F100 Shooting B & W

Chuckv

We all have our favorites when it comes to anything, and so I am sure it will be the same with shooting B&W 35mm film?

Years ago I use to shoot and process all my own film, and I just might get into it again.... well maybe not the processing part!

Please give me your thoughts on your preferences and would you process again? If not on the processing part, would you take it to Walgreen's?

Chuck

Chuck Vincent, F100, D100, D300, P7000, D700, D4

Nion Lens- 50 1.8, 28-105 Macro, 28-300, 24-70 2.8, 85 1.4, 70-200 2.8

haroldp

If you take it to Walgreens, they will do a low res scan of the negatives and print on a laser or inkjet.

Unless you do a complete wet process, you are best off starting digital. Black and White is the one area where film still has some advantage over Digital.

Regards ... H

Msmoto

I still have a Nikkor SS tank for 35mm film. If there is a good B & W film available, I would shoot it like I used to do many years ago...Plus-X, ASA 80, processed at 80% of normal time in D-76 1:1......prints on No 3 paper.

kyoshinikon

I use Ilford Panf or Fp4 in my n80... I used to use d-76 but as I am lazy I switched to Arista base developer I process for 5mins 15 secs to 5mins 30 secs on Fp4 and around 6 mins on Panf dillouted 1:9 at around 68F. Use water for stop, I dont even know who makes the fix I use and do a wash afterwards. I use patterson tanks to process my stuff. If i don't want to process my c41 myself (or run out of hot water) I go to costco... When I used D-76 I didn't dilute it at all...

macsavageg4

I shot a roll of some C-41 style black and white through it and didn't think it looked near as good as the what I remember shooting with as a kid with my Nikkormat FTN. I had it processed through the local camera shop since they are local and all that. When the F100 comes back from the shop I am going to run some color through it and some better B&W.

TaoTeJared

There is only one Wall-greens in my state that still has photo processing on site. Even walmart has pulled all of the development out of their stores. Unfortunately the film processing is shrinking back into sending it to a company and get your images back a week later. I'm afraid the days of getting film back in an hour or even a day or two are almost gone unless you are lucky enough to have a camera store that still does it in your area. I'm lucky enough to have a store where I can get images back in 3 days for print and 1 day for C-41 (until their machine has a major breakdown, and then they have said they are dumping it).

Not meaning to discourage you at all, I did/tried a psudo project last spring/summer with film and found it a disappointing to say the least. After shooting digital only for 4 years, I wanted to try film to take photos of friends the ole manual way. I had forgot how much the instant feedback meant and probably rely on it too much. The cost at the end is what really struck me, probably about $500 in all for the cost of film and developing and scanning. I figured total cost was about $15 per roll.

Film wise - I have always been a Fujifilm Neopan 400 fan but I like Ilford as well. (Ilford XP2 Super, Ilford Delta 400 & 3200 and a couple of Tmax 400 rolls for good measure.) I actually like Kodak BW400CN (c-41) as well if not anything for the quick turnaround if I can still find a one hour place. Color, I grabbed a few C41s of a few, nothing major at all. I actually ended up shooting more of the Kodak BW400CN and actually found it a good all round B&W.

I got real serious about photography after digital made the turn to being on par with most films.

spraynpray

Interesting. I have a roll of B&W I am going to shoot soon to lay some ghosts (or not) about 'the good old days'.

DJBee49

My preference was for Kodak T-Max film processed in 1:1 D76 (or ID 11). T-Max came in various speeds- I used to use 100 and 400 ISO. You can push the 400 ISO by a couple of stops without total deterioration in IQ. I stopped using FP4 (my favourite film once), as I kept getting holes in the emulsion from Ilford's coating process. I also like Fuji Neopan but you cannot get it at slower speeds than ISO 400. The reason for diluting the ID11 is that it is a one-shot process and you discard it after one use. This gives you total consistency but is slightly more expensive than using it undiluted and adjusting dev. time as the developer gets exhausted.

My preferred print system was Ilford Multigrade Fibre Based paper and Ilford's Multigrade developer. Fibre based paper is truly beautiful stuff and makes better, more subtle prints than RC papers. It is harder work and, of course, more expensive!

Pet hate? C41 black and white films. Environmentally better as all the silver is removed for re-cycling but nasty, mushy grain and no ability to push speed, alter contrast or do some of the other tricks you can pull with normal film and processing! If you process yourself, it is a much more long-winded, expensive affair as well.

I have used the past tense here as I have not shot any film for a few years and may not ever bother with 35mm again although I still have loads in the 'fridge. Sigh! I do have plans to shoot some 4X5 and 120 though. When I have some time!

Chuckv

My thanks to all for the comments!

Chuck