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Last year, an interesting ball got rolling on the Film Thread. It started simply enough, last May: alkanphel posted:Astia is loving awesome. It's a shame Fuji killed it instead of Velvia 100F. It was great for urban, nature and portraits! He's right. There are a lot of gorgeous slide films, but there's something really special about Astia. I wouldn't say it's the greatest E6 film of all time - there's a time and place for most of the good ones, and I think Ektachrome G wins for "best general-purpose E6" - but when I take a couple rolls of Astia out for a shoot, somewhere between its tonality and the way it captures fine details, I can usually count on getting a picture back from the lab that makes me stop and take a deep breath, something that reminds me why I bother shooting color at all anymore, and especially on film. It is painfully hard to come by, too. I love it deeply but I've all but stopped looking for it. It was discontinued in 2011 and was pretty hard to get even then. Most people with remaining stocks aren't letting any go, and eBay sellers are asking $20/roll or more for anything even vaguely approaching fresh. A few people said they'd love to try it, but couldn't justify the expense or effort. I looked at my small dragon's hoard (I still have not quite fifty rolls of the stuff), looked at my increasingly dwindling color work, and decided I wanted to share the joy. I suggested a little Dorkroom game. Yond Cassius posted:Astia was such a wonderful film. Provia I've found to be pretty close, but I don't like it quite as much. I have a pretty big stockpile from buying out a store's entire inventory a few years back, so let me make an offer to other Astiaphiles and the Astia-curious: The response was very good. I gave out a lot of film. Some of it even went overseas. Here's the final list, along with the number of rolls involved and whether there was a Toxx: TheJeffers: 3  Understanding: 2 The Meat Dimension: 2 Big Scary Monsters: 2 Dog Nougat: 3 Paul MaubDib: 2 (no Toxx... yet?) Genderfluid: 2 (no Toxx... yet?) Ezekiel_980: 1 ExecuDork: 1 Tony Two Bapes: 1 (35mm) Daspope: 1 voodoorootbeer: 1 Bud: 1 The return rate, on the other hand, has not been fantastic. ExecuDork was the only one to get his back on time. Bud shot his but had a kid (congratulations!) and took a while getting it scanned and mailed out. Genderfluid posted a few scans, but has completely disappeared since November. I know a few people have had job problems, camera breakage, and just plain terrible weather. I'm not about to ask for nine Dorkroomers to be banned. So, back at the end of December, we discussed an appropriate extension, for up to six months. We came up with these forfeits: 1 - Spend a frame on a selfie, in drag. ExecuDork did an excellent demonstration, even though he got his on time. 2 - Make a small donation to PhotoCenter NW, $2.50 for every month of extension you want, which feels like a pretty nominal cost going to a good cause. Proof is appreciated but I'll take it on the honor system.
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Mar 9, 2015 03:33
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Over in the Medium Format thread, ExecuDork and I had a little conversation about where I was going with this project. I didn't want people to waste the film, of course, and I'm interested in getting "good" pictures back, but "interesting" has a lot of value to me, too. Cribbing extensively from what I wrote over there: Part of the reason I asked for an unbroken strip, instead of individual picked frames, is that I find it really fascinating to see the fingerprints of other people's processes. The near-misses tell you a lot, I think, about how a photographer works and decides what's worth keeping. The Magnum Contact Sheets book was candy to me. For example, I know one photographer who edits his film with a holepunch. He put a hole through the middle of anything he doesn't like, so he can't second-guess himself into showing anyone less than his best. If I got a strip back from him, I'd expect a hole punched through at least one frame. I personally use an adapter to stick Hasselblad lenses on top of my Nikon sometimes. It's not necessarily best for perfect sharpness (a mid-higher-end 35mm lens will be sharper, just because of the manufacturing challenges in building bigger lenses), but I like the way they render colors and tones, and I think something survives in the translation to small-format (vignetting is nil, for one). If you look, you'll see little pentagon-shaped catchlights even in my 35mm, and I think that's pretty neat. I don't need the best frames; I'm not padding my art collection here. If the participants here can comfortably say "Yes, that feels like me and my work," then I'll be happy. It's a chance for me to get to know people as photographers in a way that's hard to achieve online, and to give out a few chances for people to enjoy a really special film before it disappears forever. If someone sends me a film strip with a letter that says "All the Astia talk convinced me to bite the medium-format bullet. This is what I think so far and these are some things I've learned..." then, honestly, I'll be delighted. Here are some of the results I've gotten back: ExecuDork had some fun with a fisheye lens, even if his camera gave him a little trouble. It actually became badly jammed and he had to change out cameras mid-roll:  Bud pedaled around Wildwood and Atlantic City with a Bronica for a while. It looks like he had great weather. I've always loved the way Astia renders blue skies.  voodoorootbeer took his out on one foggy November morning in Delaware. He said he likes the way it captured the weathered tones of the neighborhood the stillness of the place. I really like this because it's so different from the way I use Astia - Lately I've been shooting it for only three or four months out of the year, unless I'm in a studio, because I associate Astia with the way a nice full light and the way it renders colors there. I don't think I would have shot it on a day so cloudy and grey, but I may have to revisit that choice. 
Cassius Belli fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Apr 2, 2015 |
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Mar 9, 2015 03:35
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Astia rules.
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Mar 9, 2015 04:00
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Oh yeah I shot mine and need to send back a few centimeters. In my defense, I also had a kid. I'll try to get it out this week. South Bethany by voodoorootbeer, on Flickr  South Bethany by voodoorootbeer, on Flickr Fun fact: I stashed your letter and address in the fridge with the rest of my expired film so I wouldn't lose it. It smells like sauerkraut!
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Mar 9, 2015 04:14
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This thread just made me unduly sad. I've used the VSCO Astia filter for a lot of my recent stuff (I'm both terrible and lazy.) I knew this project was happening, in the back of my mind at least. I didn't realise it was for Astia, and I didn't realise the film was discontinued and expensive to find. I'm at the very least happy with the Lightroom filter, but it's a film I'd love to have readily available to me.
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Mar 9, 2015 05:08
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poo poo I had this stuff shot, developed, and scanned by December 31, but I left it at my parent's house on accident when I moved out. I'll mail it in as soon as I get the chance.
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Mar 9, 2015 15:11
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I moved as well, which really slowed me down. "Setting up basic shelter for your wife and small child" takes precedence over cool internet projects. I will donate to the Photocenter, as my beard makes me an uggo woman. What I will remember most about this was that I severely hurt my finger setting up a bike to load up with MF gear to pedal around the jersey shore with. It still hasn't completely healed and will probably give me issues for the rest of my days. So every throb of pain or bit of wonderment at why I have no grip strength in my right hand is followed by an "mmmmm, Astia"  BroS2A_Astia_Oct2014005 by Bud_lish, on Flickr Bud fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Mar 9, 2015 |
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Mar 9, 2015 16:56
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Hey, this thread is about me! I've not had a kid or anything, I am just lazy and forgetful. I've shot one roll and it's sat in my fridge waiting for me to do the other one and send them off for development. So yeah, I'm sorry Yond Cassius; I will perform a suitable atonement and you will still get your frames back from me. Hopefully the first lot came out well, it's a bunch of pictures of buildings. I want to shoot people and rocks with the other roll.
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Mar 9, 2015 17:53
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voodoorootbeer posted:Oh yeah I shot mine and need to send back a few centimeters. In my defense, I also had a kid. I'll try to get it out this week. You heard it here first; shooting Astia is good for your virility. In one trial, 15% of Dorkroomers trying Astia became fathers within one year. Mrenda posted:This thread just made me unduly sad. I've used the VSCO Astia filter for a lot of my recent stuff (I'm both terrible and lazy.) I knew this project was happening, in the back of my mind at least. I didn't realise it was for Astia, and I didn't realise the film was discontinued and expensive to find. I'm at the very least happy with the Lightroom filter, but it's a film I'd love to have readily available to me. What format do you shoot? If you'd like to get in late, I might be able to spare a roll.
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Mar 9, 2015 19:14
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Just 35mm. Thanks though. 
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Mar 9, 2015 19:29
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Yond Cassius posted:I'm not about to ask for nine Dorkroomers to be banned. Good, because I ain't enforcing any of that 
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Mar 10, 2015 03:28
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Work last week ate up a lot more time than expected, but I finally scanned Bud's slice of film and added it to the collection.
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Mar 16, 2015 16:48
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I like how I figure so prominently in the introduction then fall completely down on the execution. Sorry about that!
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Mar 19, 2015 02:43
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Like what you're seeing in this thread? I'm selling some of my enormous stash of Astia over in the buy/sell thread for fantastic goon-only prices: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3125105&pagenumber=213#post443035936
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Mar 21, 2015 19:38
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Yond Cassius, the United States Postal Service informs me that you should be getting some slides in the mail today.
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Mar 30, 2015 18:40
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e: scanned and posted!
Cassius Belli fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Apr 2, 2015 |
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Apr 1, 2015 19:26
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So i finally shot the astia! just out of curiosity how does it do with cross-processing? I've had neat results with Kodak Slide film but i'm not sure if it would be wasting the astia doing cross process.
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May 9, 2015 21:36
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Ezekiel_980 posted:So i finally shot the astia! just out of curiosity how does it do with cross-processing? I've had neat results with Kodak Slide film but i'm not sure if it would be wasting the astia doing cross process. please don't
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May 9, 2015 22:38
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Ezekiel_980 posted:So i finally shot the astia! just out of curiosity how does it do with cross-processing? I've had neat results with Kodak Slide film but i'm not sure if it would be wasting the astia doing cross process. do that poo poo with some bargain basement yard sale found E6 bullshit whenever you feel the need to gently caress something up
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May 10, 2015 03:50
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Ezekiel_980 posted:So i finally shot the astia! just out of curiosity how does it do with cross-processing? I've had neat results with Kodak Slide film but i'm not sure if it would be wasting the astia doing cross process. I haven't tried it, but this APUG thread says they come out significantly magenta, and the Flickr album seems to confirm that. Ron (Photo Engineer) has a working hypothesis on the mechanism behind that. It makes sense - Fuji's very proud of their "four color" technology and it's bound to behave differently from Kodak. You don't have to listen to me here and I won't be disappointed if you decide to go ahead with it - you do you and all that - but personally, I'm not a huge fan of cross-processing. Call me silly and over-romantic if you will, but part of the appeal of film to me is that, when you shoot a roll of film, you're putting a little bit of blind creative faith in the color scientists and chemical engineers that designed the thing. If you're buying old 35mm film off eBay, you might be putting some blind faith in the previous owners of a roll not to have shot the thing, left the leader hanging out, and forgotten about that fact for five or ten years. Don't ask me how I know that last one. Digital photography is really straightforward: you point a chip at something, the red sensor says 49, the green sensor says 22, the green sensor says 153, and the little computer does some math and spits it back out at you as a nice rich shade of blue-purple, #311699. Fuji's X-trans sensor is a little more chaotic, because of the way they arranged the sensor, but not by a whole lot, when you get right down to it. On the other hand, with film, you're taking pictures with a frankly alchemical bit of witchcraft. When you expose a frame, a more-or-less irreversible physical change occurs in the emulsion's silver compounds. It's not as much a "science" as a digital sensor; there's a certain art, a philosophical "what do we want this to look like?" that goes into choosing exactly which compromises and how you're going to grow your silver bromide or silver chloride crystals or which sensitizing dyes and impurities that you're going to add so that you can basically judo this complicated chemistry into turning light into a tiny little picture of the world the way you want it. I liked what Pascal Dangin said about it - film is very subjective, and when you buy a roll of film, you're buying a few dollars' worth of someone's ideas and artistic sensibilities. It's not a lot - the photographer is still pretty firmly in the driver's seat - but it's enough to matter. That's why we have favorite stocks and processes. That's why this guy bought $161,000 worth of Velvia 8x10. Of course, as film degrades, whether through time or heat or bad chemistry, some of that care is lost. It can be interesting to watch, and Lomography is basically printing money because that degradation, in and of itself, is so novel to people who've grown up with perfect digital repeatability. Cross-processing is the same thing, an extreme of "bad chemistry", I think; it's a little like saying "Ah, to hell with all that. I'm going to throw this in a blender and see what comes out." Sometimes you have your own personal artistic reasons for doing that, and there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong even with trying it out just to see if it sticks. As I've said before, part of the appeal to this project, to me, is that I get to learn a little bit about you as photographers, and the processes and near-misses are definitely part of that. Personally, though, if I were in your shoes, I would voodoorootbeer posted:do that poo poo with some bargain basement yard sale found E6 bullshit whenever you feel the need to gently caress something up
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May 13, 2015 21:32
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I dropped it off today for E-6 development, should have it next week.
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May 13, 2015 23:28
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Ezekiel_980 posted:I dropped it off today for E-6 development, should have it next week. Cool! Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you've done.
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May 13, 2015 23:45
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I've got my rolls of terrible shots sitting on my desk, and with finals out of the way I'll go drop them off to get developed as soon as sunday. I want to see them too, since I feel become a better photographer since, and I've had my camera open up while I was mid-roll so I'd like to know I did't ruin it.
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May 14, 2015 02:32
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Yond Cassius posted:If you're buying old 35mm film off eBay, you might be putting some blind faith in the previous owners of a roll not to have shot the thing, left the leader hanging out, and forgotten about that fact for five or ten years. Don't ask me how I know that last one.
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May 14, 2015 05:07
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ExecuDork posted:Did you have time-travelling jazz musicians, too? Those little grey swingin' jerks get into the weirdest places, messing up Canadian winter landscapes with their trumpets and bongos and poo poo. Sadly, it was nothing that interesting: the previous owner was a crappy photographer of uninteresting things. As far as I can tell, an unremarkable weekend cabin party and a seagull invaded my portrait shoot. Cassius Belli fucked around with this message at 22:05 on May 14, 2015 |
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May 14, 2015 20:06
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Got the film back and scanned it, all I can say is wow. Tim-6x7-083.jpg by Shrieking Muppet, on Flickr  Tim-6x7-090.jpg by Shrieking Muppet, on Flickr  Tim-6x7-085.jpg by Shrieking Muppet, on Flickr  Tim-6x7-082.jpg by Shrieking Muppet, on Flickr Going to have to play with the color a bit to compensate for the tint in the lens better but I'm impressed by the results, I'll mail out a strip next week.
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May 20, 2015 02:33
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Ezekiel_980 posted:Got the film back and scanned it, all I can say is wow. Glad you didn't try cross-processing?
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May 20, 2015 04:47
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I scanned one roll already, and the second one i'll do ASAP.
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Jun 5, 2015 19:11
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