Analog film photography and cameras

If thats the case you should look into some of the starter kits they sell. Pretty inexpensive and will help you decide whether you want to continue developing yourself.

Edit: Something like this. The price has gone up since the new year, but the only thing you need to add to it is a measuring cylinder and you're good to go.

Nova Darkroom are worth considering also. They also have a Second Hand Equipment section, and a Starter Kits section.
I bought some film from them a while back and they email every 3 months or so with updates and whatnot. Nice company.

I just ordered some 127 roll film for my mums old Kodak Brownie:

It's fixed shutter speed and aperture, 1/50th and f11 IIRC. So I guess with 100 speed film, its only going to work on bright ish days outdoors. Or I could push it a few stops. The negatives will be bigger than 35mm so they should scan quite nicely, but I've now idea how well it will work.

It also looks like I could bodge some 35mm into the camera and "shot the sprockets" which seems to be all the rage on flickr at the moment, but it might not focus so well as I think the 127 gets curved inside the camera, but the 35mm will not fit in the guides, and be pulled flat across the focal plane.

yeah if you could, that'd be great..
There is plenty could go wrong when fucking with aperture blades haha...

The aperture blades weren't too bad actually.

I tried going in through the back but could shift some of the screws so I went in from the front. I pried up the ring that has Mamiya - Sekor 80mm etc on it with the edge of a knife, it's plastic and just stuck down with double sided tape. You'll then be able to see some screws, I think the first ones you see hold on a bit of the lens barrel then once you remove that you'll see the ones that hold the front element in. There's a few sizes of screw so make sure to keep the screws with the parts they belong to. Once you get the front element out the way there should be a plate that fits into a groove a bit like a big circlip. This acts on the aperture blades and it'll have a spring that pulls the aperture shut, you can play with it and get a good idea of how it works. Unclip the spring and undo the plate from the groove and lift it out and the aperture blades are right there. I used tweezers to lift them out and a scrap of t shirt material to clean them. They will only fit in one way but you could always take a snap of them on your phone of something so you can check the order they go back in in.

It sounds complicated but honestly, once you get into it it's pretty straight forward.

If thats the case you should look into some of the starter kits they sell. Pretty inexpensive and will help you decide whether you want to continue developing yourself.

Edit: Something like this. The price has gone up since the new year, but the only thing you need to add to it is a measuring cylinder and you're good to go.

Nova Darkroom are worth considering also. They also have a Second Hand Equipment section, and a Starter Kits section.
I bought some film from them a while back and they email every 3 months or so with updates and whatnot. Nice company.

Oh, nicely - quite a lot of stuff included in the kits, too, especially the AG photographic one. I did black & white development (and printing) years ago so now I've got my old cam back it's something I want to have a go at again. It always just feels like you're closer to the overall photographic process which is always nice.

Thanks, both!

Bothwell; I will have a look at my stuff today and PM you with details.

@MrSmyth: I keep going back to that Vivian Maier link - thank you so much for posting it. As well as the evident quality of the photos, there's a wonderful human feel to them, quiet engagement, the opposite of the detached/voyeuristic thing you sometimes get in street photography.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/jan/14/street-photographer-vivian-maier-in-pictures

@MrSmyth: I keep going back to that Vivian Maier link - thank you so much for posting it. As well as the evident quality of the photos, there's a wonderful human feel to them, quiet engagement, the opposite of the detached/voyeuristic thing you sometimes get in street photography.

+1. I'd only caught up on this thread the other day, and I've also kept going back to her work since then. The pictures make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

As well as what hoefla said, which I'd completely agree with, her use of contrast is amazing, often as a compositional tool, very inspiring for anyone who likes shooting black and white.

Her pictures of street kids remind me a bit of Helen Levitt.

I've been playing with my new sekonic l-208 light meter for a few days and it seems to be working pretty well. It's the cheapest one I could find new, so I didn't expect a huge amount. But it does what I need it to fairly accurately.
I was, however quite disappointed with the instructions, which came in every language except the two that I speak. I found an online version, which showed almost nothing I didn't know already.
So after a few days I noticed a glaring error in the EV values.
Look at the picture here - ISO 100, EV15(sunny 16 rule) as expected a reading of f16:1/125.
The green neddle is just right of the centre pattern.

All good. However, if I change the ISO to 1600, EV15, the readout gives - f16: 1/125
Huh?!
Look at the needle - it is in a different place?

So what I can figure out from this, is that the EV values can only be correct at a certain ISO.
For somebody using the meter to set the camera, that is no problem, you don't really need the EV value.
If somebody was trying to learn to use the meter alongside the guesswork EV values they already knew, this would be a pain if you didn't know. This is not in the manual and I am still not sure exactly which ISO the EV values are correct. I think it is at ISO100.

I like using EV values as the meter only reads down to EV 3, which means anything below that I have to guess the exposure. I just hoope I didn't fuck up last nights shots by mixing up my own calculations with my actual light readings.

I think I have the same meter although I've lost the instructions and don't remember what they looked like - I don't understand the problem. The green needle is used to match the red needle that responds to the light cell. Then you read off the values. If the light conditions are the same, the red needle will be the same, therefore you should position the green needle in the same place. You can change ISO and so on so long as you don't move the green needle (ie. keep hold of the outer bit of the dial).
The EV reading shows a particular relationship between aperture and speed eg. EV 15 = f16:1/125s = f11:1/250s etc is always true, regardless of ISO. They do not tell you about the light reading in themselves, but the meter will tell you the right EV for a given ISO and light condition.
The guesswork EV values you are used to for particular light conditions (eg. EV15=Sunny16) are valid for ISO100. For EV15 to be 'right' for ISO1600 you would need 4 stops less light (which is where the green needle is in the second photo). If you are using ISO1600 when EV15 works for ISO100 (Sunny16), you need to be 4 stops on, at EV19 (f16:1/2000 = f22:1/1000 etc). Try moving the dial around and see which relationships are fixed. Does that make any sense?

One thing I have noticed with mine is it is fine for reflected readings but I don't use it for incident.

I see, so I guess I have been misunderstanding EV a little. I had been under the impression that EV was a measure of how much light there was and didn't realise that EV changes according to film speed. I thought EV15 was classed as a bright day regardless of film speed.

I was using this site - http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm
Because of the way it lays out the EV's in the chart it contradicts what my light meter says, although both ways you end up with the same exposure.

I'm no expert - my understanding is just what I've 'picked up' rather than learnt, so sorry if my explanation is a bit garbled or off... hopefully someone else will correct me if so.
That site that you link does introduce EV as a light reading rather than a relationship of values but also states "for ISO 100 film".

True, but then it alters the figure in the tables, which suggests that it is not only for ISO 100.

A bit confusing.

I'm currently reading Ansel Adams' The Negative and he defines/explains EV - or Exposure Value - as referring to "a specific combination of f stop and shutter speed". (and, presumably, is only valid at a certain iso)
He goes on to say that "although EV numbers bear the same relationship to each other that a meter's arithmetic index numbers do, the two are not not interchangeable since EV numbers refer to camera exposure settings, and meter scale numbers refer to* luminance*." (emphasis his)

Sounds like EV takes iso into consideration because it is to do with the camera whereas the meter scale is separate from the camera so is unrelated to iso.

I made the switch from Ilford to fuji for a uni project. I think it may be a permanent one as I am a massive fan of the results from a roll of neopan.

Shots were taken using a cheap eos 300 body and 50 1.4.
natural light from window with net curtain used as diffuser.
the cable is Electro luminescent wire which after watching the new Tron I ordered a shit load of from ebay.
The images were made entry into the fujifilm student awards this year and if you want to see the other 2 images they are here.
That is all.

400ASA? Am I allowed to say I told you so?

;))

By the way folks, would it be reasonable to tell us a bit about the images you post? Maybe the equipment and any other interesting tidbits?

Neopan is awesome stuff, I've got a load of it 35mm for sale (over 20 rolls) if someone wants it cheap? PM me.

Some boring shots from inside my shithole of a house. Quite like them though. Ancient roll of ektachrome 200, think I was using my olympus om20, and a 28mm.

photobucket will have no doubt bludgeoned them to fuck with their compression though.

also good just picked up my neg scanner, its only the basic Epson V330 but put a few negs through it and it seems pretty good for 70 odd quid.

/attachments/35135

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@nefarious: liking the 2nd one rather

Cheers man, it's the only one of quite a few that I like really. Sums up the shitness of the flat rather well.

Some Lake District action:

Couple Cairngorm shots, Velvia 100, om20, 28mm.