Analog film photography and cameras

Love them. But how do you get such nice exposures and such high contrast? Is it just a combo of the film and processing? With fancy manual cameras, I always assume people are just skilled with metering and finding the right settings/lighting etc, but with a point and shoot what goes into getting shots like those beyond just pointing and shooting?

XP2 Super - and that's about my only secret. The T4 handles night exposures really well - better than the Mju II I'd say. You can spot meter with the Mju II though (press both buttons on the back at once) and that also makes a difference.
Both the Mju II and t4 produce quite contrasty photos in general, too.
But the main factor is the XP2 Super I'd say. The blacks are always black and the whites always white. The one problem with xp2 for some is that it's c41 process so you can't dev yourself (well, nowhere near as easily). I'd probably shot HP5+ but I've totally fallen in love with the XP2 - it just seems to produce the photos I want.

Last one:

I want those too...

Do you develop HP5+ yourself?

I've just run a couple of rolls through my new RB67 and have been thinking about getting the kit to develop the B&W stuff myself. This is the first time that I've ever used film though and I'm somewhat floundering at the deep end. Figured it would be wise to send off my first few rolls so that I can discount processing problems when trying to figure out what went wrong with my pictures :) Doesn't help that the first colour films I tried too expired in 1985! Been messing with this camrea for a fortnight and yet to see a shot from it...it's driving me mad with anticipation.

I've dev'd b&w previously, but not for years. I want to switch to developing myself as I have the facilities available to me and it'd be a lot cheaper but my love of XP2 isn't making it any easier.

From my experience with the RB67 - keep variables down to a minimum while you're learning so you can hopefully see what differences everything makes. I'd also get what you've shot developed to make sure it's all been going OK so far!

I had a painful few rolls when I started with mine (due to a camera problem).

If the old Praktica is mechanical, do you really need the meter to work? You could use a handheld meter, digital or mechanical, or a digital camera for readings.

Maybe it's a good idea, I'll get some film and check how it looks. It hadn't been used for a long time, I don't even know how it's working, if the lenses has fungus or things like that.

I always wanted to check with one of those guys in Camden, but I kinda of no trust them :/

Nicholas Cameras you mean? :-D I understand your concern.

Mju II XP2 Super:

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Love this one. I bet Athena has seen a thing or two.

I've just run a couple of rolls through my new RB67 ... This is the first time that I've ever used film though and I'm somewhat floundering at the deep end.

love it! nothing like jumping in.

Anyone looking for a cheap point & shoot? I bought a Yashica Zoomate 105SE the other week but it's not going to get any use alongside my XA2 & Mju 2. Tried to load film in it the other day and although it tried to load, it didn't seem to catch/take the film. Having read up it seems to be a common theme with these but apparently perseverance wins.
Would like to get what I paid for it so if anyone wants it it's a £5er.

If it's still there I'll take it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/10204874/London-Underground-in-the-1970s80s.html?frame=2628239

where can I get my E-6 film developed?online of course.

http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/
http://digitalab.co.uk/

I'd say develop black and white at home it's dirt cheap but you'll need a scanner. Heck I'd still develop At home if I had the time!

e6 is slide

On that note considering shooting a few rolls of slide or c41 over summer what's the going rate for c41?

35mm or 120 (medium format)?
For 35mm, you can spend anything between £2-10 a roll for c41 and £5-£15 for slide.

Anyone want a negative scanner? £10?

All complete in box, is this one: Veho VFS-008 Smartfix Scan to SD Stand Alone Slide and: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

yes Kat, quite interested. how did you find it? I'm not expecting fantastic results but it would be useful to have something quick and easy.
one question - if neg strips are cut longer than the holder does it squash them?

opinions on the Olympus Stylus Epic for a cheap point a shoot before I can eventually upgrade to a Ricoh GR1?

^^^2nd dibs on the scanner.

one question - if neg strips are cut longer than the holder

cut them in half.

an option, yes, but it would be nice to not have to do it. also I have an unfortunate history of missing while cutting "between" negs...

I just cut them in half, it has little nobbles that you fit the negatives in. It's not too bad actually, very quick and easy to use.