Mistakes To Avoid When Shooting Film
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Try to avoid these common mistakes when starting out with black and white film photography, your photos will be better, plus you'll learn how to take better pictures if you follow these simple tips.
Let's review some of the most common b&w films, tips on exposing the film, using filters, and creating black and white prints like the great photographer Ansel Adams.
Rob Skeoch is a career photographer, working for five newspapers and wire services before joining the team at Major League Baseball for 17 seasons and the NFL for 14 seasons. Then he was a national manager for the camera group at Sony North America before going back to shooting.
Now he shoots for gallery shows around the world, mostly portraits and street work. For 35mm shooting he uses a Nikon F3 and a couple M-mount Leica cameras and shoots mostly Ilford film.
HP5 FP4Pan F Ilford Zeiss ZM Distagon Summaron Biogon Leica Leica R6.2 R6.2 R6 Nikon Nikon F3 Nikon F3T Nikon FM3A Pentax Pentax LX Pentax MX Canon Canon F1 Canon New F1Minolta Minolta X-700 Olympus Olympus OM4 Olympus OM3 Olympus OM4T Olympus OM3T Contax Kodak Fiilmprocessing darkroom black and white b&w developing film at home developing black and white filmdeveloping 35mm filmdeveloping roll film loading film developing reels loading 35mm film on reel loading 35mm film loading 35mm into development tank #blackandwhitephotography, #filmphotography, #blackandwhite, #filmprocessing, #film, #bw, #ilfordhp5, #filmisnotdead, #blackandwhitephoto, #filmcamera, #35mmfilm, #leica, #nikon, #darkroom, #darkrooms, #film, #filmcamera, , #leica, #leicasociety, #ilford, #120film, #rolleiflex #rollei, #gitzo #kodak, #kodakfilm35mm #kodaktmax400 #streetphotography,, photo, photography, picture, 135mm lens, 35mm film, black and white, rollei, ilford, portrait, #nikon, #canon, #pentax, #zeiss #distagon #18mm #zeisslens #leicaphotography #leica_world #leicaimages #leicalens, #leica_camera #leicam6 #nikonf3 #nikonfm2 #canon_official #minolta #olympus #Leicam6 #Leicam #hp5 #ilfordhp5 - Наука та технологія
I see from the comments that a TONNE of people don’t know 1% of what you know. You’re doing a great thing, sharing your 50 years of experience. Thanks. (Victoria, BC).
I appreciate that!
Just found your channel and love the content. Love to hear from actual professionals
Glad you're enjoying it.
Oh I loved the story with the glued on soldier. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Someone who knows, what he's talking about, what a chance.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Great video Sir. Love the advice on the filter. Regards, Jerry
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for this, great tips!
Thanks, glad it was helpful.
Useful video, as always!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the latest video. As always simple straightforward facts. Just restocked with Tri-X last night with some heavy discounted prices from my retailer. Generally I use the Yellow filter but your presentation has kicked me into gear and I just bought a Orange filter - you enabler !!! Look forward to comparing.
Thanks for sharing
Great tips! I am really enjoying your content. The world needs more content creators like you to teach the younger generation good technique/process from the "film days".
I appreciate that!
Great video. Educational too.
RS. Canada
Glad you’re enjoying them
Thank you for the video from Hamburg, Germany!
Thanks for watching!
Great tips for beginners who have trouble loading film. I will also add be wary of the tension on the film in some cameras. The wind up lever may be pulling too harshly and could rip the roll out of the canister if not careful!
Great tip!
Yes, shooting hp5 at 250 for me is goldilocks as it pushes shadows into zone 4 with more detail and contrast, and then can be made darker in post. I shorten development 15% to protect highlights at the other end that can be brightened, and like darkening the shadows this way, it doesn't deteriorate the image or lose detail. I love hp5 in 645 or 67 for grain size and detail. And I like hp5 pushed to 1600. Super versatile film. Get in the habit of looking at the film canister side of the camera to see if the rewind crank is turning as you advance the film to confirm it is properly loaded and advancing.
Yes, it sure is a versatile film!
Great video as usual! I've regularly used HP5+ but have always wanted to use Tri-X, but kept away cause of the price which made it as expensive to shoot as budget colour negative. However Kodak has very recently announced a price cut of up to 30% for Tri-X which may make it more economical to try as an HP5+ alternative. I have been meaning to get an orange filter for a while and you have probably given me the impetus to do it.
Kodak had priced themselves out of the market
Nice work Rob great tips. I started out freelancing for my local paper in Yorkshire, shooting sports. They would give me one roll of HP5 24 exposures or if it was a big mate 36 exposures, I always came back with one spare frame just in case i came upon something newsworthy on the way back to the office. In the dead of a Northern winter with kick offs at 3pm the light was so bad I was given Tmax 3200 pushed to 6400 and still struggled with low light, I don't miss those days. As I proved myself they sent me to cover Internationals and super league rugby by then we were shooting colour and for big matches I was given 2 x 36 exp rolls, wow blaze away with that lot. These days I shoot full time at another paper love the work, it's all digital of course. In my spare time and mostly for channel content I shoot film and digital, various models various formats newer film cameras like the F4 or Minolta dynax 9, Canon EOS1N etc and older cameras like Voigtlander and Zeiss folders and the odd TLR. I just love giving film a go. Keep the vids coming mate liked and subbed. Regards Paul
When I started out the arena's were so dark, and the films were so grainy when pushed. Then when I finally had fast glass like a 300mm or 400mm f2.8, I was working in brighter rinks, and even the films were better. When I needed more light or speed, none was available, when I finally got fast lenses, the rinks were bright. Just could have used that in the old film days.
haha good ole days mate, I used to detest the golf ball size grain in my shots but looking back on the photos I shot back then they seem kind of authentic, like proper historic. Can't beat the grain. @@stillshootinginblackandwhite
You're right, you can't beat that old time look from real grain.
Great tutorial. I defence of XP2 Super I would say that it's extremely flexible with it's ISO. You can expose from 50 to 800!. Very practical in changing light and if you don't have a built-in meter (or when practising the sunny f16 rule).
Yes, the ability to change iso mid roil is great about the film
Great video
I live in the English Lake District: Whats blue sky!!!!
It's been cloudy here for weeks as well. We had a great snow base but the rain came and washed it all away.
Interesting that you shoot Hp5 at 200. It seem to be the norm these days instead to push it two stops, to get heavy contrast. I'll try at 200 though, interested to see the results
The purpose of rating it at 200 is you get more details in the shadows. You’ll get greater reproduction quality if you have greater detail in your shadow areas and you merely increase your contrast in post/print.
It’s better to have black shadows with detail, than blank empty shadows with no details.
True, both it is also nice with the heavy contrast that you get by pushing it two stops! :) @@CaravanCamera
Try both, we’re supposed to be having fun anyway.
Great stuff. What's your take on polarizing filters? That was pretty much welded on my FE in my youth. I liked not worrying about changing filters.
I haven't used one that much, although I have them. They're hard to use with a rangefinder, large format, or twin lens camera, and great on a slr. However most of my slr work is street photography, where again, they're hard to use in that situation. They're great for saturated colours, that's for sure.
Thank you for the clear information.
I still have some questions. I bought Rollei Rpx 400 in the local store. Is this also a good one to start with?
If you cut the ISO in half, won't the photos be overexposed if you follow the light meter?
I'll keep following you!
I haven't tried the Rollei so can't really say. I wouldn't consider it a general film like Tri-X or HP5. Enjoy the roll, but consider learning on Tri-X or HP5 for the next few rolls.
Yes, the film will be over exposed, that's the point. You want a denser negative.
I grew up shooting film and I really miss it but the prices these days are absolutely crazy (both buying the film and developing). I try and shoot at least a couple of rolls a year, just for nostalgia's sake but other than that I'm now exclusively digital. Luckily my fuji camera gives me some of that old school experience back. My "go-to" film of choice was HP5+ @ 1600 - an all time classic combination for me in the UK where bright light is often hard to come by. In terms of colour film...If I can afford it I love Portra 400, otherwise Fuji C200 (again because I find C200 works slightly better under cloudy conditions, to my eye compared to the consumer Kodak stock).
Film has become difficult to shoot, I was shocked at the sticker price on some Kodak Tmax400. It's one of the reasons I went back to Ilford.
I’ve been shooting 35mm film since 1967, and one of my mistakes was trying too many films, without fully appreciating what each film can do. I agree with what you say, but I’d add some advice: pick one film (and HP5 is a great starting point), and stick with it until you understand its qualities, and limitations, and what it’s best used for, and only then move on to, say, a T-grain film. They are quite different.
Yeah, I agree.
one VERY important thing that you did not cover, is when you do change the ISO setting on your camera (like shooting a 400 speed film at 200 ISO on your camera), is that you MUST also change the development time when you develop that film. if you shoot 400 film at ISO 200, and then you develop that roll at the times given for 400 speed film, you are going to come out with very bad negatives because the development does not match the exposure levels.
No I wouldn't change it for one stop. It seems many people could use a denser negative than they now have. For one stop I would leave the development time the same. If I was shooting ISO400 at 100 or 50, I would cut down on the time, to try and hold the highlights. I'm making darkroom prints, your mileage may vary.
If I'm shooting HP5 at 200 AND I have an orange filter on (allowing 2 stops for the filter) I'm going to be shooting at 50 iso, which may be fine somewhere with lots of sunlight, but a bit hard going in the UK in winter.
Yes you’re right. Good thing you didn’t start with Tmax100!!
If I take the box speed and cut it in half, do I then have to ask the lab to push 1 stop, or do I adjust aperture or shutter speed up to balance the exposure (which results in my cameras exposure meter indicating a 1 stop overexposure)?
You want to overexpose by one stop and process normally. The goal is to get a denser negative with more shadow detail. If your shooting situation is all bright sun, with lots of white subject matter, shave the exposure about 1/3 stop to keep the highlights from blocking up. If you're situation is open shade, then use half the box speed and process as normal. These are starting points, you need to shoot and look at the results to get the best results for you.
When you recommend shooting HP5+ on ISO 200 you recommend to process it normalny (as 400) or shorten the time of developing?
To start with I would process normal. Most people could use a slightly denser negative for printing, it just has more shadow detail. If you find the negative too dense, cut back about 10-15% on development time.
I assume you have seen the Netflix show Ripley. Any thoughts on trying to replicate that style and look?
Sorry don't have Netflix, so I haven't seen it.
@@stillshootinginblackandwhite oh if tour a phone of black and white photography you should at least look it up online. Incredible
thanks I'll do that.
so when you set your iso to 200 instead of 400 are you telling lab to adjust or just let them develope as 400 ?
I'm letting them develop at 400 so I have a slightly denser negative.
I’m getting This Old House vibes. Love this channel. Legend!!
Old House, or Old Man vibes. lol, thanks.
If I shoot my HP5+ at ISO 200 should I tell the lab? They will process it differently if they know. What will change with the grain at ISO 200?
No, it’ll look great. It’s just like metering for the shadows.
You’ll simply get brighter, less muddy photos 👍🏼
I won’t tell them for one stop as you’re looking for a denser negative. If i shot 400 at 100 or 50 iso i would ask for a shorter development time
when metering by cutting the ISO speed in half, I understand it's overexposing the film. That's pull. Doesn't that mean when I develop the film, I also need to adjust the developing time accordingly?
for example, box speed is 400, I shoot as if it were 200. When developing, do I also develop as if it were 200?
Yes and no. If you're just starting off with black and white I would shoot at half the speed and process normal. This produces a denser negative, which most people will benefit from. However, if you find the negative is blocking up while printing in the darkroom, then dial back the development time a little, lets say 10%, that will keep the highlights a bit, and yes that is a 'pull' . For most people though, their negatives are too thin and lack shadow detail.
...forgive my ignorance but when you half the ISO from what is indicated on the box, you then make sure you tell whomever processes your film to develop at the ISO you shot it, correct?
No, not for one stop. You're trying to get a denser negative. When most people start out their neg's are so thin you could spit through them. A slightly darker negative will give better results. Now if you're shooting a ISO400 film at 50 or 100 ISO I would cut back on processing a bit.
@@stillshootinginblackandwhite I don't develop film myself so what would I tell folks who are processing? For example, I shoot a 400 ISO film at 200?
You could, but then they'll cut the development time and charge a custom processing fee, but what we're trying to get is a denser negative, so I wouldn't say anything.
If your shoot that iso 400 film at 200. Does the developing need to change to push or pull it ?
No not for one stop. Most people would benefit from a denser negative when printing.
Thanks
Glad to help.
Kodak Tri-X is a great B&W film. Unfortunately, it's also 3X more expensive than Ilford's Kentmere Pan 400, and more than 2X the price of Ilford's HP5, in the UK.
Better to master a film you can afford to shoot, than only occasionally dabble in a film that you are too precious with to actually take the shot.
Kodak has priced themselves out of the market in Canada as well.
I go with 36 frames when using 35mm, because it uses the same amount of developer. So using 24 frames per roll is a waste of developer.
That's true... of course if you're processing your own film, you're not likely a beginner film shooter anyway. Which films have you been using, and which developer combo?
All beginners should bookmark the "Massive Dev chart" which is unmatched for Developer and film combinations. They give times and agitation suggestion, also good if you want to try pushing film. I use weird developers myself, like Pyrocat. I agree about using Ilford products to start with, they give predictable results and that helps you keep going.
Yes, the massive dev. chart is what I use as my main source for times, or my own notes.
How can anybody recommend to a beginner that it will need 200-300-400 rolls to shoot to "understand the film"?!?!?! Because basically you tell them that they need to invest 4000$ into this. This is the point of flagship mirrorless cameras. Nobody will burn that kind of money for 'learning'....
You're right it would cost a few bucks, but it's hard to shoot three or four rolls, and think you know what you're doing, or why your photos aren't that great. It takes a while, and running film through the camera and enjoying the results are one of the reason's it's such a great hobby for many people.
Don't wanna stare at a screen to photograph shit.
you know that you can use evf as in other cameras, right?@@Gilded_Cage_Princess
Yes that's true.
400 rolls is definitely on the conservative side I’d say.