[awscreo]

I've almost accidentally gathered 3 film bodies over the last year, two came with lenses I've purchased, another one is my first SLR from back when I was a kid) Thinking to maybe try shooting with them, but not sure how to go about developing the film, and also just picking the film to shoot with. I'd love to make my own dark room, but right now it's just not in the cards (space-wise, and I hear it's fairly pricey to stock chemicals and such), so I wanted to know if it's possible to have film developed and printed if I send the rolls in? Is it very expensive to have that done?

I have a Zenit 212k, Pentax Program Plus, Yashica TL. I'm guessing the Pentax would be the closest to the modern DSLR's and will probably be my weapon of choice)

Thanks

Edit: Oops, I think I've mixed up the pentax slr bodies, I have the program plus and not the super program (no idea what the difference was).

---

Last edited by awscreo; 03-15-2017 at 06:20 AM.

[pathdoc]

Without knowing where you live, it's difficult to advise. Certainly there are mail-order D&P labs still in existence, and larger cities still have bricks-and-mortar facilities. You will need to do some internet and/or phone book research, or give us your city of residence & let those in the know inform you.

Your first priority is to find labs; working out the cost is a matter of getting in touch with them and asking them.

My first stop for all "new" film body acquisitions is to put a 24 shot roll of something common (e.g. Kodak Gold 400) through them, shoot a variety of subjects, and make sure that the camera is feeding, rewinding and metering somewhere near accurately.

The Super Program is the king of the manual-wind, manual-focus Pentax film bodies as far as its capabilities are concerned. No, it does not have the ultra-long-exposure capability that the LX has in automatic (the LX is unique in that respect) but it does have full analogue TTL flash control, and the bonus is that with DA lenses that cover the full frame (or do it with minor corner vignetting), it is the only one of those bodies that gives you any real semblance of control - it becomes a shutter-priority camera, which is at least more flexible than full program mode.

[boriscleto]

Only 3?

[bobbotron]

I've almost accidentally gathered 3 film bodies over the last year, two came with lenses I've purchased, another one is my first SLR from back when I was a kid) Thinking to maybe try shooting with them, but not sure how to go about developing the film, and also just picking the film to shoot with. I'd love to make my own dark room, but right now it's just not in the cards (space-wise, and I hear it's fairly pricey to stock chemicals and such), so I wanted to know if it's possible to have film developed and printed if I send the rolls in? Is it very expensive to have that done?

I have a Zenit 212k, Pentax Super Program, Yashica TL. I'm guessing the Pentax would be the closest to the modern DSLR's and will probably be my weapon of choice)

Thanks

You can get a film changing bag to avoid setting up a real darkroom. If you look in the classifieds you can often get the needed darkroom gear for cheap. New with chemicals... you could probably get everything under $150 or $200?

Get some black and white film to start, something like Kodak TMAX 100, Rolllei RPX 100 or Ilford Delta 100 is a good place to start IMHO.

[awscreo]

Without knowing where you live, it's difficult to advise. Certainly there are mail-order D&P labs still in existence, and larger cities still have bricks-and-mortar facilities. You will need to do some internet and/or phone book research, or give us your city of residence & let those in the know inform you.

Your first priority is to find labs; working out the cost is a matter of getting in touch with them and asking them.

My first stop for all "new" film body acquisitions is to put a 24 shot roll of something common (e.g. Kodak Gold 400) through them, shoot a variety of subjects, and make sure that the camera is feeding, rewinding and metering somewhere near accurately.

The Super Program is the king of the manual-wind, manual-focus Pentax film bodies as far as its capabilities are concerned. No, it does not have the ultra-long-exposure capability that the LX has in automatic (the LX is unique in that respect) but it does have full analogue TTL flash control, and the bonus is that with DA lenses that cover the full frame (or do it with minor corner vignetting), it is the only one of those bodies that gives you any real semblance of control - it becomes a shutter-priority camera, which is at least more flexible than full program mode.

I live upstate New York, but pretty far away from the NYC, but maybe I can send the rolls there if I find a lab to work with. I'm not sure there are any B&M shops anywhere else, apart from a vintage-lens/body shop I found in Vermont, maybe they print, I need to ask them.

Kodak 400 sounds good. I guess I'll do some research on other types of film that I only heard of, and check if they are still available.

I don't think I need the long exposure capability, so SP should do fine I believe, I was pretty impressed with available features when I scrolled through the manual. Need to get the batteries for it though, I think the previous owner wound up the shutter and took batteries out for some reason, so I can't release the shutter. But body looks to be in mint condition (got it for free with the A 50 1.4 I bought on ebay), at least cosmetically. Hope internal mechanisms are intact too.

So if I wanted to practice to use the SP, is there a way to simulate the controls/feel with the K-1? Is it similar to the K-1's shutter priority mode?

[bobbotron]

Here's an article that outlines roughly what you need to start out.
A Beginners Guide to Cheap and Easy Developing of Black · Lomography

[awscreo]

You can get a film changing bag to avoid setting up a real darkroom. If you look in the classifieds you can often get the needed darkroom gear for cheap. New with chemicals... you could probably get everything under $150 or $200?

Get some black and white film to start, something like Kodak TMAX 100, Rolllei RPX 100 or Ilford Delta 100 is a good place to start IMHO.

Wow, all 3 of those films have a very contrasty look, nice. I believe other B&W films offer a washed/faded shadows/blacks look, could you advise on those?

---------- Post added 03-14-17 at 09:00 AM ----------

Here's an article that outlines roughly what you need to start out.
A Beginners Guide to Cheap and Easy Developing of Black · Lomography

Perfect, thank you

[bobbotron]

Wow, all 3 of those films have a very contrasty look, nice. I believe other B&W films offer a washed/faded shadows/blacks look, could you advise on those?

---------- Post added 03-14-17 at 09:00 AM ----------

Perfect, thank you

Any film can be made to have more/less contrast, with enough digital post processing. There are a ton of black and white films, their final look also depends on how you process them, and what filters you use. There's a whole world of variables to play around with, it's fun! Another good film is Rollei Superpan 200. I like it, it's pretty sharp, has a neat look to it.

Some people shoot film, and try to crush the personality out of it. I think it's a lot more productive and fun to use the traits of the film to your advantage.

About the link I posted, I disagree with their use of normal soap for a wetting agent. A bottle of the real stuff is pretty cheap, I think substituting generic soap isn't a great idea.

[boriscleto]

I've been curious about Caffenol for a while...

Caffenol Recipes, Help, Tutorials | The Caffenol Cookbook & Bible

film developer made of: instant coffee, washing soda and vitamin-C

Before you use the Super Program you should check the light seals & mirror bumper. On a camera that age they may well be sticky/crumbly...

[Moe49]

so I wanted to know if it's possible to have film developed and printed if I send the rolls in? Is it very expensive to have that done?

Yes, I send my film rolls to Dwayne's Photo in Kansas for developing and digital scans to CD.
It is about a 1.5 week turn-around and costs about the same as Costco (plus mail costs).
I do not order prints until after post processing* and worthy photos are selected.

A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo

One nice thing about using Dwayne's Photo is that they do not scratch up my negatives ,
and another is the digital scans are higher resolution (6-8MB) than what I found locally.

Modern Film ?
I like Kodak Ektar 100 and Portra 160.
The fine grain and vibrant colors of these films look great on my 27" monitor and printed calendars.
See my album "Film Shots" for examples.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/23866-moe49/albums/5638-film-shots/

* I often need to 'straighten' (klassic cock-eyed photographer) and 'crop' my photos (I use mostly primes), and I like to add 'filtering' (graduated ND, polarizer) in post.
* Most of my 'prints' are 14"x11" for calendars and photo books I order through the Costco web site. Costco does a great job with these.

[kb244]

Far as cost of film, least here in the use C-41 (standard color) is very easy to have sent off, usually not too many places that'll do it 1-hr depending on your location, one place here will but it's $4 per roll for just processing only (ie: just the negs), a little more for E6 (slide film), and black and white tends to be the more expensive one to send off, but it's also the easiest to do yourself.

Far as contrast on film, that can have an impact on how you develop it as well as the kind of film you use. For lower contrast Ilford HP5+ in HC-110 (or the generic L110, is a concentrate that lasts indefinitely and can be mixed as needed for one-shot development) tends to be on the lower/softer contrast. Film wise I really like the look of Arista EDU Ultra 200 (aka Foma 200), but it can be too short a development time in hc-110 (usually anything less than 5 or so minutes is considered too short and might not lead to ideal results).

Far as grabbing film and seeing whatever time/temperature you can get with developers you have there's the massive dev chart here : B&W Film Developing Times | The Massive Dev Chart

[awscreo]

Loads to soak in, thanks! I'll try to get around at least trying it out when I have time to mess around with this. I really want to try developing negatives myself, just out of curiosity and better understanding of the process.

[murrelet]

I've almost accidentally gathered 3 film bodies over the last year, two came with lenses I've purchased, another one is my first SLR from back when I was a kid) Thinking to maybe try shooting with them, but not sure how to go about developing the film, and also just picking the film to shoot with. I'd love to make my own dark room, but right now it's just not in the cards (space-wise, and I hear it's fairly pricey to stock chemicals and such), so I wanted to know if it's possible to have film developed and printed if I send the rolls in? Is it very expensive to have that done?

I have a Zenit 212k, Pentax Super Program, Yashica TL. I'm guessing the Pentax would be the closest to the modern DSLR's and will probably be my weapon of choice)

Thanks

Here's a good resource: I STILL SHOOT FILM

[cooltouch]

Yep, I Still Shoot Film is a great resource for the film photographer.

I thought I'd add a bit to this based on my own experiences. I don't have a darkroom, but what I do have is a "digital darkroom" or "hybrid darkroom."

I have always developed my own black and white; I've never sent it off in the 35 or so years I've been shooting film. For a developer, I use good ol' Kodak D-76. It works just fine for most all situations. And Kodak Rapid Fixer for fixing. I don't use anything else except just water. To dev.elop my film I have a tank that holds two rolls of 35mm or one roll of 2-1/4. It's a Paterson tank. Works well, and best of all, it doesn't leak. Which is important if you invert the tank during processing. To load the film, I have a changing bag. I keep my chems in two gallon-size brown jugs, under the sink and out of the light. I also have a 1-liter sized measuring cup that I mostly use for pouring the chems into the tank and then pouring them back into their jugs. I use my cell phone for a timer. To hang my film to dry, I have a couple of coat hangers meant for pants that have the clips. I use regular old wooden clothes pins on the bottoms of the film as weights to keep it straight. And that's it. Cost of tank -- I bought mine used for $8. Chems cost for both developer and fixer, about $20. Cost of the jugs, maybe $10-12 for the pair. Cost of the measuring cup, maybe $2. So, $40-42 to get set up to develop b&w film. Oh, and a good thermometer. Maybe another $10 for a good thermometer.

Now, developing E-6 and C-41 isn't much harder. The crucial thing is to maintain a precise temperature during development. To do that, I use an insulated container. A cheap styrofoam beer cooler works well for this. I fill it with a bath of water heated to the correct temperature and then I keep my eye on it, bailing out cooling off water and adding hot water as necessary to maintain the temperature. I keep the developer chems in bottles of the correct size, typically 1 liter or 16 oz, depending. For bottles, I use emptied out water bottles or juice bottles, whatever I can find that is the correct volume. I'll float the bottles in the bath and monitor the developer temps. When they've equalized with the bath water -- at the correct temperature, the developing process begins. From that point, it's pretty straight forward, not too different from what I do with b&w, just with an extra step. I keep the tank in the bath water between agitations to make sure its temp stays where it's supposed to. The advantages to processing your own C-41 and E-6 is, first of all, you save money, and the savings are substantial. Second, you don't have to wait -- you can develop your stuff right away. Third, if you want to try something different, like push processing or cross-processing slides, etc., it's up to you.

One benefit I've seen from doing my own processing -- I have some slides dating back to 1985 that I developed myself. That's 32 years now. And they exhibit absolutely no color shift. It isn't unusual for E-6 slides to experience color shift when they get this old, and I have some that are beginning to shift, but not the ones I developed myself.

Now, the reason why I call it a digital or hybrid darkroom is I don't use an enlarger. I shoot dupes of the slides and negs with my digital camera. I'm currently using a NEX 7 with a dupe rig I've cobbled together that has a 55mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor at its core. I also have a couple of flashes with variable output I'll use for illumination. I set them up on a tripod and connect them to the camera with a PC sync cord. With the camera set to ISO 100 and the flash to about 1/16 power, I get best exposure with the flash about 1 foot away from the front of my dupe rig. But its very easy to vary exposure just by moving back and forth, either toward or away from the flash.

Using my NEX 7, which has a 24.3mp sensor, I get 6000 x 4000 pixel images, which rival those produced by the high-end (and very expensive) Nikon CoolScans. At that resolution, I can resolve the grain of even fine-grained films.

Processing slides is pretty much a slam dunk, while processing negatives can be a little trickier getting the color right. Some emulsions are pretty easy, whereas others are next to impossible, and it's best to send those off for prints. But with all the others, I can just take my memory card in to a place like Costco (which doesn't do film processing anymore, by the way) and get any size prints I want for cheap. The Costco I go to uses one of those giant Epson printers that stands about 3 feet tall and 4 feet across. I like the output they get from it.

[Alex645]

For B&W, as a beginner, I'd recommend starting with a more forgiving and less light demanding ISO 400 emulsion. The classic Kodak Tri-X is hard to beat, although Ilford HP5+ is easier to open the canister and remove the film from the spool (no tape at the end; just snap it off). At $3.49/roll, Kentmere 400 is essentially an Ilford HP5+ twin and the least painful for your wallet.
Kentmere 400 ASA Black and White Negative Film 6012379 B&H Photo

For color, I'd also suggest starting with 400 ISO, and as you become more proficient and aware of exposure values (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) then try ISO 100 with the longer daylight of spring and summer. Some of the best films for pros are not necessarily the best for a beginner. Great films like Ektar 100 or Velvia 50 will outperform lesser films, but are less forgiving with exposure and you really need to bracket without experience or else you can actually get worse results. For those reasons, I'd start with Kodak GC/Ultramax 400 or Fujifilm Fujicolor Superia XTRA 400. All films have their pros and cons, but in general you'll get the best results with Kodak if the lab uses Kodak chems and paper or Fuji if they use Fuji chems and paper.

Kodak GC/UltraMax 400 Color Negative Film 6034029 B&H Photo

Fujifilm Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 Color Negative 15719759 B&H

Hard to beat Dwayne's for quality/price, but other labs with excellent quality for more $$ include:
Homepage » thefindlab.com
http://aandi.com/

and in your neck of the woods (Rochester)....
Praus Productions, Traditional Photography at its best