The Grain Grubbers Film Thread

[Patrick in Oregon]

Nice! I've been curious about Portra. Do you like it?

[cpbjgc]

Thanks!

That is the first time I shot with Portra. I like its dynamic range and grain, but I am not as keen on the colours. Most of my colour shooting is with Fuji Reala which gives more staurated colours, which is my personal preference. I find the Portra a bit muted for my taste, which would be great for portrait and studio work, which I don't do much of. I have a roll of reala in the camera now so I can do a little comparison.

[Patrick in Oregon]

just developed

[cpbjgc]

Nice set of images!

I like the second shot quite a lot. You have great lines in the walls and an intersesting contrast in textures between the darker stone walls and the runner in their white pants. Well done!

[sabrinadv1]

I have an old Pentax. I dont remember which one exactly at the moment. I took a film class a couple of years ago at a local college. It was an awesome experience. I developed my own film and made my own prints. I don't have a scanner. The best I can do is take some shots of my prints with my digital and post those. I will try to do that this weekend. I miss having a darkroom to get lost in.

[Patrick in Oregon]

Originally Posted by cpbjgc

Nice set of images!

I like the second shot quite a lot. You have great lines in the walls and an intersesting contrast in textures between the darker stone walls and the runner in their white pants. Well done!

Thanks a lot! I ended up liking my b&w roll better than I expected.

Originally Posted by sabrinadv1

I have an old Pentax. I dont remember which one exactly at the moment. I took a film class a couple of years ago at a local college. It was an awesome experience. I developed my own film and made my own prints. I don't have a scanner. The best I can do is take some shots of my prints with my digital and post those. I will try to do that this weekend. I miss having a darkroom to get lost in.

I took pictures for my high school newspaper. I too miss the dark room. For some reason, I really miss fumbling around in the dark bag (changing bag?) while you tried to unroll the film and get in the canister. I found it very therapeutic and a mind exercise, trying to imagine what your hands are feeling. I don't know...it's weird lol.

[sabrinadv1]

I miss creating something on your own and waiting to see how it comes out. I also miss being able to go in shut the door , and no one else being able to enter I think my film prints are better than my digital stuff.

[photo_chick]

You know, it's real easy to setup a darkroom at home. And cheap, too. For film all you need is the can, reels, containers and chemicals. If you want to make prints you can often find 35mm and 120mm enlargers for next to nothing. Trays can be had pretty cheap off ebay as well. All you need is a closet or bathroom. The only hard part is disposing of chemicals. The developer and fixer have silver in them after they're used so you can't just dump them down the drain anymore.

[Patrick in Oregon]

I thought about the logistics of making my own dark room. Condo living doesn't lend much spare space. I haven't done any pricing research yet but I'm wondering where the break even point is between the costs of materials vs costs of paying for development.

[photo_chick]

When we lived in an apartment we had 2 bathrooms. I took over one for the darkroom. I had a table over the toilet for the enlarger and the trays in the tub. I did film developing in the sink.

As far as cost... You'd probably have to do a couple dozen rolls to make it break even compared sending 35mm out for processing. If you do MF or sheet film it is a bit more cost effective.