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Film In A Digital World
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Oct 5, 2021 09:10:02   #
GeneinChi Loc: Chicago, IL
 
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in film so I dragged out my Nikon F3 and assorted lenses. As the camera had not been used in several years, I sent it in for a good cleaning and meter adjustment. I just got I back and it looks and works great. So off I go on a new adventure. But before I launch, I have some rookie questions that I’m sure folks in this forum can answer. In days of yore I took pictures and had them developed commercially. In today’s world with all the pp programs available, what do film you film aficionados do? Do you have the negatives developed and then scan into your computer for pp or still have prints made? If you do pp are there programs specifically for film? I guess what I’m asking is how does film fit into today’s digital world? The learning curve begins….
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Gene

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Oct 5, 2021 09:19:35   #
ELNikkor
 
We do our own B&W in the basement, but the color we have done at a local lab and have it scanned in 16 bit. They give us back the negatives, a 4x6 mini-contact sheet, and all the photos on a CD. My computer has a built-in CD player, so it is easy to get them into my photo files.

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Oct 5, 2021 09:23:14   #
leftj Loc: Texas
 
GeneinChi wrote:
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in film so I dragged out my Nikon F3 and assorted lenses. As the camera had not been used in several years, I sent it in for a good cleaning and meter adjustment. I just got I back and it looks and works great. So off I go on a new adventure. But before I launch, I have some rookie questions that I’m sure folks in this forum can answer. In days of yore I took pictures and had them developed commercially. In today’s world with all the pp programs available, what do film you film aficionados do? Do you have the negatives developed and then scan into your computer for pp or still have prints made? If you do pp are there programs specifically for film? I guess what I’m asking is how does film fit into today’s digital world? The learning curve begins….
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Gene
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in fil... (show quote)


I don't shoot a lot of film. Probably 5 or 6 rolls a year. I have my film processed by The Dark Room and scans provided to me. I post process as needed and if I want a print a make one myself.

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Oct 5, 2021 10:20:40   #
mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois
 
leftj wrote:
I don't shoot a lot of film. Probably 5 or 6 rolls a year. I have my film processed by The Dark Room and scans provided to me. I post process as needed and if I want a print a make one myself.


Me too, though I use Bay Photo as there are no processors near me.

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Oct 5, 2021 11:28:16   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
I used to send my film to TheDarkRoom.com for developing and scanning. About 5 years ago I changed to North Coast Photo where I get a higher pixel resolution scan. It's easier to have them immediately email a link to the scans for download rather than waiting for a physical CD along with negatives. I then load the JPEGs into LR and process the files to completion. "High resolution" being roughly 5035x3339 = 17MP.

There's lots of options for developing and scanning. One place charges more for scanning with the next they have you pay the postage where the total combined price seems to come out the same. Just find someone you like for what you want to spend. There's probably still 20ish places to choose from.

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Oct 5, 2021 20:52:22   #
GeneinChi Loc: Chicago, IL
 
Thank you all for the responses. This is great info as I journey on!

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Oct 6, 2021 07:43:03   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Gene, I regularly shoot film, 35mm, 120, and 4x5. I process the film myself, usually in one of two Jobo processors. Since I don't make a lot of prints, I usually scan the negatives, currently using an Epson D850 scanner. For the few prints I do make, they are usually printed using a printer. The cost of consumables for processing black and white film is very inexpensive. Since digital has come into existence over the last 10 -12 year, any color work I want to do has been digital.
--Bob

GeneinChi wrote:
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in film so I dragged out my Nikon F3 and assorted lenses. As the camera had not been used in several years, I sent it in for a good cleaning and meter adjustment. I just got I back and it looks and works great. So off I go on a new adventure. But before I launch, I have some rookie questions that I’m sure folks in this forum can answer. In days of yore I took pictures and had them developed commercially. In today’s world with all the pp programs available, what do film you film aficionados do? Do you have the negatives developed and then scan into your computer for pp or still have prints made? If you do pp are there programs specifically for film? I guess what I’m asking is how does film fit into today’s digital world? The learning curve begins….
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Gene
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in fil... (show quote)

Reply
 
 
Oct 6, 2021 09:15:49   #
VTMatwood Loc: Displaced Vermonta in Central New Hampsha
 
leftj wrote:
I don't shoot a lot of film. Probably 5 or 6 rolls a year. I have my film processed by The Dark Room and scans provided to me. I post process as needed and if I want a print a make one myself.


Ditto… i also use the Darkroom.com but will often scan the negatives myself on an Epson V550, although I do get scans from them as well. When i get my darkroom set up again (new house without dedicated space is taking more time to get set up), i’ll develop my B&W film at home.

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Oct 7, 2021 11:39:54   #
BebuLamar
 
Before I switched to digital I have a full color darkroom but I don't develop the negative. I have the drug store developed them in 1hr. I would then scan to see what I have and using the scan settings (I scan in full manual) to determine my exposure time, aperture and filter settings when I do the prints in the darkroom. But then the drug store couldn't even get 10 rolls a day for their processor which is the smallest they have. So without sufficient volume their process isn't consistent any more and also many of them shut down. So I switched to digital. These days I still shoot color slides once in a while and I send them to Dwayne's photo for developing. I would then project the slides. I still have 3 slides projectors.
I do not want to print my film image with an inkjet.

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Oct 8, 2021 10:17:51   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
GeneinChi wrote:
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in film so I dragged out my Nikon F3 and assorted lenses. As the camera had not been used in several years, I sent it in for a good cleaning and meter adjustment. I just got I back and it looks and works great. So off I go on a new adventure. But before I launch, I have some rookie questions that I’m sure folks in this forum can answer. In days of yore I took pictures and had them developed commercially. In today’s world with all the pp programs available, what do film you film aficionados do? Do you have the negatives developed and then scan into your computer for pp or still have prints made? If you do pp are there programs specifically for film? I guess what I’m asking is how does film fit into today’s digital world? The learning curve begins….
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Gene
Several weeks ago I decided to dabble again in fil... (show quote)


I have film developed commercially, scanned, and prints and negatives returned to me. That gives me the option to share digitally, edit digitally (if i want) and have the prints in hand for viewing and sharing. It’s also the most expensive route.

For processing I use The Darkroom in Ca https://thedarkroom.com/product/film-developing/ and Dwayne’s Photo https://www.dwaynesphoto.com/ in the Midwest for developing. Both do excellent work. Dwayne’s might be better for you since it’s closer.

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Oct 14, 2021 04:36:21   #
wide2tele Loc: Australia
 
I haven't shot film for around 13 years.
Maybe a couple of months ago, I looked at some 6x4 prints that were taken back then and printed through a simple consumer lab of the time.
The prints looked absolutely brilliant! I've had so much digital printed since, but the digital prints just seem to lack something.
The tones, the colour, the traditional prints looked so incredibly sweet.
Not sure what it is. I need to evaluate but there is something very special about film I don't think digital can replicate. Technically speaking, it should be possible to replicate anything film can do with digital but I'm starting to become a sceptic.

To answer the OP, I intend to shoot some film. I intend to have traditional prints made. I'm starting to believe shooting film and then scanning may defeat the purpose.

Just my wild thoughts but I was literally knocked back viewing those old traditional 6x4 prints.

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Oct 14, 2021 06:26:11   #
mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois
 
wide2tele wrote:
I haven't shot film for around 13 years.
Maybe a couple of months ago, I looked at some 6x4 prints that were taken back then and printed through a simple consumer lab of the time.
The prints looked absolutely brilliant! I've had so much digital printed since, but the digital prints just seem to lack something.
The tones, the colour, the traditional prints looked so incredibly sweet.
Not sure what it is. I need to evaluate but there is something very special about film I don't think digital can replicate. Technically speaking, it should be possible to replicate anything film can do with digital but I'm starting to become a sceptic.

To answer the OP, I intend to shoot some film. I intend to have traditional prints made. I'm starting to believe shooting film and then scanning may defeat the purpose.

Just my wild thoughts but I was literally knocked back viewing those old traditional 6x4 prints.
I haven't shot film for around 13 years. br Maybe ... (show quote)


I went through a similar experience, though my "focus" is and was on medium format equipment. The large prints that I prefer, when shot with 35mm equipment, suffer from the same problems as tiny digital censors.
I ran into the following after cleaning, spending some time using, and reacquainting myself with my Rollei 6008i and Mamiya 7, and their suite of lenses:

1. The equipment is heavy, and carrying it is difficult for this 86 y.o. body when I get more than a few hundred yards from home or car. I have to admit though, that modern very fast lenses are as heavy as the old slower ones.
2. Multiple lenses have to be carried, because the very few zoom lenses available for older (film) equipment are of marginal quality when compared with modern excellent equipment. I suspect that's because of computer aided design and manufacturing that was unavailable until the last couple of decades.
3. Older lenses are slower than many modern lenses, and films are much slower than modern sensors. Films faster than ISO 400 have rather poor IQ.
4. Image stabilization in the digital world is ubiquitous, and rare in the older film world (needs modern IS lenses, not often available for film cameras).
4. Because of #1 & 3 above, carrying a tripod is needed far more frequently than with digital.That adds a great deal to weight, bulk, and difficulty with airline transport. It's become impossible for me to carry, hiking around the 9000' plus mountainous terrain where I enjoy the spectacular vistas, clear air, and magnificent photos that follow every trip.
5. I share with the modern generation, a distaste for the time delay between exposure and availability of prints or slides for evaluation.

There are multiple additional reasons - it's silly to waste time continuing with that discussion.

In spite of the above and more, certain films have qualities that are difficult to achieve with digital. It's just fun to go retro some of the time. It's difficult and time consuming, but rewarding as an occasional break. I don't intend to stop. Still, digital is a vast improvement. I'll never willingly back away from the ease and far greater abilities of the latter.

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Oct 18, 2021 11:10:36   #
wide2tele Loc: Australia
 
mikegreenwald wrote:
Still, digital is a vast improvement. I'll never willingly back away from the ease and far greater abilities of the latter.

I will.

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Feb 5, 2022 21:50:10   #
TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA
 
I only use black and white films now... either Tri X or Super XX in sheets (I ordered a bunch when it was discontinued). It's easy to process color films and not too difficult to print color C prints, but in my experience the stain level is too high when making your own color prints in a small darkroom. Basically the whites are never white enough. One needs a professional (large) processor in order to get good results in this regard, and even then, one must have enough work to run through a processor in order to maintain getting good quality prints.
Sending out your color negatives to print will result, most likely, in a lab using a modern designed RA4 processor. Nowadays all the processors, from what I've seen, do not use water because of the shortage of water. So they are designed to use a stabilizer instead of water to wash the prints. I wouldn't trust the stabilizer chemicals to protect the color print from eventual fading, which all color prints do in any case. When I was in the business all my processors had 3 wash tanks and when they were not in standby mode they used in excess of 5 gallons a minute to wash the prints. That is no longer allowed.
So basically, if you want color prints I think it is best to make inkjet prints instead. Older C prints processed over 10 years ago still look quite good (ones I made). Inkjets have to be protected from the elements though. Water drippede on my inkjets caused the image to run.
In short, I only use film to process in order to make darkroom prints. It never made sense to me to shoot film in order to scan it.

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Apr 13, 2022 09:17:26   #
Bill 45
 
mikegreenwald wrote:
I went through a similar experience, though my "focus" is and was on medium format equipment. The large prints that I prefer, when shot with 35mm equipment, suffer from the same problems as tiny digital censors.
I ran into the following after cleaning, spending some time using, and reacquainting myself with my Rollei 6008i and Mamiya 7, and their suite of lenses:

1. The equipment is heavy, and carrying it is difficult for this 86 y.o. body when I get more than a few hundred yards from home or car. I have to admit though, that modern very fast lenses are as heavy as the old slower ones.
2. Multiple lenses have to be carried, because the very few zoom lenses available for older (film) equipment are of marginal quality when compared with modern excellent equipment. I suspect that's because of computer aided design and manufacturing that was unavailable until the last couple of decades.
3. Older lenses are slower than many modern lenses, and films are much slower than modern sensors. Films faster than ISO 400 have rather poor IQ.
4. Image stabilization in the digital world is ubiquitous, and rare in the older film world (needs modern IS lenses, not often available for film cameras).
4. Because of #1 & 3 above, carrying a tripod is needed far more frequently than with digital.That adds a great deal to weight, bulk, and difficulty with airline transport. It's become impossible for me to carry, hiking around the 9000' plus mountainous terrain where I enjoy the spectacular vistas, clear air, and magnificent photos that follow every trip.
5. I share with the modern generation, a distaste for the time delay between exposure and availability of prints or slides for evaluation.

There are multiple additional reasons - it's silly to waste time continuing with that discussion.

In spite of the above and more, certain films have qualities that are difficult to achieve with digital. It's just fun to go retro some of the time. It's difficult and time consuming, but rewarding as an occasional break. I don't intend to stop. Still, digital is a vast improvement. I'll never willingly back away from the ease and far greater abilities of the latter.
I went through a similar experience, though my &qu... (show quote)


Is there anything you do like about 35mm film camera?

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