Black & White with Pentax K1000
Sep 9, 2015 19:21:39 #
Johnj168
Loc: Granbury Texas
Just aquired a Pentax K1000. I would like to try some black & white photography. I will be shooting street scenes with it & have no idea which black & white film would be best. Some would be daylight & some would be night. Any help would be appreciated.
Sep 9, 2015 19:25:31 #
Sep 9, 2015 19:51:09 #
corryhully wrote:
Kodak tri x 400 classic film.
:thumbup:
(Back in the day I'd say Panatomic-X, but alas, they also took my Kodachrome away.)
((Great, now I miss my darkroom......))
Sep 9, 2015 20:00:35 #
Sep 9, 2015 20:31:45 #
Sep 9, 2015 20:42:02 #
Sep 9, 2015 21:01:29 #
RWR
Loc: La Mesa, CA
BebuLamar wrote:
Yeah the Tri-X is the standard although I hate it.
I dislike the grain of Tri-X 35mm, and would recommend T-Max 100 or 400. Ilford Pan F Plus, FP4 and Delta 100 Professional are also good alternatives.
Sep 9, 2015 21:55:54 #
Sep 10, 2015 04:20:25 #
Johnj168 wrote:
Just aquired a Pentax K1000. I would like to try some black & white photography. I will be shooting street scenes with it & have no idea which black & white film would be best. Some would be daylight & some would be night. Any help would be appreciated.
I'd try one of the films that are B&W emulsions that are processed by the C-41 color process. You get prints back just like they were color, but they're B&W. Sometimes the chemistry will give these little prints (think proofs) a color cast. But the negatives are good and can be enlarged and burned and dodged in a darkroom just fine. That's the way to "get 'er duuunnn" in an afternoon and get the feedback you need to get taking great photos.
There were a few from Ilford and Kodak, including one, Portra, I believe that was meant for digital scanning. And when I used them 2 decades ago they were really good and avoided the wet film development steps. The Processors also provided a JPEG CD with the images digitized.
Processing Tri X or any of the other films would require finding a B&W lab and some costly processing. If you want, look up Image Experts in LA. I used them with my more serious film work back in the day. There are others, but don't expect low prices.
I have a niece who still raves about her B&W wedding pictures. Makes me smile.
Sep 10, 2015 06:59:28 #
Anything with 400ASA on the box and which the shop says can still be processed.
Yours is a great journey of discovery . . .
I hope and trust you will get really bitten by the 'bug'.
www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/ is helpful, among others.
Yours is a great journey of discovery . . .
I hope and trust you will get really bitten by the 'bug'.
www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/ is helpful, among others.
Sep 10, 2015 07:06:59 #
Sep 10, 2015 07:30:51 #
Johnj168 wrote:
Just aquired a Pentax K1000. I would like to try some black & white photography. I will be shooting street scenes with it & have no idea which black & white film would be best. Some would be daylight & some would be night. Any help would be appreciated.
Ilford Delta 400.
--Bob
Sep 10, 2015 08:14:35 #
Johnj168 wrote:
Just aquired a Pentax K1000. I would like to try some black & white photography. I will be shooting street scenes with it & have no idea which black & white film would be best. Some would be daylight & some would be night. Any help would be appreciated.
Basically any b&w film.
Tri-X 400
Ilford HP5
Kentmere 400
And on and on...there are a dozen choices at least.
pick one and try it.
There are labs that still develop B&W, and you can do it yourself with minimal equipment and trouble.
check out http://istillshootfilm.org/post/111177747637/where-to-get-film-developed-online to see a list of folks who will develop and scan your film for you.
Sep 10, 2015 08:42:10 #
Johnj168 wrote:
Just aquired a Pentax K1000. I would like to try some black & white photography. I will be shooting street scenes with it & have no idea which black & white film would be best. Some would be daylight & some would be night. Any help would be appreciated.
Ilford HP5+ developed in ID-11 for smooth gradation, or Microphen for sharpness and ISO speed gain.
Tri-X developed in T-Max for fine grain, D-76 for smooth gradation, Agfa Rodinal for sharpness and contrast, or Acufine for sharpness and ISO speed gain.
When I used film, my preference was for Ilford, even when I worked in a lab that sold Kodak films. (I use digital workflows for B&W now, and prefer both the workflows, and the results.)
Development matters a LOT. Do your own for best results. Follow the method used in the classic Time-Life Library of Photography series. Use a super-accurate thermometer, a water bath to temper the chemicals, an accurate timer, and follow the film/developer manufacturer's instructions for agitation very carefully.
Kodak and Ilford films behave very differently in different developers. They require different agitation intervals and methods for best results. After doing it a couple of times, I NEVER mixed them in the same tank.
Sep 10, 2015 08:54:43 #
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