pour the remainding cold water in a basin ith warm water to "cool" the tank at 20c. After the usual agitation etc I finish development at usually 21C.

I then use this basin water to water bath.

So this works. But I think i need to do this a few more times before I am comfortable to experiment with the times.

hope this helps

raytoei

 

[scurrvy]

I'm using an Ilford developer... I measured the temperature of my tap water, about 28°C. I didn't have your formula, but extrapolated out the graph on the developing solution to get a time of about 5.5 min for 400 iso film.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticfailure/4530956840/sizes/l/

it seems a bit overly grainy to me.

I'll try mixing with cold water next time.

What do you mean by the initial water bath? I was just starting with developer, stop, then fix. Do you get the film wet before you add developer?

 

[raytoei]

Scurrvy,

Water Bath to me means after development, I rinse with water in 5 inversion, rinse, 10 inversion rinse, and then 20 inversion rinse BEFORE I fix.

raytoei

 

[baboonish]

I'm set up for home developing of black and white. It's pretty simple, but difficult to get the recommended 20°C here in Singapore. Thanks for your tips on B&W film, I'll have a look and try to find them.

I'd also like to do some color photography. I've never tried slide film. Anyone know more about that?

Try reusing those a few small bottles/basically anything small.. fill it with water and freeze it. After that you can put them in the measuring cylinder (Try to get a 1 litre one) After 3-5 mins, you can hit 20 degrees.