The Film Thread: "for sale: packfilm back. never used."

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > The Film Thread: "for sale: packfilm back. never used."

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Dr. Cogwerks: Oct 28, 2006; all I need is a grant and Project is go

Pompous Rhombus posted:

Yeah, they discontinued Legacy Pro (a little part of me died inside).

They actually do still have leftover short-dated LP100 in 100' cans. I have a bulk loader and was thinking it's probably more of a PITA than it's worth (especially considering how little 35mm I shoot these days), but OTOH I love that poo poo and it's the last chance I'll have to pick it up so cheap.

As far as 400, Freestyle does still do Premium 400, which is Tri-X.

I've got a pair of bulk loaders that I picked up at thrift shops, still full of Tri-X 320 (?) and Plus-X of unknown date. (Interlocks were still closed, haven't tested it yet though.)

For $23, I think I might need to get some of that Legacy Pro too before it's gone, that's a really damned good deal for such a wonderful film.

...hrm. Whenever I finally get around to spooling all that damned film, if it turns out to be viable, want a couple rolls? Old expired Plus-X should be fun to play with.

VV reasonable price would mean "free roll or two to a couple of cool people and newbies, send a print from it or just the spool back or something." I'll have to see if it's fogged or not though.

Dr. Cogwerks fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Mar 2, 2011

# ? Mar 2, 2011 01:59

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# ? May 15, 2024 05:07

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

/\/\/\ If you're offering some hand-rolled discontinued film for a reasonable price, I'm interested.

Cannister posted:

You're crazy, but in a good way.
This arrived today.

Ilford HP5 Plus 400 March 1 2011 by Execudork, on Flickr
I finished off the roll of colour film in my camera today, just in time to try my hand at B&W and developing at home. I need to buy some things for developing, like a light-tight bag and some bottles for chemicals, then I can have some fun.

# ? Mar 2, 2011 02:32

pwn: May 27, 2004; This Christmas get "Shoes"

ExecuDork posted:

On the other side of the aisle they had their video cameras. I've got a cheap-and-nasty old Canon DC210 I got about a year ago from ebay for $90 including shipping, they had two identical camcorders for $250 each.

For a laugh, take yours in and see what they'll offer you for yours. Since they're so valuable. :v:

# ? Mar 2, 2011 14:14

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

I'm looking at Ultrafine Xtreme 400 from ultrafineonline.com . Does anyone have any experience with it? I'm thinking of getting a bunch in 120, but there's not much out there about it since it came out recently.

# ? Mar 2, 2011 17:26

MrBlandAverage: Jul 2, 2003; GNNAAAARRRR

So, my EOS 3 seems to eat batteries. $15 2CR5 batteries. It killed the last one in under 24 hours. :suicide:

(Yes, after the first one I made sure the switch was set to "L".)

BUT

KEH is awesome! They're RMAing it and I'm getting another one! :dance:

e: apparently the blinking "bc" could mean a malfunction as well as low battery. Either way...

# ? Mar 3, 2011 01:59

pseudonordic: Aug 31, 2003; The Jack of All Trades

MrBlandAverage posted:

So, my EOS 3 seems to eat batteries. $15 2CR5 batteries. It killed the last one in under 24 hours. (Yes, after the first one I made sure the switch was set to "L".)

BUT

KEH is awesome! They're RMAing it and I'm getting another one!

e: apparently the blinking "bc" could mean a malfunction as well as low battery. Either way...

I was gonna say, I've had my EOS3 for a year and a half and JUST killed the used battery that came in it on Monday. I got two Lithium Energizer 2CR5s off Amazon ($9 each and Prime shipping, woo!) and got back to shooting today.

Hope the next one you get behaves itself!

# ? Mar 3, 2011 02:12

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

Check eBay for cheap Chinese 2CR5 batteries. Name-brand ones in North America are borderline criminally-priced.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 02:32

MrBlandAverage: Jul 2, 2003; GNNAAAARRRR

I didn't want to wait for batteries to come from elsewhere - I was coming up on 30 days since I bought the camera...

I'm probably going to buy the Kodak 2CR5s B&H has for $6 and buy some more film too so shipping doesn't hurt so much.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 03:00

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

pwn posted:

For a laugh, take yours in and see what they'll offer you for yours. Since they're so valuable.

That's a great idea, actually. I'm not very happy with the way my camcorder handles the videos it creates. There's a camcorder thread somewhere in Inspect Your Gadgets, isn't there?

Back to film: I discovered an under-used Epson V200 scanner at work, and I've been messing around with it. Today I scanned a few 35mm negatives, but I wasn't sure what resolution to go with so I cranked it to maximum - 12800 dpi, I think. It took about 30 minutes to scan 4 negatives in a strip. The resulting JPGs look decent, though the colours are a bit off and they're not as constrasty as the 4x6 prints I also have; I suspect Lightroom will make a big difference here. I tried scanning a few prints, too, and the software told me the maximum resolution was 1200 dpi, so I went with that.

The JPGs from the negatives are a bit larger than the filesize that comes off my DSLR (about 6 to 10 MB) but my computer is choking on them - long load times, plenty of pauses just to view and rotate them. Is there any advantage to scanning at such high resolutions, or is something less crazy like 1200 dpi for negatives going to be sufficient for most purposes? If I want big prints I'll take in the negatives, so I don't think I need enormous JPGs.

Fake edit: I had a look at the file details (I think I'll be scanning negatives in future myself, and asking for develop-only at the camera shop for my C-41).
12800 dpi from negative: 17706 x 11562 pixels, 10.8 MB
1200 dpi from 4x6 print: 7200 x 4800 pixels, 1.0 MB
72 dpi JPG from the camera shop, different picture, different roll: 1544 x 1024 pixels, 1.26 MB

What kind of resolution do you scan 35mm negatives at? Also, how do you scan 120 format film negatives? The V200 comes with a holder for 35mm neg and slides, but not for larger.

\/\/\/ EDIT: cool, thanks. There's a 3200 dpi setting, I'll try that tomorrow.

ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Mar 3, 2011

# ? Mar 3, 2011 03:37

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

MrBlandAverage posted:

So, my EOS 3 seems to eat batteries. $15 2CR5 batteries. It killed the last one in under 24 hours. (Yes, after the first one I made sure the switch was set to "L".)

BUT

KEH is awesome! They're RMAing it and I'm getting another one!

e: apparently the blinking "bc" could mean a malfunction as well as low battery. Either way...

My A2E's manual says a battery should last at least 6 months, I found it lasted about a 36exp roll using on-camera flash for about half of them.

ExecuDork posted:

What kind of resolution do you scan 35mm negatives at? Also, how do you scan 120 format film negatives? The V200 comes with a holder for 35mm neg and slides, but not for larger.

The number I've heard is that the finest grain films can resolve 100 line pairs per mm, bringing it to 7000dpi. In non-studio conditions, half of that should suffice unless you feel like you're losing detail.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 03:46

Dr. Cogwerks: Oct 28, 2006; all I need is a grant and Project is go

ExecuDork posted:

Back to film: I discovered an under-used Epson V200 scanner at work, and I've been messing around with it. Today I scanned a few 35mm negatives, but I wasn't sure what resolution to go with so I cranked it to maximum - 12800 dpi, I think. It took about 30 minutes to scan 4 negatives in a strip.

That's a false number. None of the cheap flatbeds get anywhere near 12800 DPI, and with 35mm film, that's getting way beyond the threshold of "actual image detail" and into "useless noise." Scanner resolutions are more marketing than fact.

Your scanner's software is just digitally interpolating a lower resolution scan, same as bringing a picture into Photoshop and raising "Image Size" by a few hundred percent. 4800 DPI is the Optical Resolution for that line of scanner, but since it's a consumer-level flatbed, I'd bet on ~1200dpi being more realistic. The $500+ V700 flatbed still only hits around 2400dpi of real resolution.
If you needed a really really high-res scan for some reason, flatbeds are the wrong tool to use... and the scanners that hit real resolutions of 4000dpi or more are in the $25,000+ price range.

I tend to use 3200dpi on my V600 just for the hell of it, but it's probably not doing anything more useful than a 2400dpi scan would. 3200dpi for a 6x6 negative makes a pretty hilariously large file though, can make a good-quality print several feet wide out of that.

edit:
If you're intending to make prints, you shouldn't be scanning to JPG. Scan to TIFF.
If you're not making prints, you don't need a very high resolution at all.

Dr. Cogwerks fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Mar 3, 2011

# ? Mar 3, 2011 04:14

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

How is the film situation in Europe? Are prices at retail stores as ridiculous as they are in Canada?

# ? Mar 3, 2011 05:52

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

Dr. Cogwerks posted:

If you're intending to make prints, you shouldn't be scanning to JPG. Scan to TIFF.
If you're not making prints, you don't a very high resolution at all.

Ah, excellent information, thank you. I don't see myself making very many prints, unless there's a sudden mega-sale on printing at my local camera shop, or I find a really good printer in a dumpster or something. Every develop-to-CD I've gotten from camera stores when I've dropped off film (C-41) has had 72 dpi JPGs. I'll run a few comparisons tomorrow, probably in the 300-1200 dpi range just to see.

Are there any big advantages to scanning negatives rather than 4x6 prints? I've got several hundred prints going back about 15 years (I have the negs for 99% of them, too), though I'm really interested in figuring out scanning now because I've just recieved my first few rolls of B&W film and I've got almost everything I need to develop negatives (but not print) at home.

HPL posted:

How is the film situation in Europe? Are prices at retail stores as ridiculous as they are in Canada?

I can confirm in-store film prices in Canada are stupid. I bought 3 rolls of Ilford HP5 plus 400 in 135 format from an ebay store in Thailand (free shipping makes me happy), it came to about $8 / roll. The otherwise excellent camera shop two blocks away from me sells the same film for about $15 / roll. The local drugstores and so forth that sell film never have anything except Kodak Gold and the basic Fuji, whatever that is.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 06:06

nielsm: Jun 1, 2009

I just did a quick comparison of prices on Freestylephoto and where I usually buy film (physical store in Copenhagen) and prices are just about the same, especially if you take the Danish 25% VAT into account.
Prices for commercial development also seem to be about the same, as do chemistry and other darkroom equipment.

ExecuDork posted:

Are there any big advantages to scanning negatives rather than 4x6 prints? I've got several hundred prints going back about 15 years (I have the negs for 99% of them, too), though I'm really interested in figuring out scanning now because I've just recieved my first few rolls of B&W film and I've got almost everything I need to develop negatives (but not print) at home.

I'm guessing it's easier to scan prints and get good results, and you don't need as good a scanner for it.
Scanning negatives is harder and requires a far better scanner, as well as film holders and possibly an even backlight. The advantage of scanning negatives is of course that you don't have to make a print and can save some cash that way.

I've found it easier to get good results with b/w negative scanning, while I still haven't made a good colour negative scan. (Nor any good colour slide scans.)

nielsm fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Mar 3, 2011

# ? Mar 3, 2011 06:12

evil_bunnY: Apr 2, 2003

HPL posted:

How is the film situation in Europe? Are prices at retail stores as ridiculous as they are in Canada?

Kinda (5 rolls of Tri-X/HP5 for 25 bucks), but availability is a bigger problem than price in the Netherlands.

Bottom Liner posted:

Scored 50 rolls of Ilford HP5 today for free.

gently caress you.

evil_bunnY fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Mar 3, 2011

# ? Mar 3, 2011 09:41

Spedman: Mar 12, 2010; Kangaroos hate Hasselblads

HPL posted:

How is the film situation in Europe? Are prices at retail stores as ridiculous as they are in Canada?

The UK isn't too bad, 7dayshop and ag-photographic are pretty reasonable, and they always seem to have stock, plus they've both got the new Portra 400.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 10:31

Bottom Liner: Feb 15, 2006; a specific vein of lasagna

Scored 50 rolls of Ilford HP5 today for free. :woop:

# ? Mar 3, 2011 10:41

DJExile: Jun 28, 2007

My OM-2 is broked

Turns out the only thing that was holding the door against the body was friction itself and the lock mechanism has been busted for a while. Now the friction isn't holding it well enough. Are there parts out there or ways I can rig something up to fix that? Seems silly to send it to a repair place if that's all that's wrong with it and I wind up paying for shipping/repair the same as a whole other body off Ebay.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 15:29

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

DJExile posted:

My OM-2 is broked

Turns out the only thing that was holding the door against the body was friction itself and the lock mechanism has been busted for a while. Now the friction isn't holding it well enough. Are there parts out there or ways I can rig something up to fix that? Seems silly to send it to a repair place if that's all that's wrong with it and I wind up paying for shipping/repair the same as a whole other body off Ebay.

Have you tried gaffer's tape yet?

# ? Mar 3, 2011 21:17

ASSTASTIC: Apr 27, 2003; Hey Gusy!

Bottom Liner posted:

Scored 50 rolls of Ilford HP5 today for free.

gently caress you. :mad:

....

So jealous.

# ? Mar 3, 2011 21:25

Dr. Cogwerks: Oct 28, 2006; all I need is a grant and Project is go

ExecuDork posted:

Are there any big advantages to scanning negatives rather than 4x6 prints? I've got several hundred prints going back about 15 years (I have the negs for 99% of them, too), though I'm really interested in figuring out scanning now because I've just recieved my first few rolls of B&W film and I've got almost everything I need to develop negatives (but not print) at home.

There are huge advantages to scanning negatives - if you need those advantages.

4x6 prints are limited to whatever density they were printed at. A lot of detail from the original negative has already been lost, and more will be lost when you make a copy of this copy. Minilab prints are somewhere around 250-300 dots per inch. Darkroom prints are a bit higher, somewhere around 400dpi. Either way, if you scan a print at its own density, you can make a replica of the same size at slightly lower quality or make a slight enlargement with even lower quality. Scanning higher than that will just start catching more paper texture than detail.

If you want images for the web or email, this is still more than enough resolution. It's a hell of a lot faster and easier than scanning negatives too. However, it'd be a terrible way to do it if you wanted to do much post-processing work or any enlargements. A good method might be to scan the prints, because that's fast as hell, batch process 'em if needed, then get some good scans of whichever negatives seem to be the real keepers.

Dr. Cogwerks fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Mar 3, 2011

# ? Mar 3, 2011 23:51

Nannypea: Feb 20, 2006; Faster, you naughty little monkey!

Where do you guys go for color printing? Places that match color and can do larger sizes (and don't cost a fortune). What about printing on canvas as well?

I want to get some prints made for selling. I already have a few people interested :woop:

# ? Mar 4, 2011 01:53

ExecuDork: Feb 25, 2007; We might be fucked, sir.; Fallen Rib

I use my local camera shop, a friend is a professional photographer (weddings, mostly) and he uses them for most of his printing. I'm very happy with what they've done for me so far. I think they're basically like any other professional camera shop, and I've seen websites for other, similar independent shops that advertise the same services, including really big prints and prints onto canvas. They do all kinds of film developing and printing as well as from digital.

robertdx sent me prints from White House Custom Color (link) for the print exchange, and they're really excellent if you're planning to print from digital files.

# ? Mar 4, 2011 03:47

Gnomad: Aug 12, 2008

DJExile posted:

My OM-2 is broked

Turns out the only thing that was holding the door against the body was friction itself and the lock mechanism has been busted for a while. Now the friction isn't holding it well enough. Are there parts out there or ways I can rig something up to fix that? Seems silly to send it to a repair place if that's all that's wrong with it and I wind up paying for shipping/repair the same as a whole other body off Ebay.

I have a largely useless OM10 that you can have if the parts will fit-also, come to think of it, a OM1 that I think was dropped as it doesn't focus across the frame.

akgnomad@gmail.com

# ? Mar 4, 2011 07:24

unixbeard: Dec 29, 2004

if you're in europe and need film processing stuff, this site has a lot of good stuff & reasonably priced http://fotoimpex.de/

# ? Mar 4, 2011 08:11

DJExile: Jun 28, 2007

GWBBQ posted:

Have you tried gaffer's tape yet?

I have not but I'd like a longer-term solution if at all possible.

# ? Mar 4, 2011 14:41

Nannypea: Feb 20, 2006; Faster, you naughty little monkey!

unixbeard posted:

if you're in europe and need film processing stuff, this site has a lot of good stuff & reasonably priced http://fotoimpex.de/

Unfortunately I'm in the US. Anyone else got any suggestions?

# ? Mar 4, 2011 14:56

guidoanselmi: Feb 6, 2008; I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest post. No lies whatsoever.

What are you looking for? processing color at home or print services?

# ? Mar 4, 2011 23:39

Rednik: Apr 10, 2005

Nannypea posted:

Unfortunately I'm in the US. Anyone else got any suggestions?

I did my C-41 4x5s here and I'm quite happy with them.

http://www.philadelphiaphotographics.com/

# ? Mar 4, 2011 23:45

Nannypea: Feb 20, 2006; Faster, you naughty little monkey!

guidoanselmi posted:

What are you looking for? processing color at home or print services?

At home! HA!! I can hardly cook. I'm looking for print services.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

# ? Mar 5, 2011 19:10

Paul MaudDib: May 3, 2006; TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE

I shot some ice sculptures using a yellow filter and they came out VERY flat - I think I overexposed them. Does anyone have some tips on scanning? I've been manually adjusting the histogram so the white point completely encloses the snow, sliding the white output point to the right, adjusting the neutral point to somewhere reasonable, and then trying to tone-curve some detail out of it. I'm getting a ton of grain/noise and the contrast is still BARELY tolerable.

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Mar 5, 2011

# ? Mar 5, 2011 20:23

Mannequin: Mar 8, 2003

Have any of you had experience with the Luna-Pro F meters from Gossen?

I'm picking one up later today. They seem to be popular on KEH so I figured I would give it a shot.

# ? Mar 5, 2011 21:05

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

Mannequin posted:

Have any of you had experience with the Luna-Pro F meters from Gossen?

I'm picking one up later today. They seem to be popular on KEH so I figured I would give it a shot.

Watch out with the batteries. A lot of those old meters used mercury batteries so you might need to get one of those special batteries for it to meter right. The good news is that if you do get a battery, it'll last almost forever in a light meter.

# ? Mar 5, 2011 21:20

Mannequin: Mar 8, 2003

It takes a 9V Alkaline thankfully.

# ? Mar 5, 2011 21:43

atomicthumbs: Dec 26, 2010; We're in the business of extending man's senses.

Why did he wait?!

# ? Mar 6, 2011 03:42

Ferris Bueller: May 12, 2001; "It is his fault he didn't lock the garage."

atomicthumbs posted:

Why did he wait?!

Lots-o-cross process ahoy.

# ? Mar 6, 2011 03:47

Aeka 2.0: Nov 16, 2000; Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.; Dinosaur Gum

Well looks like I'm getting pushed back into film. My gramps gave me an Asahi Pentax that he had. He also said he had a Leica, but can't find it (ugh).

The pentax doesn't have a light meter so looks like I gotta get one of those. That luna pro looks inviting.

# ? Mar 6, 2011 06:22

Spedman: Mar 12, 2010; Kangaroos hate Hasselblads

Ferris Bueller posted:

Lots-o-cross process ahoy.

All you'll be able to do is black and white with that.

# ? Mar 6, 2011 09:05

Ferris Bueller: May 12, 2001; "It is his fault he didn't lock the garage."

Does anyone roll their own 35mm cartridges here? I was wondering where the break even is especially if you usually only shoot one or two types of emulsions, and is it more hassel then it's worth?

# ? Mar 8, 2011 17:28

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# ? May 15, 2024 05:07

HPL: Aug 28, 2002; Worst case scenario.

Ferris Bueller posted:

Does anyone roll their own 35mm cartridges here? I was wondering where the break even is especially if you usually only shoot one or two types of emulsions, and is it more hassel then it's worth?

If you live where film is really expensive and you shoot a lot of film, then bulk loading makes sense. Loading something like Tri-X, Delta 400 or HP5 is usually a good bet since it can be used for so many different things. I usually get around 18 rolls of 36 out of one bulk roll of film.

# ? Mar 8, 2011 17:43

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > The Film Thread: "for sale: packfilm back. never used."

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