Beginners Questions

Michael Little

Michael Little

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I have a couple questions regarding 35mm film as I've never tried before if someone could answer some things for me:

1. Does the higher iso film create more grain e.g. use low iso film and a tripod for landscapes and clean images?
2. Does it matter how long i leave film in the camera, or is it best to use a roll in 1 outing?
3. Im guessing i can just use ND filters as i would on digital?
4. recommended film for portraits and landscapes?

Im guessing ill have more when i receive the camera however these are some questions i have for now if someone can help i would appreciate it!
 
Quick rough and ready answer.

1. Yes, mostly.
2. I wouldn't leave it more than a month or 2
3. Yes but...recipricocity. You need to know about it.
4. Too personal but 100 iso would be Acros, Delta, T-Max or FP4

Others will add more details, I'm sure
 
Ok, so here are some answers that I believe most would agree with:

1) The two are intrinsically linked. Larger grain gives you a higher sensitivity which is characterised by the ISO number. Grain size is the more fundamental parameter.
2) To a large extent, no. However this breaks down if you're talking decades. A good rule of thumb is that unexposed film will behave consistently, at room temperature, for the entire time dictated by the expiration date. It is good practice however to not leave exposed film for more than a few months undeveloped. Cold storage is another question which we can shed some light on if required.
3) Yes. However, as said by Simon, you need to know about reciprocity. Again, people can elaborate if required.
4) I'd suggest something like Porta 160 for colour negative, Fuji Astia 100 for colour slide and as for B&W, this is a lot more of a personal choice.
 
Michael Little said:
I have a couple questions regarding 35mm film as I've never tried before if someone could answer some things for me:

1. Does the higher iso film create more grain e.g. use low iso film and a tripod for landscapes and clean images?
2. Does it matter how long i leave film in the camera, or is it best to use a roll in 1 outing?
3. Im guessing i can just use ND filters as i would on digital?
4. recommended film for portraits and landscapes?

Im guessing ill have more when i receive the camera however these are some questions i have for now if someone can help i would appreciate it!
Click to expand...

1) Yes, higher ISO generally does mean more grain. This is more of an issue with smaller sizes such as 135 ("full frame") than with MF and LF film. OTOH grain need not be intrusive and can contribute to a shot. I'd be inclined to experiment. I don't quite see the point of using film to try to replicate digital; worth trying to embrace the analogue? With low iso film and low light, remember there is a reciprocal law failure issue for most films with the noted exception of Fuji Acros 100 where you can expose for up to 2 minutes as metered.

2) Within limits, you can leave the film in camera as long as you like. I had a film processed recently that had been in 50+ years however, and there was only half an image on it. Consumer films take poor treatment better than pro films.

3) Yes

4) Portra 160 or Portra 400 both great. Acros 100 as mentioned. I love Tri-X for anything. Velvia slide film for your golden hour landscapes. Agfa Vista 200 from Poundland for testing cameras.

Welcome to F&C, Mike, and do please show us what you get. What camera have you got?
 
Astia's discontinued in 135, Jonathan... (dunno about LF).
 
Michael Little said:
I have a couple questions regarding 35mm film as I've never tried before if someone could answer some things for me:

1. Does the higher iso film create more grain e.g. use low iso film and a tripod for landscapes and clean images?
2. Does it matter how long i leave film in the camera, or is it best to use a roll in 1 outing?
3. Im guessing i can just use ND filters as i would on digital?
4. recommended film for portraits and landscapes?

Im guessing ill have more when i receive the camera however these are some questions i have for now if someone can help i would appreciate it!
Click to expand...

simon ess said:
Quick rough and ready answer.

1. Yes, mostly.
2. I wouldn't leave it more than a month or 2
3. Yes but...recipricocity. You need to know about it.
4. Too personal but 100 iso would be Acros, Delta, T-Max or FP4

Others will add more details, I'm sure
Click to expand...

Pretty what Simon said apart from

2. I wouldn't worry too much about it, back in the day it wasn't unusual to find snaps of birthdays, summer holidays and the occasional wedding bookended by two Christmases and that was at a time when wasn't quite as stable as it is now. The main reason I have for not leaving film in cameras is 1) I forget which cameras have film in and which don't and have often opened a camera to load film only to find a roll already loaded. 2) I forget what film is in each camera 3) I forget what I've taken.

4. As Simon says, too personal but Acros for b&w, Portra for colour negative and Velvia for reversal.
 
1. yes, but developer and temperature make a big difference as well. B&W film has grain - if that bothers you, use digital. Colour film does not have grain - the image is composed of a dye cloud. Scanning colour film can produce the appearance of grain but that is purely a matter of scanning artefacts.
2.There is one film from Ilford that notoriously loses any images after a couple of weeks. On the other hand, I have developed film that was exposed over 20 years previously and the images were not too bad.
3.Of course.
4. I don't do portraits but Fomapan 200 is good for landscapes and architecture.
 
Thank you for your comments! It just seems like theres so much to learn at the moment!

& thanks for the recommendations for the film ill try and order some soon, it would be great if someone sold samples packs!! I've ordered some Ilford HP5 Plus 400 off amazon when i ordered the camera but ill order some different ones now as per recommendations.

and Thanks Chris I've ordered a F80 for now (was going to get the F100 but a car service meat i couldn't at the moment) and ill see how i get on with it. Hopefully a bargain for £44 and fully compatible with my current Nikon full frame lenses!

Roll on next Monday when it should arrive!!
 
Well your questions have been pretty much answered but I'll chuck in my 2 pence worth. With regards to film I'd advise trying out the big names first.

Ilford HP5, FP4, Delta 100 and 400 (all b&w). Kodak tri x is an institution and has been used seemingly since the dawn of time by photojournalists everywhere.

Colour films: Kodak Ektar 100 is recommended for vivid colours and really crisp, sharp photos. Portra in either 160 or 400 speed has more natural colours and is recommended for portraits. And Fuji Velvia slide film is pretty much considered to be the ultimate for landscape photography as it gives the richest colours. It is harder to expose correctly though and because of the small margin for error can be quite u forgiving unless you are spot on.

My advice would be to get on Flickr and search for groups dedicated to the type of film that you are interested in. That way you can get an idea of how the film performs and what sort of results to expect.
 
mdjchat said:
My advice would be to get on Flickr and search for groups dedicated to the type of film that you are interested in. That way you can get an idea of how the film performs and what sort of results to expect.
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h'mm we are quite knowledgeable here ;)
 
excalibur2 said:
h'mm we are quite knowledgeable here ;)
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Haha I wasn't suggesting otherwise. I only meant that Flickr has 1000's of photos to browse through so that you can see what results the films are capable of. I enjoy looking through to see just that and to get inspiration from what others are sharing.

Sent from my Hudl 2 using Talk Photography Forums mobile app
 
john.margetts said:
Colour film does not have grain
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Mr Badger said:
So how come Kodak (a long time maker of colour film) state: "KODAK PROFESSIONAL EKTAR 100 Film is the world's finest grain colour negative film."?
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Negative film, wether it be colour or b&w, does not have grain............

If viewed at the size of a postage stamp:rolleyes::D
 
excalibur2 said:
Calm down folks o_O :D Looks at this PDF http://cool.conservation-us.org/coo...itale/2007-04-vitale-filmgrain_resolution.pdf a bit about scanning too (y)
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Thanks for the info. I was just keen to stop something akin to a myth propagating. Colour film has dye clouds but that doesn't prevent it having a granular appearance (or the human perception of one), and even Kodak refer to this effect as grain. So I don't think there should be an issue referring to 'grain' in colour film, whether this refers to the microscopic granular appearance of an individual dye cloud, the combined effect of several dye cloud layers, or the perception of human eye/brain interaction when viewing colour film? After all, if the end result is a granular appearance why not describe this as grain?
 
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Mr Badger said:
Thanks for the info. I was just keen to stop something akin to a myth propagating. Colour film has dye clouds but that doesn't prevent it having a granular appearance (or the human perception of one), and even Kodak refer to this effect as grain. So I don't think there should be an issue referring to 'grain' in colour film, whether this refers to the microscopic granular appearance of an individual dye cloud, the combined effect of several dye cloud layers, or the perception of human eye/brain interaction when viewing colour film? After all, if the end result is a granular appearance why not describe this as grain?
Click to expand...

Well I did a lot of colour printing in the darkroom, many years ago, and bought a gadget to focus on the grain first for B\W (to get the focus of the enlarger spot on) and do you know what, I just car remember if the colour neg had grain...how sad :(
 
excalibur2 said:
Well I did a lot of colour printing in the darkroom, many years ago, and bought a gadget to focus on the grain first for B\W (to get the focus of the enlarger spot on) and do you know what, I just car remember if the colour neg had grain...how sad :(
Click to expand...

Don't worry, it's normal, we can't remember everything, our brains aren't big enough... my theory is that as we get older there isn't enough space left on the hard drive to learn something new, so we have to delete something from the memory to make room! With you it was the memory of peering at colour negs, with me just now it was what I'd gone upstairs for! :banghead: :D
 
Mr Badger said:
Don't worry, it's normal, we can't remember everything, our brains aren't big enough... my theory is that as we get older there isn't enough space left on the hard drive to learn something new, so we have to delete something from the memory to make room! With you it was the memory of peering at colour negs, with me just now it was what I'd gone upstairs for! :banghead: :D
Click to expand...

Well as I have colour prints and don't need a memory for that...MF lens and 8X10 prints are squeeky clean
 
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