Fun with Medium Format FILM Images!

[gcap]

Fuji GX617, 90mm, Kodak Portra:

 

[gcap]

Fuji GX617, 180mm, Kodak Portra:

 

[dave.gt]

Sigh...

This evening I have had a little quiet time and I just reviewed this entire forum, all 11 pages so far. What is it about MF film images that keep drawing me back to it?:clap:

With so many medical issues to deal with, I have been absent from contributing. I must find a way to get some more film processed and find a way to get shooting again. The pandemic has made that shooting part almost impossible for many reasons.

Let me dig around for a few minutes.:banghead:

 

[dave.gt]

Almost forget, my good friend Joe (gnuyork), was my shooting partner for the Last Ride on my Road King. The previous black and white versions have been the only ones I had processed until a few weeks ago when I processed the Portra film version.

Joe did a fine job with exposure!

 

[dave.gt]

Our courthouse.

H5 80mm:
(Ilford film)

 

[dave.gt]

Thought for the day:

Film! Life is getting shorter everyday. Why not shoot a little film today?:thumbup:
You know you want to....:salute:

 

[bensonga]

Thought for the day:

Film! Life is getting shorter everyday. Why not shoot a little film today?:thumbup:
You know you want to....:salute:

Agreed!

I sent two rolls of Provia 100 shot with my Mamiya 645AFD II to "The Darkroom" in CA for processing and high res scans yesterday (total cost $52). This is the first film I have sent off for processing in about 2 years. I still have a few rolls of medium and 35mm format "in camera" to finish off.

I'll be retiring in a couple of months so I hope to have time to shoot more film (and digital) in the years ahead. Might even start developing B&W film myself again. It's been 20+ years since I last developed rolls or sheets of B&W film myself.

Gary

 

[scho]

+1 Agreed! I retired 20 years ago, switched to digital, and also tore down my old darkroom. Found that I missed seeing wet negatives hanging in the shower to dry, so began occasionally shooting and developing B&W film again. Recently bought a "Lab Box" which made it even easier to process film. I'll never go back completely to film, but once in awhile when the nostalgia hits I drift back into the old routine.

Agreed!

I sent two rolls of Provia 100 shot with my Mamiya 645AFD II to "The Darkroom" in CA for processing and high res scans yesterday (total cost $52). This is the first film I have sent off for processing in about 2 years. I still have a few rolls of medium and 35mm format "in camera" to finish off.

I'll be retiring in a couple of months so I hope to have time to shoot more film (and digital) in the years ahead. Might even start developing B&W film myself again. It's been 20+ years since I last developed rolls or sheets of B&W film myself.

Gary

 

[dave.gt]

Ah, gotta love the smell of developer early in the morning, or late in the evening.

There is one recurring dream of mine in that regard: shooting a Mamiya 6 or 7 even if for a short while... I think that would be a great way to continue my film use tenure.:thumbup:

And then there is the 4x5. Hmmmm...

Apparently, my future looks bright with even more choices. This really is a great time to shoot film!:thumbup:

 

[docholliday]

Ah, gotta love the smell of developer early in the morning, or late in the evening.

There is one recurring dream of mine in that regard: shooting a Mamiya 6 or 7 even if for a short while... I think that would be a great way to continue my film use tenure.:thumbup:

And then there is the 4x5. Hmmmm...

Apparently, my future looks bright with even more choices. This really is a great time to shoot film!:thumbup:

Nah, shoot 8x10...go big or go home! I barely shoot my 4x5 anymore and if heading for film, it's definitely 8x10 and printed split-developer with LPD + Selectol-Soft.

 

[dave.gt]

Nah, shoot 8x10...go big or go home! I barely shoot my 4x5 anymore and if heading for film, it's definitely 8x10 and printed split-developer with LPD + Selectol-Soft.

Wow! 8x10... that has crossed my mind.:bugeyes:

Can't even imagine shooting that Format! It must be amazing.

 

[docholliday]

Wow! 8x10... that has crossed my mind.:bugeyes:

Can't even imagine shooting that Format! It must be amazing.

It's slower and much more methodical than 4x5 (mostly because the film is exponentially more expensive). But, it's actually easier to work with since the gg is larger. Once you pull the camera out, you truly *mean* to take a shot. There's no wandering around looking through a viewfinder nor spray-n-praying shots. You leave the camera in the case until you've walked around and visually/definitively decided exactly where the shot it going to happen. Then, you spend the next half-hour setting up and tweaking eveything. It's very relaxing. Yet, it is still a decently "portable" camera, unlike 11x14 or 16x20 (the massive Polaroid).

Now, once in the darkroom, the view of a drying 8x10 neg/chrome is beautiful. The 4x5 is cool, but still "feels" like film as it needs to be enlarged and printed. The 8x10 is like looking through a window at the scene. If you print a neg, the details are ridiculously vivid and the tonality is unbelievable. 151mp digital color is sweet, but can't touch a 8x10 B&W neg! If you've ever seen any of the Durst 8x10 enlargers...well they look like a Delta drill press.

One of these days when I get some free time, I'm going to embark on doing some 8x10 glass plate work!

 

[dave.gt]

It's slower and much more methodical than 4x5 (mostly because the film is exponentially more expensive). But, it's actually easier to work with since the gg is larger. Once you pull the camera out, you truly *mean* to take a shot. There's no wandering around looking through a viewfinder nor spray-n-praying shots. You leave the camera in the case until you've walked around and visually/definitively decided exactly where the shot it going to happen. Then, you spend the next half-hour setting up and tweaking eveything. It's very relaxing. Yet, it is still a decently "portable" camera, unlike 11x14 or 16x20 (the massive Polaroid).

Now, once in the darkroom, the view of a drying 8x10 neg/chrome is beautiful. The 4x5 is cool, but still "feels" like film as it needs to be enlarged and printed. The 8x10 is like looking through a window at the scene. If you print a neg, the details are ridiculously vivid and the tonality is unbelievable. 151mp digital color is sweet, but can't touch a 8x10 B&W neg! If you've ever seen any of the Durst 8x10 enlargers...well they look like a Delta drill press.

One of these days when I get some free time, I'm going to embark on doing some 8x10 glass plate work!

Whoa! Sounds like an out of body experience in the best way!

It does seem to me that 8x10 is a whole new universe in a different dimension.:salute:

You do realize now that you will have viewers of this thread who are going to want to get into large format now! Dante will be delighted!

 

[docholliday]

Whoa! Sounds like an out of body experience in the best way!

It does seem to me that 8x10 is a whole new universe in a different dimension.:salute:

You do realize now that you will have viewers of this thread who are going to want to get into large format now! Dante will be delighted!

It definitely is a whole new world. There's nothing like coming home with a total of 4 exposures in an 8 hour period, but knowing that all 4 are keepers! Or going out for a weekend and returning with a total of 10 shots...

I never owned/shot any small format film gear as I started with C220/C330, but I'll tell ya that after starting large format, my keeper rates per 120 roll went waay up. I used to think that 4-6 shots of 6x6 was good, and that 2 "great" shots on 6x7 was a great day. I also remember shooting 10 4x5s in one day and finding out that they all sucked. That was not including the one where (large format initiation...) I left the shutter open after focusing, inserted a film back, and pulled the darkslide half out before slamming it back down (like that was going to keep from ruining the sheet).

Shooting LF makes you really visualize the shot, lighting, and build a shot plan. It also tries one's patience, and if you have none, like me, you'll start to gain some (after destroying some gear first while screaming choice words). It's actually amusing when friends/colleagues go recreationally shooting with me. Even with digital, I rarely chimp and still shoot minimal frames. Old habits are hard to break. I come home after a weekend with around 100 images. They come back with multiple full cards. I edit the images in a few hours and have most of them to show. They spend days culling images to end up showing 20.

The first time I heard a local fauxtographer shoot some 1000+ shots at a wedding to put on a CD for the B&G, I about fell out of my chair laughing. Even with digital, the last wedding I shot was ~200 frames, including formal work...120 images went into building the photobook/album with about 60 or so loose outtakes for the couple to post online.

 

[MartinN]

I have decided 4x5 is optimal for me. B&W Fomapan is cheap film and this allows for experimenting and learning. If I would shoot only 2 frames of 8x10 that would be expensive and there would still be a great chance that my skills would not give anything useful. So moderation is good, but for a not so good photographer 4x5 bw is optimal.

 

[MartinN]

Agreed!

I sent two rolls of Provia 100 shot with my Mamiya 645AFD II to "The Darkroom" in CA for processing and high res scans yesterday (total cost $52). This is the first film I have sent off for processing in about 2 years. I still have a few rolls of medium and 35mm format "in camera" to finish off.

I'll be retiring in a couple of months so I hope to have time to shoot more film (and digital) in the years ahead. Might even start developing B&W film myself again. It's been 20+ years since I last developed rolls or sheets of B&W film myself.

Gary

Scanning can actually be fun and not a chore. The ultimate quality can’t be had with for example an inexpensive flatbed but scanning is the crown of your work and is fun to do by yourself. I have a Plustek Opticfilm 120 and that gives superior results for roll film. For 4x5 I use an Epson V700 and that gives acceptable results. My closet now has light seals and I develop b&w films, however I must be a hybrid photographer, because I could never have the darkroom space to do any traditional printing. Developing films is very fun.

 

[anyone]

8x10 would be fun to try, but the entry cost is prohibitive and my entire development chain doesn't fit to the format. AND it's heavy - since I frequently hike to my destinations, this is a major factor. I find my heaviest and / or bulkiest cameras mainly sit at home, while my more lightweight ones are frequently used. I absolutely can imagine the magic of having such a large negative and I bet it would be fun to put it on the drum scanner.

Due to all the reasons mentioned above, the Chamonix C45f-2 4x5" is my hiking camera - it's lightweight, surprisingly sturdy, enough movements. I'm still learning my way to use tilt effectively - I yet have to find someone who is willing to give me an effective intro into it. I read it all, but it's difficult to apply in practice.

While all the large format is fun, my favourite analogue camera is (no surprise for those who follow the fun with mf images thread) the 500C/M. I do really like the square format, the image quality, the mechanical feel while taking the image ... ah, and the film format is absolutely enough for my printing needs. My best works are in 80x80cm.

Also really nice is the fact that for B&W film development you don't need much space, equipment or the like. My darkroom equipment is downstairs in the cellar, maybe I should dust it off! Also printing doesn't require a lot of space, it can be done in the bathroom up to a certain size. The enlarger is bulky / heavy though. I also recently found out that my darkroom skills somewhat degraded over the years.

 

[MartinN]

Also really nice is the fact that for B&W film development you don't need much space, equipment or the like. My darkroom equipment is downstairs in the cellar, maybe I should dust it off! Also printing doesn't require a lot of space, it can be done in the bathroom up to a certain size. The enlarger is bulky / heavy though. I also recently found out that my darkroom skills somewhat degraded over the years.

I remeber the magic of making darkroom prints. However my bathroom is very small and in NO WAY I could fit an enlarger and trays. I live in a small flat.

 

[docholliday]

8x10 would be fun to try, but the entry cost is prohibitive and my entire development chain doesn't fit to the format. AND it's heavy - since I frequently hike to my destinations, this is a major factor. I find my heaviest and / or bulkiest cameras mainly sit at home, while my more lightweight ones are frequently used. I absolutely can imagine the magic of having such a large negative and I bet it would be fun to put it on the drum scanner.

Due to all the reasons mentioned above, the Chamonix C45f-2 4x5" is my hiking camera - it's lightweight, surprisingly sturdy, enough movements. I'm still learning my way to use tilt effectively - I yet have to find someone who is willing to give me an effective intro into it. I read it all, but it's difficult to apply in practice.

While all the large format is fun, my favourite analogue camera is (no surprise for those who follow the fun with mf images thread) the 500C/M. I do really like the square format, the image quality, the mechanical feel while taking the image ... ah, and the film format is absolutely enough for my printing needs. My best works are in 80x80cm.

Also really nice is the fact that for B&W film development you don't need much space, equipment or the like. My darkroom equipment is downstairs in the cellar, maybe I should dust it off! Also printing doesn't require a lot of space, it can be done in the bathroom up to a certain size. The enlarger is bulky / heavy though. I also recently found out that my darkroom skills somewhat degraded over the years.

8x10 isn't as heavy as you'd think. I routinely hiked with a Deardorff 8x10 field AND RZ67 back in the day. Nowadays, it's mostly an H5/6 with 2 or 3 lenses and occasionally a 1Dx kit unless I was planning on shooting film, then it would be 8x10+1Dx. While drum scanning/printing an 8x10 is definitely cool and modern, I still believe that contacting the negative to another sheet as a positive and directly mounting the "print" film against glass (or simply shooting a hand coated glass plate) is the way to go. Press it into some black velvet and watch the silver tones shimmer!

My favorite analog camera is still the 203FE with a 110/2FE, 50/2.8FE, and 180/4CFE, WLF, and 3x E12 backs. No need to carry a meter and very versatile.

For film, you don't even need a darkroom to process. Just use a changing bag with a daylight tank and then process in the kitchen sink in broad daylight! With that said, my darkroom is also a small chemlab at my house with fume hood. I've been mixing developers from scratch instead of buying pre-mix or dilute solutions, so it lends itself to being convenient. It's also nice to coat glass plates with some Liquid Light if one was bored and had some time to spare.

But, once those 20x24 trays come out, it's time to get serious. 5 trays takes up a LOT of space, plus the wash tank. It also takes a lot of chems, about 1-1.5L per tray. Large prints can be easily processed in a PVC pipe with caps, just roll up the print, stuff it into the tube, fill with enough solution to cover laterally, cap the end, and roll on a table.

 

[alistairsimmons]

Sat in a box for about 4 years, recently developed and scanned by a friend.

Shot in London, with Mamiya 645 ProTL and Neopan 400.