Firstly, need to thank Streetshooter and his sticky thread for providing very useful lessons. First lesson is that it is not as difficult, nor as complicated as it seems. Nor do you need a huge darkroom (I have no space for one in a small flat!) or spend hours in there like I've seen 'pros' do.
Thought I would give a little bit back by sharing a few tips I learned. I would post them in the original thread but it has been closed.
1. You can get by without a film picker if you take care not to rewind your film too fast into the reel. With manual winding cameras, you will feel the resistance against your winder suddenly 'let go'. This may be an indication that your film has come off the takeup spool. If you continue to wind a lot more, you may wind the whole film back in.
I actually rewound a roll of un-exposed Tri-X (because I decided to change film) into the canister :embrass:
Newer, more high-tech autowinder cameras may have a function to leave the leader out (CFn-02 on Elan 7NE, for Canon owners). I shoot with both kinds, an old manual and a new Elan. I have leader-out enabled on the new one of course. You just need to take care that you do not accidentally mix up your exposed and un-exposed film. For film I send to the lab (E-6, C41) I manually use fingers to wind the film in just to make sure.
2. Get a film picker anyway, it makes you feel a lot better
3. Acetic acid can be found at the supermarket. It's also called white vinegar. Dilute it a lot! Also, a water wash for a stop bath works just fine if you don't want to smell vinegar, the smell is very strong.
4. Tri-X is very forgiving. I pushed TX to ISO 3200 and lived to tell the story. 18 minutes in Ilford ID-11. Some severely blackened shadows in some scenes, but it looks almost like Broadway photos from the 1930s, a couple of my guys commented on that.
5. No darkroom needed, just one developing tank, two chemicals (developer/fixer), water and a sink. Don't do it in your kitchen, you don't want the chemicals accidentally splashing around near food or plates. Use a changing bag, very convenient, you can read the forum at your computer and follow the instructions while loading the reel
6. See the .PDF file here. Another useful guide
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/applications/page.asp?n=31
7. Cost of shooting film and developing is VERY low if you bulk load your own film and develop it. A bottle of HC-110 is likely to last forever. Fixer is reuseable. Water is...well, water.
8. Buy an affordable film scanner. I have a Canon 8600F that can scan up to 12 strips at one go. Another Clubsnap recommendation. Thanks guys
9. I learned that film grain is really not all that bad. For some reason, my commercially scanned film always turns out horrible. Extremely poor dynamic range, blown highlights, extreme grain. :mad2: When I scan myself it is so much better?!?!??! I always used to blame film, but it's not the film's fault. It's probably the scanning process. Now that I control the process all the way from camera to computer, it is much better.
10. B&W film has a very different character, tones, contrast, gradation, compared to just desaturating a color digital image. (I shoot a LOT of digital.. still love it but film has its unique charm).
11. Try Kodak Tri-X. There is a reason this film is one of the greatest of all the classics...
Thanks all! I hope this inspires someone else to shoot black and white.
Thought I would give a little bit back by sharing a few tips I learned. I would post them in the original thread but it has been closed.
1. You can get by without a film picker if you take care not to rewind your film too fast into the reel. With manual winding cameras, you will feel the resistance against your winder suddenly 'let go'. This may be an indication that your film has come off the takeup spool. If you continue to wind a lot more, you may wind the whole film back in.
I actually rewound a roll of un-exposed Tri-X (because I decided to change film) into the canister :embrass:
Newer, more high-tech autowinder cameras may have a function to leave the leader out (CFn-02 on Elan 7NE, for Canon owners). I shoot with both kinds, an old manual and a new Elan. I have leader-out enabled on the new one of course. You just need to take care that you do not accidentally mix up your exposed and un-exposed film. For film I send to the lab (E-6, C41) I manually use fingers to wind the film in just to make sure.
2. Get a film picker anyway, it makes you feel a lot better
3. Acetic acid can be found at the supermarket. It's also called white vinegar. Dilute it a lot! Also, a water wash for a stop bath works just fine if you don't want to smell vinegar, the smell is very strong.
4. Tri-X is very forgiving. I pushed TX to ISO 3200 and lived to tell the story. 18 minutes in Ilford ID-11. Some severely blackened shadows in some scenes, but it looks almost like Broadway photos from the 1930s, a couple of my guys commented on that.
5. No darkroom needed, just one developing tank, two chemicals (developer/fixer), water and a sink. Don't do it in your kitchen, you don't want the chemicals accidentally splashing around near food or plates. Use a changing bag, very convenient, you can read the forum at your computer and follow the instructions while loading the reel
6. See the .PDF file here. Another useful guide
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/applications/page.asp?n=31
7. Cost of shooting film and developing is VERY low if you bulk load your own film and develop it. A bottle of HC-110 is likely to last forever. Fixer is reuseable. Water is...well, water.
8. Buy an affordable film scanner. I have a Canon 8600F that can scan up to 12 strips at one go. Another Clubsnap recommendation. Thanks guys
9. I learned that film grain is really not all that bad. For some reason, my commercially scanned film always turns out horrible. Extremely poor dynamic range, blown highlights, extreme grain. :mad2: When I scan myself it is so much better?!?!??! I always used to blame film, but it's not the film's fault. It's probably the scanning process. Now that I control the process all the way from camera to computer, it is much better.
10. B&W film has a very different character, tones, contrast, gradation, compared to just desaturating a color digital image. (I shoot a LOT of digital.. still love it but film has its unique charm).
11. Try Kodak Tri-X. There is a reason this film is one of the greatest of all the classics...
Thanks all! I hope this inspires someone else to shoot black and white.
