120 film for landscapes (Page 2): I've graduated from that school. I shot a whole roll with the lens cap on with one of my old rangefinders. I've shot a roll that the leader slipped...

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Cdouthitt wrote:

Couldn't hurt to try...hell, it'll turn out better than the couple of times I loaded the film incorrectly and lost the whole roll...doh!

I've graduated from that school.
I shot a whole roll with the lens cap on with one of my old rangefinders.
I've shot a roll that the leader slipped loose.
And for first prize, I shot a whole roll with no film in the camera.

I think it is all part of the learning experience. Like going out to shoot with all of your batteries dead.

It's also an age thing.

OldEarl Loc: Northeast Kansas

Cdouthitt wrote:

Velvia 100 it is...thank you.

I saw some Provia 100 at B&H. I use Provia 100 because I can no longer get Kodachrome. I like the tone and color balance.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

BBurns wrote:

I've graduated from that school.
I shot a whole roll with the lens cap on with one of my old rangefinders.
I've shot a roll that the leader slipped loose.
And for first prize, I shot a whole roll with no film in the camera.

I think it is all part of the learning experience. Like going out to shoot with all of your batteries dead.

It's also an age thing.

The sad thing is, I loaded the roll right after that one incorrectly as well. Both rolls came off backwards. At least with the second roll I didn't send it in for processing expecting to get results back.

I breathed a sigh of relief after the next few rolls came out correctly.

Leitz Loc: Solms

Cdouthitt wrote:

Couldn't hurt to try...hell, it'll turn out better than the couple of times I loaded the film incorrectly and lost the whole roll...doh!

Exposing an ISO 50 film at ISO 40 is a 1/3 stop exposure increase. ISO 25 would be +1 stop. With any reversal film, unless the scene is very evenly illuminated, overexposure can easily result in blown highlights. If you do your own processing, you might experiment with pull-processing - decreasing the first developer time. Some custom labs may do this for an additional charge. For a +1/3 stop overexposure, a 10-15% decrease in the first developer time might be a starting point.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I still shoot 120 film. I really like Ilford for B&W. Since I'm almost always on a tripod when "landscaping", my favorite would be Ilford Delta 100. It has very fine grain. HP5 is rated at 400 as an alternative.

For color transparency, Fuji Provia 100 is an option. However, again I'm on a tripod so Fuji Velvia 50 would be my first choice.

I almost never shoot color negative.

Given the meticulous process I following when using my rangefinder, I rarely shoot handheld.

Best of luck.

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

Leitz wrote:

Exposing an ISO 50 film at ISO 40 is a 1/3 stop exposure increase. ISO 25 would be +1 stop. With any reversal film, unless the scene is very evenly illuminated, overexposure can easily result in blown highlights. If you do your own processing, you might experiment with pull-processing - decreasing the first developer time. Some custom labs may do this for an additional charge. For a +1/3 stop overexposure, a 10-15% decrease in the first developer time might be a starting point.

You are correct with your math. Many of us played around with various films looking for cause & effect.

That is why I said finding the sweet spot you like. It is all personal preference.

Reversal film was less forgiving. I did this 30+ years ago. Fortunately, I had a Kodak Certified 'Q' Lab do the work so it was consistent.

At Kodaks recommendation, when they stopped making their Photomicrography Color Film 2483, ASA16, processed E-4, I shot Kodachrome 25 at ISOs between 6 & 12. The results were phenomenal.

On another note, the things we did in college with Tri-X were amazing.

ssymeono Loc: St. Louis, Missouri

Kuzano wrote:

Off on a tangent.... Portra has a nice range to 80... (show quote)

I sympathize with your reluctance to purchase a linhof. Fortunately I was offered one as a gift and was able to use it extensively in my archaeological work. I most enjoyed shooting landscapes in Greece and on the island of Ithaca where I photographed such esoteric subjects as the landscapes mentioned by Homer in his Odyssey. I scanned the negatives with the help of the pro that worked on my team. We had huge files from the 6X17, as much as 1500MP, and had to reduce them to 500 so that the computers and printers could handle them. I attach here a sunrise picture of Homer's Mt. Neriton of which I have a 10.5' long print. I am sure the best digital cameras can duplicate such prints but it might be much more difficult to do it.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Kuzano wrote:

Off on a tangent.... Portra has a nice range to 80... (show quote)

I'll give a shout out for Pro-Photo in Portland. My only complaint: I live too close to the damn place.

;-) GAS attack

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Cdouthitt wrote:

What (if anyone is still doing it) is the preferred film for landscape photography. Most of my stuff is beach water sunrise/sunset. Currently using Velvia 50, but thinking I need something a bit faster.

Other options?

For higher contrast scenes I would use Provia - for lower contrast scenes 100 Velvia.

Kuzano

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

I'll give a shout out for Pro-Photo in Portland. My only complaint: I live too close to the damn place.

;-) GAS attack

Then you are probably familiar with U-Develop out on Barbur Blvd. (I think). Not sure about the street. I used to come up there on a regular basis years ago and rent their advice and their enlarger room and print facility. Miss it, as I visited about two years ago, and it seems it's been repurposed to commercial and professional rental equipment.

BobbyT Loc: Southern California

Interesting info. Enrolling in an Advanced Photography class in a couple of weeks.Will be doing some B&W film shoots. I still have the Nikon F-100 which I ill use. What are the best B&W films still
available. I have been using Digital now for a long time and have lost touch with all the film deletions etc.
THANKS in advance for info.

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

BobbyT wrote:

Interesting info. Enrolling in an Advanced Photography class in a couple of weeks.Will be doing some B&W film shoots. I still have the Nikon F-100 which I ill use. What are the best B&W films still
available. I have been using Digital now for a long time and have lost touch with all the film deletions etc.
THANKS in advance for info.

FP4+ and Tri-X are both really good. They are traditional grain films that work better with the developer I use. T-Max and Delta are T-grain films that give somewhat finer grain. T-Max is a standard among photography students.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Cdouthitt wrote:

What (if anyone is still doing it) is the preferred film for landscape photography. Most of my stuff is beach water sunrise/sunset. Currently using Velvia 50, but thinking I need something a bit faster.

Other options?

My preferred film is Ilford FP4+
--Bob

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Kuzano wrote:

Then you are probably familiar with U-Develop out on Barbur Blvd. (I think). Not sure about the street. I used to come up there on a regular basis years ago and rent their advice and their enlarger room and print facility. Miss it, as I visited about two years ago, and it seems it's been repurposed to commercial and professional rental equipment.

Yes, I used to have a membership when I did a lot of print sales. I went out there several years ago-- and they would no longer accommodate me. I believe I wanted to print from digital files-- thinking I could do my own color correction-- and save money on printing costs. It seems that the concept has run its course. Too bad.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

ssymeono wrote:

Some people have saved in their freezers Kodak/Portra 160NC/400/800, some of the best ever, along with Fuji/Velvia 50 and 100 or NPH 400. These films worked magic when used with Linhof 6X17, Mamiya and other medium format cameras. Ironically, the quality of film was best at the time digital took over.

And still is at its best, now that digital has been around, digital will never have the quality of film!!!