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B&W film - a beginner's journey

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HalifaxJ

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I posted last week asking about the FE2 and FM2n. I was fortunate enough to find a FM2n in excellent condition locally, and the shop is paying for all new seals + cleaning. Also, I just bought all the equipment to develop B&W negatives at home for a very low price.

I'll be honest. I don't know where to go now. Any recommendation for chemicals? I'll be shooting Illford and Tmax for now, as they're easy to find locally.

What do I need in terms of chemicals? I want to keep it simple for now - stick with one developer until I get to know a bit more. Same with fixer.

Also, anyone know of a site that has good descriptions of B&W films and their characteristics?

Cheers!

J
 
Ilford's DDX is very easy to use for a wide range of films; it's especially suited to 400 ASA films, Ilford's Delta, and Kodak's T Max.

These groups and forums provide good info

http://www.apug.org/forums/home.php

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=105

http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/

There are groups on Flickr related to B&W films and processing, here’s just a few of them.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/diybw/discuss/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rodinal/discuss/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/

Happy shooting, Lizzie
 
HalifaxJ said:
I posted last week asking about the FE2 and FM2n. I was fortunate enough to find a FM2n in excellent condition locally, and the shop is paying for all new seals + cleaning. Also, I just bought all the equipment to develop B&W negatives at home for a very low price.

I'll be honest. I don't know where to go now. Any recommendation for chemicals? I'll be shooting Illford and Tmax for now, as they're easy to find locally.

What do I need in terms of chemicals? I want to keep it simple for now - stick with one developer until I get to know a bit more. Same with fixer.
Click to expand...
I would use ID11 or D76 they are good standard devlopers.

If you don't want to mix powders try something like the Ilfosol 3 which is a one shot (use once and discard) developer.
HalifaxJ said:
Also, anyone know of a site that has good descriptions of B&W films and their characteristics?
Click to expand...
I can give you a link to my site how to develop your own film:
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.com/2008/05/developing-your-first-b-film.html
and on the same site a list of films I have tested with 100% crops.
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.com/2007/12/film-tests.html

Hope this helps
Regards
mark
 
Go to your favorite (on line?) used book seller and purchase a copy of Ansel Adams' book "The Negative". For completeness sake, you may want to pick up "The Camera" and "The Print" as well. Enjoy your trip.
--
Regards,
****
 
Not sure if I got a good deal or not, but I just went for it;

Nikor System 6X7 enlarger
50mm Nikor enlarger lens
Large slide light table
SS trays
Measuring equipment
Easel
Measuring vessels
Timer
Tongs, clips, etc.

150$ Canadian.

I'm excited!

J
 
Wow printing as well! :-)

I may be wrong but I believe your enlarger was sold under other brand names as well like the Rollei that was my first enlarger, if it's stable it will do fine. Mark probably knows more about your enlarger's origins than I but I've been told they were made by Saunders/LPL. It will probably take up to 6x7 negs with the right film carriers and lensrs should you wish to venture into medium format too.

Nikon made several 50m enlarger lenses, the 6 element 2.8 is pretty good. Looks like you have everything you need to get started once you've been able to block out the light. A red darkroom light would make life easier, it's safe to use with paper but not film.

Much as I like digital I cannot see myself willingly giving up shooting film too.

Enjoy, Lizzie
 
I'm not giving up Digital,

But this is a lot of fun, and I love to learn and do things the hard way. I brew beer from scratch, make wine from grapes, and cheese from local goats milk. French cooking, another passion of mine, is not the fastest cuisine there is either.

It is the Rollei Nikor. Not sure about the lens, but probably the F4 - which is fine for now. Do the bulbs die a lot on enlargers? Can they be replaced? Down the road, I'm sure if I need it, I'll get a 'better' enlarger - but for learning, this setup seems perfect.

J
 
HalifaxJ said:
I'm not giving up Digital,

But this is a lot of fun, and I love to learn and do things the hard way. I brew beer from scratch, make wine from grapes, and cheese from local goats milk. French cooking, another passion of mine, is not the fastest cuisine there is either.

It is the Rollei Nikor. Not sure about the lens, but probably the F4 - which is fine for now. Do the bulbs die a lot on enlargers? Can they be replaced? Down the road, I'm sure if I need it, I'll get a 'better' enlarger - but for learning, this setup seems perfect.

J
Click to expand...
Sounds like the lens I had on the Rollei enlarger I intially used, if you want to change it at a later date there are some excellent enlarger lenses on the second hand market. The bulbs last a very long time, but even so I would always keep a spare one, and yes they can be replaced. It's a good set up for learning and gives you an opportunity to see if you like wet printing and it may be all you need for future use too.

Given your other interests I get the feeling you are really going to enjoy DIY film based black and white. I never lost that sense of wonder as I watched my image slowly emerging on photographic paper in the developer tray, it's magic. :-).

Lizzie
 
Lizzie,

It's exciting so far, and I havn't printed anything (lack of darkroom!). I'll be developing a negative tonight.

ALso, I have aquired TWO enlargers;

1. Rollei Nikor 6X7
2. Omega B600

Which one should I keep? Both? The Rollei has the tray for 35mm negatives, 6X6, and 6X7. I have a wonderful easel that will do 14X10 - metal construction, excellent condition. Also have an 8X10 but I might sell. They are beautiful.

J
 
Wow again! My you're moving fast. :-)

I would opt for the sturdier and most flexible of the two. I've never used that Omega model but I found references to it through a Google search. A relative gave me the Rollei, it's since been passed onto other family members so it's already survived decades of use and is still in use today. Not much can go wrong with them.

Thought you might like to read this blog page, it's similar to the comments made by local photographers who'd previously only used digital cameras.

http://www.sevenbyfive.net/photos/embracing-analog-photography-in-a-digital-world/

I really like digital and all it has to offer but I feel more emotionally connected to my film cameras and the analogue workflow; something that's difficult to explain to anyone who does not feel the same way.

Happy shooting, Lizzie.
 
Thanks for the link Lizzie!

Kit beers are great, but hand crafting one from scratch goes beyond the final product. I think it's the same for everything.

For the next few weeks, perhaps a month, I'm going to focus on developing negatives. I have all the equipment for now, and can scan them to print. This is already a big step in the right direction for me. I love the D90, but shooting an entire weekend with the FM2n was so much fun I'm having a hard time letting go! It's now in the shop getting new seals (covered by warranty!).

I got both enlargers for CHEAP. I think I'll keep the Rollei even if it's older. Seems to be a nice one. I'm sure I can sell the Omega B600 for more than I paid for BOTH of these enlargers down the road. I really love the easels too, and they go for close to 100$ new.

Again, for now I'm focusing on developing negatives.

Local Henrys (camera shop) has Illford and Kodak developers and fixers. They have the Illford DDX and a few others.

Any advice as to fixers?

J
 
Yep understand the difference between brewing beer from raw ingredients v kits; it's not for everyone though.

Any fixer by Ilford or Kodak should do. Delta and T Max films needs to be fixed for longer periods of time; I learned that the hard way when I processed my first Delta film. Make sure the film is rinsed thoroughly to remove all the chemical residues. When wet films act like a magnet for any dust that's in the air and the surface is at it's most fragile.

Good luck with your first film.

Lizzie
 
Just picked up my first roll of film shot on my FM2n! I love it! It was Ilford C-41 - not as nice as what I use to shoot, but was so much fun. The anticipation when opening the print enveloppe is worth any extra time.

I'm seriously considering selling my D90...

J
 
HalifaxJ said:
Just picked up my first roll of film shot on my FM2n! I love it! It was Ilford C-41 - not as nice as what I use to shoot, but was so much fun. The anticipation when opening the print enveloppe is worth any extra time.

I'm seriously considering selling my D90...

J
Click to expand...
Glad you like it! sometimes I shoot 3-4 rolls and forget the shots, I like the lazy drop them into the lab, go for coffee, pick up print routine.

Quite nice after a day behind the computer, I shoot all my personal stuff on film.

Its way underrated, and last week I bought 15 rolls C41 colour for £8.98-holiday next week Nikkormat FT2 and the best Nikon lens the 50mm F2 H
Mark
 
HalifaxJ

Love your excitement! It's contagious. My journey began in the mid-1960s in a newspaper darkroom, before I won my wings as a staff photographer. We shot with Leicas and Kodak Tri-X. In recent years, before switching to digital, I shot Fujichrome Sensia 400 ASA for trannies - underexposed by about one stop and an 81B filter if cloudy - and Kodak T-Max 400 ASA.

You can't go wrong with T-Max, however - and I could be wrong here - there is a developer especially formulated for this film. I used a pro lab and always specified T-Max developer for this film.

What sort of developing tank are you using? I'd suggest at least stainless steel spools - the plastic ones are pigs to use. You can make a deep tank from an old car battery. Gut it, clean, build some sort of cover to keep out dust and rubbish. Bring developer to temp with immersion heater, made from electric-jug element, well insulated. Thread spools on to strong wire for agitation. Good to go!

When printing, suggest RC paper. Fibre-based can be difficult.

Let's know how you go! Good luck. Remember, if you can brew beer, you can develop a film. Or bake a cake.

Cheers.
ASJ.
 
Camera shops? You mean digital SLR dealers? They only carry the T-max developer, and they didn't even know what it was.

J
 
Hey J ...Rodinol developer is another to google.

Did you look at the Ilford stuff, the Deltas, the FP4, HP5 ...?
 
Shot 3 rolls of HP5 400, 2 rolls of Delta 100, and one Fujifilm Pro 400 over the last week.

They do have Rodinal, but was hoping to get some Illford.

J
 
Rodinal is very easy to use and it keeps for a long time, if you check out the Flickr Rodinal group I provided the link for there's a lot of info there and you can ask about anything you're not sure of. Whilst posting here a few days ago I had films slowly developing in Rodinal 1:100 using the standing method, I could just leave them to one side whilst I got on with other tasks.

T Max can be used for all those films so it you're in a hurry to get started you could buy that for now and then look into other developers later. It's best to start with just one developer until you get the hang of it. With T Max you can also uprate your B&W films but it will make them more contrasty.

Here's an extensive list of developer/film combos and the recommended development times.
http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php

I can buy a few Kodak and Ilford developers locally, but when I want more choice I use retailers who specialise in selling film based products; you should find employees who work for these businesses more knowledgable on film matters so you should be able to get some good advice from them too.

Lizzie
 
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