Film Sam's 35mm film question thread

defektive

Veteran
Location
Tasmania, Australia
Name
Sam
I have taken the plunge back into the film shooting and processing world and am gunna need some serious help please as it has been a while.

Questions 1 & 2 relate to film itself.
1) I remember when I was in the school photography club (20+ years ago) that we had a massive roll of film that we used to custom recanister to include however many frames you wanted. Can you still buy film like that? Where? Do you have much choice in brand of film? What gear do I need for doing it?

2) Where do Aussies buy their boxed 35mm film? Tri-x, tmax, hp5 etc?
 
Thank you Brian, now I just have to work out which brand I like.

Next questions:
How many uses do you get out of a reusable film cartridge? Is plastic or metal better? I presume I only need enough on hand to last me until I develop the next time?

What happens to film once it passes it's expiry date?
 
C'mon guys, you're not keeping up :rolleyes:.

I have perused Mark's scanner thread but need a bit more info on the subject please. I am considering two Epsons - V330 for $180 or V600 for $400. I noticed the 600 is tricked up a bit with higher resolution, faster scanning etc. What would the largest size image be that I could print from each and still have it look sharp? The 330 is 4800 dpi (3.2 dmax) and the 600 is 6400 (3.4 dmax). Any other opinions of each?
 
Sam,

Rather than work backwards, maybe tell us some more specifics about your requirements. Is this scanner for uploads to the web, 8x10" prints, or bigger prints....or are these just for proofs and the real work will happen in the darkroom??

Presently my scanner is just for web uploads and I'll be wet-printing down the track. So I find the 4800dpi files from the V300 ($99 refurbed - scored for $10 at a sale) to be more than adequate. Then again I never intend to do 40" prints.....digitally anyways ;)


C'mon guys, you're not keeping up :rolleyes:.

I have perused Mark's scanner thread but need a bit more info on the subject please. I am considering two Epsons - V330 for $180 or V600 for $400. I noticed the 600 is tricked up a bit with higher resolution, faster scanning etc. What would the largest size image be that I could print from each and still have it look sharp? The 330 is 4800 dpi (3.2 dmax) and the 600 is 6400 (3.4 dmax). Any other opinions of each?
 
When I used Bulk film- I used the plastic ones, work in any camera.

Some of the metal ones are special keyed to specific cameras, such as the Nikon AM-1 keyed to the Nikon F2.
 
When I used Bulk film- I used the plastic ones, work in any camera.

Some of the metal ones are special keyed to specific cameras, such as the Nikon AM-1 keyed to the Nikon F2.

The only issue with plastic cassettes is if used in a DX coded camera only. So for instance with an Oly mju-ii (Stylus Epic) there is no ISO override so in the absence of DX-coding the camera defaults it's auto-exposure to ISO100 which is a bit of a pain when you're shooting 400 :dash2:

No issues with the M6 though I believe.....

Not sure how much use you get from plastic or metal cassettes, but it's not forever with either.....as I have heard stuff will build in the felt and begin scratching your film :eek:
 
Sam,

Rather than work backwards, maybe tell us some more specifics about your requirements. Is this scanner for uploads to the web, 8x10" prints, or bigger prints....or are these just for proofs and the real work will happen in the darkroom??

Presently my scanner is just for web uploads and I'll be wet-printing down the track. So I find the 4800dpi files from the V300 ($99 refurbed - scored for $10 at a sale) to be more than adequate. Then again I never intend to do 40" prints.....digitally anyways ;)

I am trying to keep my options open for having some large prints (20+ inch) done if I capture something that takes my fancy. I don't have a photo printer and am only just embarking on doing my own development so wet printing large images is probably a little way off. At this stage I am thinking that I will most likely wholesale scan negatives onto the computer and selectively wet print the ones that stand out. For the large images I want I was assuming that I would scan the negs and then send the digital file away for printing by a pro? How large can you wet print and do you need special gear for doing larger sizes? As I am only just picking up my camera tomorrow and waiting on the mail for film to arrive you can see that I am very green so I am open to any suggestions and nothing is set in stone :redface:.

When I used Bulk film- I used the plastic ones, work in any camera.

Some of the metal ones are special keyed to specific cameras, such as the Nikon AM-1 keyed to the Nikon F2.

Thanks again Brian, any idea how many reloads you get out of the plastic ones?
 
The only issue with plastic cassettes is if used in a DX coded camera only. So for instance with an Oly mju-ii (Stylus Epic) there is no ISO override so in the absence of DX-coding the camera defaults it's auto-exposure to ISO100 which is a bit of a pain when you're shooting 400 :dash2:

No issues with the M6 though I believe.....

Not sure how much use you get from plastic or metal cassettes, but it's not forever with either.....as I have heard stuff will build in the felt and begin scratching your film :eek:

What's DX coding? :redface:
 
No idea on number of reloads. It's been a long time for me using bulk loaded film.

And my reloadable cassettes would be keyed for the Nikon RF. They are old.
 
C'mon guys, you're not keeping up :rolleyes:.

I have perused Mark's scanner thread but need a bit more info on the subject please. I am considering two Epsons - V330 for $180 or V600 for $400. I noticed the 600 is tricked up a bit with higher resolution, faster scanning etc. What would the largest size image be that I could print from each and still have it look sharp? The 330 is 4800 dpi (3.2 dmax) and the 600 is 6400 (3.4 dmax). Any other opinions of each?

If you intend to scan only 35mm negatives, I would urge you to consider a film scanner such as the Plustek 7400 or 7600. I have a 7600 and an Epson V500 and while the Epson produces fine results, the Plustek is clearly better. I paid about $300 USD for the Plustek during a sale at B&H, so the price is comparable with what you are quoting for the V600.

As to print sizes, I regularly print at A4 with excellent results and am confident that much larger prints can be made with sufficient quality.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
What happens to film once it passes it's expiry date?
I'm by no means an expert on film, but I recently found my old film camera and shot the last remaining frames off the 7 year old film roll in it.

After developing I noticed that the shots I'd taken when the roll was still good, looked perfect, while the shots I'd taken 7 years later looked like crap, way too muddy to be useful. So going on that experience alone, it would seem that it's okay to develop film long after the shots have been taken, but not so okay to shoot film long after the expiry date.
 
flat bed scanners are slow slow and slow ....... good luck, you will spend quite a lot of time scanning and rescanning to get an reasonable image using a flat bed scanner

IMHO
 
flat bed scanners are slow slow and slow ....... good luck, you will spend quite a lot of time scanning and rescanning to get an reasonable image using a flat bed scanner

IMHO

Interesting! So how much quicker is something like a Plustek then?.....as I assume/hope you're not comparing to a drum scanner ;)
 
Interesting! So how much quicker is something like a Plustek then?.....as I assume/hope you're not comparing to a drum scanner ;)

My experience has been that the Plustek 7600 using ViewScan is about as slow as the Epson V500 using the Epson software. I have not tried ViewScan with the Epson. The Plustek is unbearably slow with Silverlight, which is one of the reasons I switched scanning software.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
I also use a 7600i but haven't noticed a great performance difference between SF8 and Vuescan (unless I select a whole lot of complex extra processing options); both packages will do a preview scan in a very few seconds, which will be enough to tell whether it's worth doing a full scan.
It won't batch scan (but then I don't think the Nikons do either)
 
So it sounds as though the more modern flatbed scanners perform at a similar speed as dedicated film scanners? Are there other advantages to a dedicated film scanner over a flatbed?

A further question about bulk film loaders: Can you take a roll out when partly used if you want to load a different type or do you have to finish it completely?
 
A further question about bulk film loaders: Can you take a roll out when partly used if you want to load a different type or do you have to finish it completely?
Take it back into the darkroom or change bag and make sure it re-enters another completely light-proof receptacle.....like another bulk-loader ;) Seriously, I'd not compromise the loaded one, just put it back in the fridge - and load the new roll in another loader. Loaders are about the same price - or mostly cheaper - than a roll of bulk film, so I can't see why you couldn't have a few on the go at the same time - maybe 100 and 400 ISO.
 
Right, I'm leaning fairly heavily toward the Plustek 7600 - the higher res should help get larger prints and it seems to have a pretty good dust removal system.

Now onto negative development:
1) from what little reading I have done I gather I need the following chemicals - developer, stop bath, fixer, hypo-clearing agent.
2) It has also been suggested that water can be used instead of chemical in the stop bath, any opinions on this?
3) I know that there will be a lot of differing opinions out there regarding which brand of chemical to use for each process but can someone suggest a good starting point for a beginner for each process?
4) what quantities of each am I likely to use per development?
5) can you develop more than one roll of film at a time?
 
Sam, just note that the image-cleaning facilities on the Plusteks are to do with the software, not just the scanner hardware; SF8 and Vuescan will both attempt it if you ask them, and as I understand things, are intended for colour films (and perhaps chromagenic (C41) B&W like BW400CN and XP2S) because they use an IR channel supplied by the scanner. Silver halide b&w film doesn't respond to the IR channel in the same way (or at all).

If I'm wrong about the technicals of this I hope one of our scientist/engineer types will come along and correct me ...
 
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