Film Fun with film cameras (Image thread)

Thanks Mark:

No, it didn't do what I'd consider a lot of post processing, but I've always considered a negative as just information to be worked, so there aren't many prints I make where I don't indulge in a fair amount of dodging and burning, whether I'm in Photoshop or at an enlarger. This was relatively straight-forward, with my normal sharpening routines (a bit of high pass sharpening) included.

Here, the contrast in the foreground was not to my liking, and not how I saw it ïn my mind's eye". A yellow filter would have helped, or even better, a polarizer, but I did not have either on me. I burned in the shadows and dodged selected highlights in the foreground - the top of the submerged rock, for instance - nothing aggressive. I just needed to move things a bit. At an enlarger I'd have dodged the entire foreground and then burned it in substantially with a higher contrast grade filter (if I were using multigrade paper). With graded papers I'd have gone a different route, probably having to do a little (and literal) handiwork in the trays, but you can usually get where you want to be in any of the processes. I find burning local shadows and dodging highlights is a wonderful digital tool for manipulating local contrast. And I burned in the concrete at the back just a tad to separate it from the watery highlights in front of it.

And that's probably way more than you wanted to know. Sorry, I tend to blather these days.
 
Lawrence A. said:
Thanks Mark:

No, it didn't do what I'd consider a lot of post processing, but I've always considered a negative as just information to be worked, so there aren't many prints I make where I don't indulge in a fair amount of dodging and burning, whether I'm in Photoshop or at an enlarger. This was relatively straight-forward, with my normal sharpening routines (a bit of high pass sharpening) included.

Here, the contrast in the foreground was not to my liking, and not how I saw it ïn my mind's eye". A yellow filter would have helped, or even better, a polarizer, but I did not have either on me. I burned in the shadows and dodged selected highlights in the foreground - the top of the submerged rock, for instance - nothing aggressive. I just needed to move things a bit. At an enlarger I'd have dodged the entire foreground and then burned it in substantially with a higher contrast grade filter (if I were using multigrade paper). With graded papers I'd have gone a different route, probably having to do a little (and literal) handiwork in the trays, but you can usually get where you want to be in any of the processes. I find burning local shadows and dodging highlights is a wonderful digital tool for manipulating local contrast. And I burned in the concrete at the back just a tad to separate it from the watery highlights in front of it.

And that's probably way more than you wanted to know. Sorry, I tend to blather these days.
Click to expand...
Blather? You gave me what a needed and actually drew a little short. Nothing about the software used, the levels/sliders configured in unsaid software, etc. I mean c'mon Lawrence. This aint the flash-in-the-pan 'I got me a new digicam' thread. We need details man, d-e-t-a-i-l-s! :laugh1:
 
stillshunter said:
Blather? You gave me what a needed and actually drew a little short. Nothing about the software used, the levels/sliders configured in unsaid software, etc. I mean c'mon Lawrence. This aint the flash-in-the-pan 'I got me a new digicam' thread. We need details man, d-e-t-a-i-l-s! :laugh1:
Click to expand...

I have to say I didn't record the values I used in sharpening, etc. nor the percentage of the burn, but just worked until "it looked right". In a darkroom I notated everything because I needed that information to make a series of matching prints.
In the future I'll try to scribble down what I did! The only post-scan software I used was Photoshop the latest version the the subscription has put out. The scanning software was the Nikon software for the Coolscan 9000 - on an XP desktop machine I keep going for the purpose.
 
Must admit my film gear has been gathering dust of late and I contemplated life without it. The economy is tight and so there is some sense in selling out and going exclusively digital. But then I took a walk with my IIIf and it seems a roll delivers something I'm convinced I'd be hard-pressed to achieve without the excitement of silver halide crystals. I don't know….

13714724884_5ff17352b0_b.jpg


Leica IIIf (rd)
Summicron 50
Kodak TMax 400 (shot at ISO320)
Ilford Perceptol 1+3 (17:30 minutes)
Low-res (2400dpi) scan on Epson V300
PP in LR4.4
 
124g said:
That just shows you can achieve remarkable results with the older systems, I loved that developer especially with HP5
Click to expand...
Have a few rolls of HP5 left I'll have to try Perceptol with it. Funny thing is I just finished my 1L and have been wondering whether to buy another…expensive at my local so I might have to shop around.
 
Some ektar. I didn't get anything amazing on this roll, mostly had grey weather and was too impatient to wait for scenic activities to just happen on their own.

Boston ICA
14130444885_c7b0849149.jpg
Ektar120-016 by gordopuggy, on Flickr

Boston ICA
14130722014_d3e7cbffda_c.jpg
Ektar120-022MS by gordopuggy, on Flickr

Boston ICA
13943766847_38ec4108b5.jpg
Ektar120-023MS by gordopuggy, on Flickr

Waiting on the red line, bracing the camera on a railing at the end of the platform, shutter open for 5 seconds when a driver yells out his window at me not to stand there, yank the camera away before shutter closes...
13943806390_11b15584b4_c.jpg
Ektar120-032MS by gordopuggy, on Flickr
 
stillshunter said:
Have a few rolls of HP5 left I'll have to try Perceptol with it. Funny thing is I just finished my 1L and have been wondering whether to buy another…expensive at my local so I might have to shop around.
Click to expand...

I used to develop HP5 in Perceptol and ID11 but also tried highly diluted Rodinal several times but then that's before I finally switched to Tri-X as my 35mm mainstay many moons ago and over the years Rodinal has become my most favorite developer for 3X. I really, really like the results I get and at 100+1 (stand development) it's incredibly economic and travel friendly - a small bottle goes a looong way. Just google Rodinal / Adonal & HP5, from what I remember it should work just fine.
 
I've been out of the loop for a while, not doing much of anything worthwhile photographically for a couple of months, but last night I found a $15 Olympus 35RC in a local thrift store, and jumped on it. The manual setting seemed good in the store, and when I popped a battery in after getting home, the shutter priority automatic seemed to work just fine too. I have a roll I shot this afternoon that I need to develop (tonight??) and I'll get back to you on the results.. Nothing like a new toy to get you shooting. And, as I've said before, since my first 35mm camera was an EC series Olympus zone focus camera, their fixed lens rangefinders hold a special place in my affections. The 35SP is sweet, and though the lens of the RC is slower and less expensively designed with fewer elements, it is said to be really very capable. The tiny size of the camera with this many features makes it a true classic. It is tougher, with more and better features than the Rollei 35, often sells for less, and has as lens at least as good, and by many accounts better. What's not to like? It feels like a little gem, so I hope my test roll proves that my copy is working,

OH! The lens is flawless, and the viewfinder is bright.. Only the RF patch is a bit dim, and I employed my usual black dot on the front of the rangefinder window to increase contrast. It's a cheap and very effective way to bring a troublesome rangefinder back to easily usable.
 

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