Fellow Film Photographers?

[BabygirlBarnes]

I've recently started playing around with a Canon AE-1 Program and I was wondering if anyone else on here shoots film. I'm heading to New York this weekend and I'm super excited to try two different rolls.

 

[Shutterbuck]

I've recently started playing around with a Canon AE-1 Program and I was wondering if anyone else on here shoots film. I'm heading to New York this weekend and I'm super excited to try two different rolls.

I shoot loads of film for my personal, vanilla, and industry work.

 

[BabygirlBarnes]

That's really cool! Do you have a favorite camera or type of film? I've been shooting Kodak Gold 200 and I just ordered some Portra 800.

 

[KylieJacobs]

I'm a digital photographer. It's a hobby of mine that makes a little extra cash on the side. I would like to spend more time taking pics, and trying to expand on it. I use a Canon Mark III.

 

[Shutterbuck]

That's really cool! Do you have a favorite camera or type of film? I've been shooting Kodak Gold 200 and I just ordered some Portra 800.

This is a simple question... the answer is not .
I shoot 35mm film on a Canon eos 1V (Canon’s last produced flagship film camera. It allows me to use all my modern L series lenses) and a vintage 1980 Canon F1.
I shoot medium format film on a 1976 Hasselblad 500c/m as well as a 1990 Mamiya 645 Super.
My go-to film stocks are as follows;

For color:
Kodak Portra (160, 400, and 800 depending on the lighting scenario).
Fuji 400H pro.

B&W:
I have used Kodak Tri-X and T-max in the past but these days I shoot strictly Ilford films:
Delta 100 pro in full sun... sometimes Pan F.
Delta 400 pro if I want to shoot at box speed indoors.
Delta HP5+ if I want to push to 800 or 1600.
And Delta 3200 if I know it’s gonna be really dark.

If you like Kodak Gold, you might like the Kodak Ultramax as well. It’s less brassy and warm than Gold and the blues are quite brilliant. As far as budget pharmacy films go they’re both pretty great.
Fuji Superia is another great but cheap film which produces much more realistic colors than the Kodak budget films.

 

[snowwolf87]

I've recently started playing around with a Canon AE-1 Program and I was wondering if anyone else on here shoots film. I'm heading to New York this weekend and I'm super excited to try two different rolls.

I used to do 4x5 film, but switched to digital when I started focusing on wildlife. View cameras are just not the right tool for things that move. The film I used most was Kodak Portra 160. You get the wide exposure latitude of print film and more realistic colors than the high end transparency films. I especially hated the cartoon greens of Fuji Velvia. Provia was better, but still too much for me.

These days, the resolution of digital has surpassed that of all but the most fine grained B&W film. Add in the control Photoshop gives over the wet darkroom (although scanning negates much of that) and wider color palette of raw files over film, I'm gonna stay with digital.

The one thing I found that film has over digital is it forces you to be more careful. Bits are free, but film isn't. The 4x5 film was $2 a shot, just for the film, so you learn to say NO a lot. You learn to wait for just the right light or moment. You are much more careful with composition. I remember sitting all day at an overlook in Mesa Verde National Park with the 4x5 waiting for the right light. It never happened and I never took the shot.

 

[AudriTwo]

That was my original college major! I even went to a fancy art highschool my senior year.


Film > digital.

I loved manipulating film in the dark room. Haven't shot a film camera in nine years and I want to get back into it.

 

[lilyxgrey]

I've recently started playing around with a Canon AE-1 Program and I was wondering if anyone else on here shoots film. I'm heading to New York this weekend and I'm super excited to try two different rolls.

I shoot with a Petax K1000, and this film I use is Kodak Gold 400! I love shooting film, and I have been thinking about making some photo sets for MFC using film, because I love the look of it over digital.

 

[JoleneBrody]

I shoot with a Petax K1000, and this film I use is Kodak Gold 400! I love shooting film, and I have been thinking about making some photo sets for MFC using film, because I love the look of it over digital.

All of my favorite, and most popular photo sets are shot on film! (By mister shutterbuck up there) Even my ACF avatar is film haha.
I also get proof prints to sell and people seem to really love them! I say go for it!

 

[DearestVixen]

Where do you guys get your 35mm film developed? I used a drug store (idr which) and they kept my negatives which I kinda wanted back.

 

[Shutterbuck]

Where do you guys get your 35mm film developed? I used a drug store (idr which) and they kept my negatives which I kinda wanted back.

You should have some local options but always ask questions before dropping your film off. If you’re dropping off at Walmart, know that they send your film to someone else .
Most one-hour joints don’t replenish their chemistry as often as they should these days since they just don’t see as much film as they used to.

I used to process and scan my own film but this has been made impossible by my travels.
Since, I’ve used Indie Film Lab (indiefilmlab.com) and Richard Photo Lab (richardphotolab.com) I may try The Darkroom Lab at some point (thedarkroom.com) but I really like a lab I can grow with... the more you process with a particular lab, the more they will get to know you and how you like your shit to look. Communication of your preferences with your lab and providing feedback on your scans can only improve the quality of your scans.
I’ve personally noticed that Indie Film Lab really leans on the reputation of their preferred shooters. I feel like I don’t get the service and attention to detail in my scans that popular shooters get. Or that of the wedding shooters that send in 50 weddings a year for processing. I’ve noticed poor attention to detail and even just sloppy cloning in cleaning up dust spots on my B&W scans (B&W scanners are not very capable of recognizing and correcting dust/scratches and thus have to be cleaned up manually in PS). I’ve also experienced poor/inconsistent color correction from them. In portrait work I almost always shoot the whole roll in the same lighting conditions. If my light doesn’t change, my settings don’t change... there is absolutely no reason I should have to correct a green/magenta shift between two consecutive frames when I get my scans back. IFL does mail your negs back but they do not cut them.
TIP: Make sure you choose “no” on their order forms if you don’t want them sharing your photos on Instagram!

Richard Photo Lab on the other hand, has been really great! They’re slightly more expensive than IFL but they have been around a lot longer, too. They post regularly to their Instagram with expected turnaround times as seasons (end of wedding season) and workloads change.
My scans are consistent and I have never had to make any color correction to my scans from Richard.
TIP: Richard only returns 72dpi scans. You need to resize to your print dimensions at 300dpi in PS if you want to print from scans.
Richard also sends your negs back and you can choose between cut or uncut.

If I ever try The Darkroom, I’ll update ya. I may just send them one or two rolls sometime soon just for shits’n’giggles but for the time being, Richard is my preferred lab.

 

[BabygirlBarnes]

You should have some local options but always ask questions before dropping your film off. If you’re dropping off at Walmart, know that they send your film to someone else .
Most one-hour joints don’t replenish their chemistry as often as they should these days since they just don’t see as much film as they used to.

I used to process and scan my own film but this has been made impossible by my travels.
Since, I’ve used Indie Film Lab (indiefilmlab.com) and Richard Photo Lab (richardphotolab.com) I may try The Darkroom Lab at some point (thedarkroom.com) but I really like a lab I can grow with... the more you process with a particular lab, the more they will get to know you and how you like your shit to look. Communication of your preferences with your lab and providing feedback on your scans can only improve the quality of your scans.
I’ve personally noticed that Indie Film Lab really leans on the reputation of their preferred shooters. I feel like I don’t get the service and attention to detail in my scans that popular shooters get. Or that of the wedding shooters that send in 50 weddings a year for processing. I’ve noticed poor attention to detail and even just sloppy cloning in cleaning up dust spots on my B&W scans (B&W scanners are not very capable of recognizing and correcting dust/scratches and thus have to be cleaned up manually in PS). I’ve also experienced poor/inconsistent color correction from them. In portrait work I almost always shoot the whole roll in the same lighting conditions. If my light doesn’t change, my settings don’t change... there is absolutely no reason I should have to correct a green/magenta shift between two consecutive frames when I get my scans back. IFL does mail your negs back but they do not cut them.
TIP: Make sure you choose “no” on their order forms if you don’t want them sharing your photos on Instagram!

Richard Photo Lab on the other hand, has been really great! They’re slightly more expensive than IFL but they have been around a lot longer, too. They post regularly to their Instagram with expected turnaround times as seasons (end of wedding season) and workloads change.
My scans are consistent and I have never had to make any color correction to my scans from Richard.
TIP: Richard only returns 72dpi scans. You need to resize to your print dimensions at 300dpi in PS if you want to print from scans.
Richard also sends your negs back and you can choose between cut or uncut.

If I ever try The Darkroom, I’ll update ya. I may just send them one or two rolls sometime soon just for shits’n’giggles but for the time being, Richard is my preferred lab.

I was just tweeting about needing a new lab. I’ve been using IFL for the past few rolls, and their work is fine (especially for someone like me just starting out), but their turnaround times are getting increasingly more unbearable and there’s no online order status checking. I know film is slow, but they advertise their turnaround as 5-7 days, tell you AFTER they get your film that it’s more like 10-15, and I’ve started getting rolls back after 20-30 days.

 

[Shutterbuck]

I was just tweeting about needing a new lab. I’ve been using IFL for the past few rolls, and their work is fine (especially for someone like me just starting out), but their turnaround times are getting increasingly more unbearable and there’s no online order status checking. I know film is slow, but they advertise their turnaround as 5-7 days, tell you AFTER they get your film that it’s more like 10-15, and I’ve started getting rolls back after 20-30 days.

I mailed off my last rolls to Richard last Thursday(10 days ago). USPS arrived on Saturday (attempted delivery due to weekend closure) but were not received until Tuesday due to the holiday weekend. I got my scans back (13 rolls total) by Friday at around noon. 8 day turnaround including my shipping ain’t bad! And the tracking on my negatives says I’ll get them back tomorrow.
Seriously, give them a try!

 

[Shutterbuck]

If the OP is not opposed, I personally think it would be rad if those interested in the thread would be willing to share their analog shots! I’m a fucking geek for photography (duh... it’s my job) but more so for film. I’m well past any interest in photography forums and their never ending debates on film vs. digital, opinions with mouths and unsolicited critiques but I always enjoy looking at art. I’ve been doing this a long time but I have a great amount of appreciation for all skill levels. Perhaps it will inspire others on the forum to start something new or pick it up again.