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If I bought an M7, which film should I start with?

helenhill

Senior Member
Just tried DDX this weekend w/ Arista Premium and LOVE IT.... :)
its half the time of Rodinal w/ Truly Lovely results
Two from Yesterday M2 /50 Lux

Delta 3200 CAM is LOVELY BTW....
 
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jonoslack

Active member
to try only one film and say if it isn't for you if it doesn't work out and you'll go back to digital is beneath you! bring out the goat and i'll put on my stilettos, grab my braided Luigi strap, and.... she says in her best dominatrix voice :p
:ROTFL:

Well - you're right BUT - I stick to my point . . . what do I want with black and white film? Especially with fast black and white film, I simply don't live in an environment where it's going to be useful.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Just tried DDX this weekend w/ Arista Premium and LOVE IT.... :)
its half the time of Rodinal w/ Truly Lovely results
Two from Yesterday M2 /50 Lux

Delta 3200 CAM is LOVELY BTW....
Hi Helen - that first shot especially is wonderful - Arista Premium is . . . . what? I don't think you get it in the UK.
 

trisberg

New member
Why not start with a couple of rolls of Ilford XP2 and let someone else worry about developing it. Any 1-hour lab should be able to develop this film. I've used it in the past and always liked the results. Just picked up two rolls yesterday to try it out again.

-Thomas
 

jlm

Workshop Member
jono:
you would love the cloud effects on tri-x shot at iso 200 and with the yellow #15 (i think) filter
 

jonoslack

Active member
Why not start with a couple of rolls of Ilford XP2 and let someone else worry about developing it. Any 1-hour lab should be able to develop this film. I've used it in the past and always liked the results. Just picked up two rolls yesterday to try it out again.

-Thomas
HI Thomas
Last time I used film a couple of years ago I used a lot of XP2 (and whatever the Kodak C41 film is called). I wasn't enamoured really - there was a kind of general feeling of muddiness (probably me . . . or possibly our local lab).

Thanks for the suggestion though.
 

jonoslack

Active member
jono:
you would love the cloud effects on tri-x shot at iso 200 and with the yellow #15 (i think) filter
Hi John
I'd thought of that, but that means investing in some kind of filter system (or buying a series of filters for my Leica lenses) - I'm not sure that it's even feasible with the WATE, which I use for most of my landscape stuff.

I'm slowly arguing myself out of the whole idea!
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
:ROTFL:

Well - you're right BUT - I stick to my point . . . what do I want with black and white film? Especially with fast black and white film, I simply don't live in an environment where it's going to be useful.

I am not convinced of that...I prefer very slow film for 35. TriX in 120.

However take a look at the following site...http://www.geebeephoto.com/

Many Leica landscapes and churches done in BW. He has added other color and digital cameras but I think that his BW Leica work is wonderful.

Bob
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
I remember reading about Weston saying something about the miracle of water coming out of the tap at 68F in Carmel. It is the same in many areas of the SF Bay Area, too.
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
Hi Helen - that first shot especially is wonderful - Arista Premium is . . . . what? I don't think you get it in the UK.

Not Helen, but to answer your question:

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/arista_premium.php

Mail order is possible.

Arista started out as product made at an old Ilford factory that was closed and sold off. May still be, don't know. Early tests of Arista film showed no significant difference between it and similar ISO rated Ilford film. That was, umm, 15+ years ago.

I used to buy Arista ISO 100 and 400 film in 100-ft rolls, bulk load into 35mm cans, labeled it ISO 3200 so that I could pass my film around the x-ray machines at airport security.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I am not convinced of that...I prefer very slow film for 35. TriX in 120.

However take a look at the following site...http://www.geebeephoto.com/

Many Leica landscapes and churches done in BW. He has added other color and digital cameras but I think that his BW Leica work is wonderful.

Bob
Hi Bob
Thanks for the link - interesting stuff, and lots of it good . . . but I don't like his BW Leica stuff . . . it takes all types I guess, and the landscape is familiar, some of his composition is excellent (if traditional) but IMHO the treatment is 'blah'. It just seems to be lacking in conviction.

Oh Well!
 

jonoslack

Active member
Not Helen, but to answer your question:

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/arista_premium.php

Mail order is possible.

Arista started out as product made at an old Ilford factory that was closed and sold off. May still be, don't know. Early tests of Arista film showed no significant difference between it and similar ISO rated Ilford film. That was, umm, 15+ years ago.

I used to buy Arista ISO 100 and 400 film in 100-ft rolls, bulk load into 35mm cans, labeled it ISO 3200 so that I could pass my film around the x-ray machines at airport security.
Let's both thank Bob for the Centigrade clarification! it's cold here, especially after dark, and our house was built in 1690 . . .it's rather drafty!

I don't suppose Arista is still built in the old Ilford factory (these days it's a supermarket!). Still, thanks for that clarification. Good tip with airport security, although I wonder if it'd still work? Right now at Stansted, if you had unboxed 35mm cans, I think they'd want to look inside!:ROTFL:
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
I don't suppose Arista is still built in the old Ilford factory (these days it's a supermarket!).

Ahh, so that's where supermarket film comes from. Any chance another old Ilford factory was made into a drug store? :D

For some (unknown) reason I am of the impression the Ilford factory was not in the UK, located elsewhere in Europe, and I can't tell you why I was thought that. Going back 20-years or so, was there an Ilford factory elsewhere in Europe that closed?
 
N

nei1

Guest
Jono from what youre saying I think you should sell me youre M7 for next to nothing,buy yourself a beautiful Ebony 10x8 which will give a new experience that is worth the effort.

You even have the right scanner for it.

p.s. am joking about the M7.


p.p.s. if you dont get on with the Ebony I do know of a cornishman who can accept donations.


p.p.p.s. am NOT joking about the ebony.
 
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trisberg

New member
Filem or digital - can you tell?

So I had one of my XP2 rolls developed and scanned. The scans from the camera store were OK but not hi-res so I decided to try to scan them myself on a dedicated film scanner. During this process I was again reminded why I was so happy when digital started being good enough to use. I have always found the spotting of dust on either prints or digital scans to be annoying.

Anyway - I thought it would be interesting if you could easily spot the digital vs. the film picture from these two shots:
 
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