[Cerebum]

I always wanted to shoot some film, having come in by the digital door but funds are tight and I can't afford another obsession. My photographic soc. were lent a Leica ii (1932) and I was asked to test it, purely based on my vintage lens collection! Yeah, it was amazing! So I decided to try one of my film bodies (bought for the glass) just with the odd roll. Something is sticking on my spotty so it was either Yashica J5 or S1a. So, I am about 12 shots into my first 24 on the S1a (of course) and I have read about pushing and pulling, reciprocity failure, film emulsions and filter colours already. ..... I'm doomed aren't I!

The film I am shooting now is Kosmo photo mono 100 (fomapan) and I have a 400iso Rollei mono waiting.

So. Is it worth buying a newer camera? (ME super, P30 etc) I am loving my S1a

What's your favourite film?

And, can anyone recommend a good lab in the UK

[aaacb]

So. Is it worth buying a newer camera? (ME super, P30 etc) I am loving my S1a

I had a few generations of K mount film cameras (KM, super program, program plus, Pz-1p and a couple ZX series). Already had compatible lenses from digital, so it was fun to try them out, I called it a hands on museum. The nice thing about film cameras, if they're not collectible, is that you can buy and then sell without losing much if any money. And they tend to be cheap, so it's a relatively benign form of GAS. I've returned to shooting primarily digital now.

What's your favourite film?

I like to try out various films, perhaps my favorites are tmax 400, ilford hp5, and portra 160. I have shot very little slide film, but whenever I get a roll of velvia it's amazing to see the colors and the image directly.

And, can anyone recommend a good lab in the UK

Don't know about labs in the UK, but I'll just say that processing bw at home is about as easy as cooking breakfast and quite fun as well.

[microlight]

I’ve got a couple of completed films in my K2 and SL, but have no idea where to get them processed in the UK!

[Bob 256]

No. Don't go near another camera!!!! They can be like lenses and suck you in.

Really, if your older camera is working for you and you're happy with it, newer cameras might offer something but it depends on how old your camera is relative to the last film models that were produced. I think I would like an all electronic camera over a mechanical one because of the better accuracy it offers in terms of shutter speed, and the automatic features like self-timers, program modes, etc., but older cameras can be very rewarding and produce splendid photos (given the right glass).

FIlm.............................. Are you talking B&W or color? There are so many choices even today when many of the older options have disappeared. Kodak emulsions were my favorites but most of them are gone. Check out Freestyle for some "different" film options. They have quite a few to offer but then go to B&H and check out the current films listed there (Photography>>35mm Film). Portra was one of my favorites for color negative. I'm sure a lot of others will chime in on what they like in the way of "chemical imaging sensors", so stay tuned.

[steephill]

DS Colour Labs is one UK option. Not cheap but high quality.

[LesDMess]

I always wanted to shoot some film, having come in by the digital door but funds are tight and I can't afford another obsession. My photographic soc. were lent a Leica ii (1932) and I was asked to test it, purely based on my vintage lens collection! Yeah, it was amazing! So I decided to try one of my film bodies (bought for the glass) just with the odd roll. Something is sticking on my spotty so it was either Yashica J5 or S1a. So, I am about 12 shots into my first 24 on the S1a (of course) and I have read about pushing and pulling, reciprocity failure, film emulsions and filter colours already. ..... I'm doomed aren't I!

The film I am shooting now is Kosmo photo mono 100 (fomapan) and I have a 400iso Rollei mono waiting.

So. Is it worth buying a newer camera? (ME super, P30 etc) I am loving my S1a

What's your favourite film?

And, can anyone recommend a good lab in the UK

Buying a newer camera can be beneficial as it may be in better - more reliable, condition as well as have functionality not available on older models like some metering automation, film advance, autofocus and such that you may want.

Since you're using b&w film, how about processing it yourself? It really is trivial to do after you run your first roll.

Regarding reciprocity, I've done a fair bit of long exposures lasting many hours long on corlor negatvies and have not seen any "failures". And yes film has som much latitude - particularly in the overexposure side, that for me it is easy to shoot without a meter during daylight hours. If unsure, overexpose just to be safe. Here is an example of this latitude with Kodak Portra and Ektar.



The larger crop on the right side is the +10 overexposed frame with a little bit of white balance and level adjustment. You can see that DSLR RAW files are completely unusable at +4 and above.

[ramseybuckeye]

So. Is it worth buying a newer camera? (ME super, P30 etc) I am loving my S1a

Why, if what you said is true?: "I am loving my S1a"

[Cerebum]

Oooooh, processing my own, there's another rabbit hole lol regarding the Leica, we have a coffee shop that first opened its doors in 1837. I had a chat with the owner and what we are going to do is go in with the Leica, take a roll of mono in their three historic coffee shops and process it in their coffee (probably old brown Java. We will then present him with digital copies of all so he can print and display to his hearts content

Re. Processing, I want digital scans, is that easy?

---------- Post added 20-06-21 at 11:37 AM ----------

Why, if what you said is true?: "I am loving my S1a"

It really came down to IQ. The 1932 Leica took great pics so I guess there is no reason why a 1962 S1a shouldn't produce some magic. So far I have had a Yashica 50mm f1.8, a Helios 44-2 zebra and a Takumar 35mm f3.5 on board so I am pretty hopeful.

[LesDMess]

Oooooh, processing my own, there's another rabbit hole lol regarding the Leica, we have a coffee shop that first opened its doors in 1837. I had a chat with the owner and what we are going to do is go in with the Leica, take a roll of mono in their three historic coffee shops and process it in their coffee (probably old brown Java. We will then present him with digital copies of all so he can print and display to his hearts content

Re. Processing, I want digital scans, is that easy?[COLOR="Silver"]

A good scanner can provide much faster and cleaner results when it applies to color negatives and even slides because of dust and scratch removal commonly called ICE. With true b&w, ICE can not be used and you will have to resort to post work to do this. Also, the post work to invert a b&w film is much easier so for this purpose, you can use a scanner or DSLR to do the scanning.

[Cerebum]

DS Colour Labs is one UK option. Not cheap but high quality.

I had a look, actually its incredibly reasonable. £8 for medium res scans, that'll do for me

[Huss]

I always wanted to shoot some film..Yeah, it was amazing! .... I'm doomed aren't I!

Welcome.

[pschlute]

DS Colour Labs is one UK option. Not cheap but high quality.

+1 for DS Labs. I use them for large digital prints not d+p, and find their quality to be excellent, especially the Fine Art paper

[DWS1]

Just the opposite for me. I caught the digital bug. Film is all I knew for 40 years.

[microlight]

Thanks for the hint on DS Labs, will give them a try.

[Cerebum]

Just the opposite for me. I caught the digital bug. Film is all I knew for 40 years.

Film feels so complex, tactile and artistic compared to digital. I wonder though if that impression is coloured by my unfamiliarity with film