Analog film photography and cameras

It makes me wanna cry. But I ave faith in them, they always come bounce back... well, hopefully anyway.

That's going to really hurt Leica, too. Kodak make their sensors and I seriously doubt they have the capability to bring that in-house.

Some of the last images Tim Hetherington took.

Kodak being bust,

Sad. And I had believed that parts of their business still made money, like their very pared down film division. Still, they couldn't compete in the digital arena against the far east companies.

Now you can buy film which is meant to be Tri-X just under a different brand name so if Kodak goes bust will these alternatives still be available because they are made elsewhere or are those alternatives actually made by Kodak and sold unbranded then branded with the different name and sold on in which case they will disappear with the real stuff eh?

My major concern is their RA-4 colour paper. While Fuji is still producing the sheets one healthily, Kodak is the only company (as far as we know) that offer good quality paper in roll that would allow users to use in the darkroom. I mean all colour paper are essentially the same, but for darkroom and machine uses, I heard they are packed differently hence have no idea how easy / difficult it might be to use the machine ones in the darkroom... :-(

Cheap HP5, 2.50 a roll. 35mm

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=113254

Afaik its just one of their gellatin plants, they have other sources for that stuff. What they have left from the old days of monster film/paper production is going to pared right down to a manageable level, so expect more losses in the next few months, but film should still cone oot at a decent rate.
Also expect any remaining high street shops to get scared and drop film overnight.....

My LCS (local camera shop) was actually reporting an increase in demand for film last time I was in and were stocking a wider range.

For most of the time I have been going there they have been Ilford only, that last time though they had added Kodak and Fuji and the guy was saying that they now had enough demand to be carrying sheet film in stock for the first time in a very many years.

It seems that as the chains like Jessops and Jacobs etc lose interest in film it's upto the independants to take over supplying the (albeit diminishing) demand and they were very happy to be doing so.

not sure about the camera as a conduit to the supernatural, but looks interesting:
http://www.dajf.org.uk/exhibition-event/over-the-parched-field

My LCS (local camera shop) was actually reporting an increase in demand for film last time I was in and were stocking a wider range.

For most of the time I have been going there they have been Ilford only, that last time though they had added Kodak and Fuji and the guy was saying that they now had enough demand to be carrying sheet film in stock for the first time in a very many years.

It seems that as the chains like Jessops and Jacobs etc lose interest in film it's upto the independants to take over supplying the (albeit diminishing) demand and they were very happy to be doing so.

I honestly think film will never die, it's paper that is the most concerning. With film, you can always digitise it if you so wish to. With large format film, unless you could afford a Hasselblad H4D or something, no digital camera in the world could even remotely compare the quality with it, let along all those exciting movements you could play with. So there is always going to be some interest.

When both Kodak and Fuji made a return a couple of year ago with reproducing photo paper, the prices went sky high. A box of 12' x 16' box of 50, for example, went from just under £30 to now £47 pretty much over night. And as a result, a lot of friends, borderline including myself, could no longer afford to spend the money on buying paper.

Little gallery on The Guardian here.

So buff.

Now you can buy film which is meant to be Tri-X just under a different brand name so if Kodak goes bust will these alternatives still be available because they are made elsewhere or are those alternatives actually made by Kodak and sold unbranded then branded with the different name and sold on in which case they will disappear with the real stuff eh?

well they're selling all their patents to try and not go bankrupt, so expect other companies making their products eventually.

Aye, I presumed the patents sale was gonna be more the digital sensor stuff.

Chat is the patents won't sell just now anyway though as if your in the position to buy, then just wait a few months till they go bust and the bank sells the patent off at a fraction of the cost.

Little gallery on The Guardian here.

incredible work

I honestly think film will never die, it's paper that is the most concerning. With film, you can always digitise it if you so wish to. With large format film, unless you could afford a Hasselblad H4D or something, no digital camera in the world could even remotely compare the quality with it, let along all those exciting movements you could play with. So there is always going to be some interest.

When both Kodak and Fuji made a return a couple of year ago with reproducing photo paper, the prices went sky high. A box of 12' x 16' box of 50, for example, went from just under £30 to now £47 pretty much over night. And as a result, a lot of friends, borderline including myself, could no longer afford to spend the money on buying paper.

This. Film won't die, it'll just gradually be pared down in the 'mainstream'. 35mm will go first, being the main consumer format that's being replaced by digital. MF will probably stick around, and large format will definitely not go anywhere, as it is still the main medium for pros who don't shoot objects that move.

So buff.

Yum.

Also, getting rid of some of my cameras...will have for sale:

Olympus OM2n + 50mm 1.8

OM fit Vivitar 28mm f2 (nice lens)

Yashica Electro 35 GTN

A large amount of Ektar 100 (if I can find it)

Potentially an Olympus Mju ii as well...

turns thread into Marilyn appreciation thread

I think Spotter was after an Electro 35.

Well, he was a good few months ago

Always enjoy the pics on this thread - so much so that I've dug out my old man's camera from and am going to try and figure out how to use it. Its a Fujica ST605...

I'm off to South Africa in a couple of weeks so plan to use that time to have a play and hopefully get some half decent results. I have little to no photography experience so could be a steep learning curve - just the normal compact digital cameras that everyone has. Ideally would like to shoot a few test roles before we leave to make sure everything is in working order and I'm not completely screwing everything up.

I have managed to dig out the original brochure and manual which I am slowly working my way through now:
http://pentax-manuals.com/fujica/manuals/st605_s.pdf (password: Fujica)
http://pentax-manuals.com/fujica/manuals/st605brochure.pdf

A couple of questions that would help me get on my way....

(1) What would be a good all purpose film to use to start with and where is it best to source from?
(2) If I was looking for a zoom lens what would I be looking for in terms of technical specifications?

If you're testing it out you mayaswell just get some cheap colour film from the pound shop and go wild.

Somebody else will ask so I mayaswell, do you want to use colour or black and white film?