New to MF film - Developing

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andyscott

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Andrew
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I have started myself a personal project and I have ordered myself a 645 MF camera.

Unlike lots of others, I have never shot film (well only about 5 rolls years ago) I have never owned a film camera and always shot digital since the Nikon D70 was released.

I don't like the idea of developing my own film, so where commercially would people recommend?

Maybe I will fork out for a scanner and scan my own depending on cost though.
 
Hi Andy welcome to the best bit of the forum, you've come to the right place.

Firstly I'd recommended sacrificing a cheap roll of film just to make sure your comfortable loading your camera, although they are essentially all the same they all have their own idiosyncratic differences, and you can also check the that the film transport mechanism is working properly. You can then keep the film to test subsequent cameras and to practice loading processing reels if you decide to go down the self developing route.

You can find answers to most of your questions like where to buy and process film in the resource section at the top of the page, here

If you have any more questions as you go along just ask, there are not many cameras somebody on here hasn't got or owned. And don't forget to post up your results when you've taken some pics.
 
Brilliant thanks, its like a new say at school, just because I change mediums I now don't know how to do anything by myself.

Many thanks
 
You're not the first to be in that situation :) I'd never shot film properly before buying a MF camera like you about 18 months ago. This is definitely one of the more friendly and helpful areas of the forum, and if you ask a question you usually find that you'll get loads of helpful replies very fast.

I reckon it'll be about 6 months before you have your own developing set up (it's cheap and easy for B&W, not so much for colour) :P

As for lab developing, it depends what you want. I don't have the most experience with labs but here's my thoughts:

Dev only (and scan yourself):
  • The Darkroom UK - Costs about a fiver for a roll of C41 (colour neg) or slightly more for E6 (slide). Their return time is fantastic, usually 2 days from posting to getting them back.
  • Ilford - Only does B&W developing, quite pricey and their turn around time is ridiculously long. Only used them the once
Dev + scan:
  • Photoghost - They'll develop and scan your films (C41 only), and then send you a download link and post your films back. Don't think it's possible to get your images faster with a postal service. Usually I post films off and get the link in 1-2 days. Scans are about 1800px on the shortest length. Can't remember their prices per roll but they do a £25 subscription service which covers you for up to ten rolls a month. Works out at £2.50 per roll (plus p&p) for dev and scan which is the cheapest service I've seen by a long way. Worth it if you're going to shoot a lot of film but can work out quite expensive if you don't shoot enough film
  • UK Film Lab - Very good reputation and a number of people on the forum use them regularly. Prices are £9-12 per roll for C41 and £13-17 for B&W/E6, and their scan sizes are massive. They also do dust removal etc and pretty much provide you with and end image that you may not even need to process at all. Only reason I rarely use them is because their turn around time is approx 2 weeks, although they do offer a express service if you want to pay a little more. Plus point with UKFL is that they store your negs for you for 12 months and send them back in one big lump, so you don't pay return p&p for each roll. If I had any important rolls of film I would trust them to UKFL.

As I said, that's just the labs I've used. There are loads more but I can't comment on them as I haven't used them. Popular ones seem to be Peak and AG Photographic.
 
We all have things we find awkward in life, and getting a roll of MF film onto a spiral is one of them for me. I've done it in a proper darkroom on an open bench with plenty room and it slid right on, whereas more often I find it sticking and kinking before I finally get frustrated with it! Very definitely a case of sacrificing some ood film to get some practice in..

Hadn't heard of Photogost or UKFL Carl, so that's some good info I've learned this morning. Thanks! (y)
 
I use UKFL for all my processing now. They aren't the cheapest, but it takes any developing/processing out of the equation. Anything that goes wrong is down to me or the equipment. They also give feedback on exposure, problems with the camera or anything else that they find. They will also work with you to set up a custom profile for your edits. More/less contrast, warmer, cooler, lighter, darker etc. for example, their original scans just needed a little contrast boost for my personal preferences. I spoke to them, sent their scan side by side with my edit and now they do this as standard when the process my images. Can't fault their service at all.
 
Great stuff many thanks for the tips I am looking around :)

I must stop thinking I need everything scanned at 1000zillion dpi also.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I use UKFL for all my processing now. They aren't the cheapest...
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Actually, like for like I think they might well be pretty much the cheapest. If I've interpreted various web pages correctly, UKFL's base 120 scan is similar to most labs medium scan, and if so that makes them the cheapest. However, it is harder to interpret the web pages, because of the various formats that 120 negs come in; 135 has the advantage that ALL negs are the same size and shape! I think I tried to base my estimates on 6*6 negs.
 
:p:)
 
ChrisR said:
Actually, like for like I think they might well be pretty much the cheapest. If I've interpreted various web pages correctly, UKFL's base 120 scan is similar to most labs medium scan, and if so that makes them the cheapest. However, it is harder to interpret the web pages, because of the various formats that 120 negs come in; 135 has the advantage that ALL negs are the same size and shape! I think I tried to base my estimates on 6*6 negs.
Click to expand...

You make a good point. When you take into account the size of their scans and the quality they output, they are very reasonable indeed!
 
Just looking into labs and came across this thread. Has anyone got a link to one of their scans? I'm new to all of this and have been looking for a scanner. The more I look, the more I found the images I liked the quality of were produced on scanners, ah, some what out of my price range o_O

I like the sound of the subscription to Photoghost but the scan sizes sound like their bigger from UKFL and may end up for cost effective if I don't send more than a few rolls a month (mostly shooting b&w and dev at home).

Ideally I'm looking for 35mm scans from both UKFL and Photoghost...
 
brucegill said:
Just looking into labs and came across this thread. Has anyone got a link to one of their scans? I'm new to all of this and have been looking for a scanner. The more I look, the more I found the images I liked the quality of were produced on scanners, ah, some what out of my price range o_O

I like the sound of the subscription to Photoghost but the scan sizes sound like their bigger from UKFL and may end up for cost effective if I don't send more than a few rolls a month (mostly shooting b&w and dev at home).

Ideally I'm looking for 35mm scans from both UKFL and Photoghost...
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you mean links to the full size scans, Bruce? I don't have any hosted at the moment, just the resized ones hosted on my site if they are any good to you? Here is one from Iceland.

The originals were 4547 on the longest edge with a medium scan. Mine aren't that now due to a rotation. I need to learn to hold the camera level!

Leica M2 | 50mm Summicron | Kodak Portra 400. Dev & Scan by UK Film Lab.


HOFN-14.jpg
 
Many thanks @gazmorton2000 lovely shot buy the way, as always. I've got to try some Portra when I get some £££.... only tried Ektar, Tri-x and some very old FP4 so far.

Out of interest, how did you meter that shot? I'm just playing with deferent ways of metering with my M6 as I'm only just getting my head around zones etc.. It was so much easier on bloody digital haha

I think I've got some examples coming from Carl (thanks mate!).
 
brucegill said:
Many thanks @gazmorton2000 lovely shot buy the way, as always. I've got to try some Portra when I get some £££.... only tried Ektar, Tri-x and some very old FP4 so far.

Out of interest, how did you meter that shot? I'm just playing with deferent ways of metering with my M6 as I'm only just getting my head around zones etc.. It was so much easier on bloody digital haha

I think I've got some examples coming from Carl (thanks mate!).
Click to expand...

I love Ektar! It's one of my absolute favorites. If you have a look at the full blog post from Iceland, the majority are Ektar 100 on the Hassleblad.

I meter with a Sekonic L-508 and always air on the side of overexposure.

Digital may be easier but it's nowhere near as satisfying or beautiful. All my personal photos now are on film.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
I love Ektar! It's one of my absolute favorites. If you have a look at the full blog post from Iceland, the majority are Ektar 100 on the Hassleblad.

I meter with a Sekonic L-508 and always air on the side of overexposure.

Digital may be easier but it's nowhere near as satisfying or beautiful. All my personal photos now are on film.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. I picked Etkar first and your site was a help in making my mind up :)

So did you use the l-508 in spot or insedent mode?

Yeah, totally agree, film does seem to have that something I was missing with digital
 
brucegill said:
Thanks mate. I picked Etkar first and your site was a help in making my mind up :)

So did you use the l-508 in spot or insedent mode?

Yeah, totally agree, film does seem to have that something I was missing with digital
Click to expand...

Ah glad I helped your decision! [emoji4]

I use it in incident mode mainly as my subjects are generally in the same light as I'm in.

Glad you're loving the film too!!
 
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