The Photography Thread

[bangaio]

Pete,

www.warehouseexpress.com/uk? is pretty good, and www.Photoglossy.com is good for film.

If you are using jessops film (which is given free when you get a film developed) is ok but you should try slide film.

A slide is the image, you can stick it on a ligth box and that is what you get. A negative needs further developing to get a picturem that is either printing it or scanning it. This obviously addsa another elemnt in the chain which looses image quality.

I use fuji film as I like the colours and pfrefer it over kodachrome.

Velvia is very slow fine grain high quality very saturated film, is now available in iso 100 although i havent tried the 100 yet, the 50 is awsome and a favourite of landscape photographers.

Provia is very good fine grain film a bit more neutral than velvia and very usable, I have nearly finished my first roll of provia 400 but have used 100 for quite some time and it is very good film.

I have used kadachrome and ektachrome in the past and it is very good but prefer fuji.

Also used to use Sensia in the past, the bonus being the film price includes processing, you just popo it into the envelope it comes with and post it off.

B&W i have used lots, mainly ilford and kodak. Currently using hp5 and i develop them myself, rerady for scanning...soon 8)

I am experimenting with pushing film at the moment, and trying to bleach out backgrounds with overexposure. Pushing allows you rate a film higher than it is ie a iso 100 film is rated at 800 by changing the setting on your camera. You can then use higher shutterspeeds than usual for a given aperture because the camera thinks you are using higher sensitivity film. Of course you are not but when you process the film you leave it in the developer for longer to get the correct exposure. The offshoot of this is grain is increased but on b&w this can look very nice. If you develop your own film this is easy to do. if you use slide film and take it to a lab they will up rate it when they process but charge more and you need to tell them you pushed it.

Best advice - epxeriment and be prepared for lots of average/unusable pictures...the good ones will off set this

[PeteJ]

I main problem I'm having is there is so much to learn. The learning curve from progressing from 'tourist snapper' to 'impressive!' is incredibly hard to achieve. My results have been extremely hit and miss so far, but I guess that is normal. If I develop a film and only 5 pictures come out good then that is fine by me.

Regarding slide film, can you give some more information? Do I need extra equipment\ own processing ability?

[bangaio]

Not at all, try maybe one of the process paid films. All you do is shoot away as usual, and then when the roll is finished, you pop it in an envelope that is included in the film box and send it off, a week later a lovelly box of processed and mounted slides arrives. Because all that happensd with a slide film is it is processed and mounted the image is exactly as was recorded. When a neg is printed to paper, the colours, exposure etc can be changed by the lab and the results differ from lab to lab, hence slides ruuuul. ALso some agencies, press, comps etc only take transparencies.

If you get velvia, provia or one of the other film only films, just take it to your lab, jessops/where ever and the process it for you, you can have it processed only or mounted in slides.

Then get a light box and loupe to view the slides or a slide viewer, neither of which are expensive.

[Ginger Tosser]

Thanks for the comments pete. As regards slide film, depends on what you want to do with them. When i first started i used to mount them and view them with a lightbox, but now i tend to scan the images and work on them that way. I've always wanted to have a Dark Room in the attic but i think i'll have to hold back on that at the moment.

As you said about being happy if 5 come out of a roll, i'd be happy with one. Although i'm a very critical of my own shots at first glance then return to them months/years later and think that wasn't too bad.

One piece of advice is when you have something you want to shoot, take several pics with differing time and aperture settings (some canon cameras have Autoexposure Bracking -AEB) this take 3 pictures one at correct exposure, one under and one over. Saves time and keeps the misses happy. Nothing worse than having a great composition spoilt by bad exposure.

Remember film is the cheapest part of your camera so you dont need to worry about it.

I have to argee with you about pretentious and elitest shops, avoid them there usually overpriced.

If your after film try:
7dayshop
MX2
Both a little slow as there Guernsey based but they are very good value.

As regards to hardware Jessops, Jacobs will price match although believe or not my last lens i brought for my EOS was cheaper at Dixons.
I've brought from Mifsud with no problems.

[bangaio]

Ginger is right but when bracketing the point is you dont want to change your depth of field.

Therfore say you are shooting a backlit object and you are not sure if the camera's meter has got the right exposure you backet by half a stop...but...you dont want the depth of field to change, you need to shoot the metered setting and then up the shutter speed by half a stop and then down slower than the metered reading by half a stop. I have never use AEB on my eos and have tried to learn what sort of scenes fook the meter so i can compensate for it myself using exposure compensation. Because of this i fine AV the best mode as it gives you complete control over dof. If i need a high shutter speed, then i open th eaperture right up and i'll get the qwuickes possible, whereas in TV/S you set the speed you want and the lense may nto be able to open up big enough. I am not too sure about aeb so ignore this at will, but i think it best to learn you cameras neuances (sp?) which will save you many frames.

5 shots on a roll is good by the way. Pro's will shoot tens of rolls to get one or two usuable images. I average 1-2 a film of really good images and teh rest vary form good to bad, but that is part of the learning process.

[PeteJ]

All good tips!

When I say I get 5 good shots per roll, you have to understand that my standards are extremely low

I've uploaded a few black and white photos, though these were the first I've ever shot using b&w film, so the results could have been a lot better.

http://www.pbase.com/petej/black_and_white

It was bloody cold that day...

[Rsdio]

I know what you mean PeteJ, I'm just waiting for the test roll I shot with the camera I've just bought to come back and if it's all working OK, I'll be ecstatic with 5 good shots per film for a while

Wanted to get into photography for years, but never actually did anything about it. Bought myself a 40 year old Zenit so I actually learn what I'm doing rather than relying on a camera that does everything for you.

Can anyone recommend anywhere good (and/or cheap) for getting B&W developed?

[Ginger Tosser]

Try Peak Imaging, very good quality and quick turnaround, not the cheapest but you get what you pay for.

[MartyG]

Do it yourself - really. It's not difficult, even lack of a dark room may not be a serious consideration. You only need total darkness when transfering the film to the development reel, this can be done under cover of a blanket. Obviously the less glass the better.

Developing your own film can give more enjoyment than shooting the film itself. You can pick up a B&W enlarger for as little as ?20. Paper and chemicals the same again, and you'll also need three trays (one for developer, one for fixer and one for rinsing. These can be reused, though it does progressively decrease in performance. The canister you need for developing can be had for a tenner.

Learning to development your own pictures adds so much to your enjoyment of photography that I actively encourage you persue it.

Regards
Marty

[bangaio]

Indeedm get a developing bag, the tank and some chemicals and practice on a few films you are not fussed about. b&w film can be had for ?1.50 a roll for good stuff. Once you have your negs, you can scan them or invest in a dark room.

[PeteJ]

Any tips on cleaning a camera\lens?

I bought a cleaning kit today from my local elitist bastard camera shop, but even after spending ages going through every lens\filter I own, the main problem is the mirror itself, which I don't really want to touch. There is one tiny dark spot just off centre which is really bugging me, but I cannot remove it. Tried a small blower, but that didn't work...don't know what else to try without damaging it.

Does it even matter? Maybe the spot won't show up on film, I even took a picture of me pointing at the spot as a test

Also, do I need to worry about X-ray equipment being used on my camera? I'll be going through a lot of security next month, and I don't really want things to screw up before I even get there. I see on 7dayshop you can buy film protectors for this sort of thing, but I'm not sure how essential it is.

Sorry for all the questions. And sorry for confusing anyone thinking this was the pornography thread

[MartyG]

The mirror spot won't show up on film, don't even think about trying to clean it because you'll kill your camera.

Regards
Marty

[Ginger Tosser]

My camera and film went through many x-ray machines last year in the US and they still lived.

Question for marty/bang, how easy is it to open a 35mm film if your developing yourself ? I have most of the equipment to do it but haven't gotten round to trying yet.

[MartyG]

You can buy a tool for doing it which makes it easier, but really you can pull the top off with a pair of pliars with little effort.

Regards
Marty

[Ginger Tosser]

Thanks, i'll give a try i do have a spare b&w film.