Does anyone use 35mm still?
Discussion
God, I wish the search function would work...
Anyway, I've recently inherited a Canon A-1 and some lenses and spent the weekend playing with it. Lovely thing to use and hold but terrifying from a "I have no bloody idea if this is going to come out!" perspective.
I'd like to use it as much as I can, as I do like film (for video anyway) and the way it handles light but its very tough not seeing what you got at the time!
Any other filmists around who can recommend films, etc?
Anyway, I've recently inherited a Canon A-1 and some lenses and spent the weekend playing with it. Lovely thing to use and hold but terrifying from a "I have no bloody idea if this is going to come out!" perspective.
I'd like to use it as much as I can, as I do like film (for video anyway) and the way it handles light but its very tough not seeing what you got at the time!
Any other filmists around who can recommend films, etc?
I have a stack of Canon bodies and lenses from the pre-digital era from an EF through the A-1. I no longer use film but the A1 was a very good camera,easy to use, and they had some lovely lenses.
As for film I used slide film exclusively,though my favourite,(Kodachrome professional) is long gone. Are you thinking of slide or print film??or B&W?
Over here in Canada I still see some Fuji slide file available and would suggest you check with a large camera store as to what is still available. The big difference is that each image costs money so you have to think about what you shoot much more carefully. Slide film is much less forgiving than print but gives much better results.
As for film I used slide film exclusively,though my favourite,(Kodachrome professional) is long gone. Are you thinking of slide or print film??or B&W?
Over here in Canada I still see some Fuji slide file available and would suggest you check with a large camera store as to what is still available. The big difference is that each image costs money so you have to think about what you shoot much more carefully. Slide film is much less forgiving than print but gives much better results.
I grabbed a bunch of Fuji 'consumer' rolls out of Tesco before the weekend and just going over the results now.
A mixed bag, if I'm honest. Some look great but some haven't worked well at all, especially when I was trying to fight with the sun to capture some good sunsets etc.
I'm not really experienced with still photography at all so still learning my way round slide-film versus print film etc etc. Complex but enjoyable!
A mixed bag, if I'm honest. Some look great but some haven't worked well at all, especially when I was trying to fight with the sun to capture some good sunsets etc.
I'm not really experienced with still photography at all so still learning my way round slide-film versus print film etc etc. Complex but enjoyable!
Try kodak portra film. Really nice colours and fine grain
British bulldog by Nicholas Cowen, on Flickr
Yellow roses by Nicholas Cowen, on Flickr
Just be careful where process your film because they can get finger prints in your negatives and other things
British bulldog by Nicholas Cowen, on Flickr
Yellow roses by Nicholas Cowen, on Flickr
Just be careful where process your film because they can get finger prints in your negatives and other things
Wow, not only do I still use film for all my personal work, I am part of an amazing darkroom up in North London, so process and print my own film too. The Canon A1 is a lovely camera, the Olympus OMs too, beautiful. I have several 35mm and medium format cameras. Nothing has yet beaten my Zeiss 45mm lens for rendition, but it only works on a film camera. So that's that...
A few, mostly ebay cheapies; Yashica, Nikon F90X, F50, couple of Holgas and a new/old Diana. Havent used them much recently, cost of developing being the main reason. Film wise I quite like either XP2 or Portra, depending on what I'm shooting, I have a few rolls of Pan 400 somewhere as well
Yep, all my “hobby” shots are done on film. It’s certainly getting more popular again now, and I don’t think you can beat the feeling of anticipation as you walk out with a freshly developed roll wondering if you got the result you hoped for.
As for actual film choices, I tend to stay loyal to Fuji for colour / slide film and Ilford / Kodak for B+W.
I’d actually go so far as to say that since film is mostly bought by hobbyists these days, who are happy to pay the premium, if you buy at a proper camera shop the quality of whatever you can buy is likely to be good, even if you’re not familiar with what you're looking at. Happily to keep costs down, whilst you’re getting used to it, some of the cheaper rolls you can get at the supermarket etc will work perfectly well for practising with.
I’m also a great believer that the more film you shoot, the better your digital work will be, having to remember that every time you press the shutter is going to cost you makes you think much more carefully before you do!
I personally doubt I will ever get a perfect 24/36 out of a roll, but I don’t mind the mistakes and often when I develop a roll I’ll find far more bad shots than good, but it’s a constant learning curve and next time around I will make sure I do it different.
If you get the bug properly you should have a look at what can still be achieved with some of the old school medium format cameras, i.e. a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad, amazing!
As for actual film choices, I tend to stay loyal to Fuji for colour / slide film and Ilford / Kodak for B+W.
I’d actually go so far as to say that since film is mostly bought by hobbyists these days, who are happy to pay the premium, if you buy at a proper camera shop the quality of whatever you can buy is likely to be good, even if you’re not familiar with what you're looking at. Happily to keep costs down, whilst you’re getting used to it, some of the cheaper rolls you can get at the supermarket etc will work perfectly well for practising with.
I’m also a great believer that the more film you shoot, the better your digital work will be, having to remember that every time you press the shutter is going to cost you makes you think much more carefully before you do!
I personally doubt I will ever get a perfect 24/36 out of a roll, but I don’t mind the mistakes and often when I develop a roll I’ll find far more bad shots than good, but it’s a constant learning curve and next time around I will make sure I do it different.
If you get the bug properly you should have a look at what can still be achieved with some of the old school medium format cameras, i.e. a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad, amazing!
Disastrous said:
Anyway, I've recently inherited a Canon A-1 and some lenses and spent the weekend playing with it. Lovely thing to use and hold but terrifying from a "I have no bloody idea if this is going to come out!" perspective.
Back in the day for Pro work peopl would shoot Polaroids to check for exposure, lighting and so on.Now you can use a cheapish digital body to do the same. It should be somewhere close. Just dial the settings into the A1. If you find anomalies between the digicam and what th film gives either one of the cameras is not working correctly or they are both OK but have a (hopefully) constant discrepancy for which you can just adjust the required values for Fstop or Shutter speed.
If you get into pushing film processing for low light response then all bets are off - there is whole world of learning out there for that kind of thing.
If you get hooked see if you can find a Canon New F1 (The last of the Canon F1 bodies - the model was produced for a decade or more iirc). The A1 is indeed a nice device - but an F1 ... something else.
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