[Jon L]

Does anyone still shoot film?  I'm not sure exactly why, but I bid and won Canon EOS-3 with power grip and am scrambling to learn quickly about film choices (portrait, general-purpose, vs. nature) and battery choices.  Unfortunately, these parts (factory grip, battery for power grip, charger) are not exactly cheap, and apparently there is no such thing as a good *rechargeable* 2CR5 Li battery.  Went with Canon in order to use my Canon lenses bought for DSLR.

Then there's the whole issue of where to develop, scan, and make hard prints...
 

 

[SleepyOne]

You could go slide film or go DIY with b&w. Looks like you would need to do more shopping re: slide scanner etc (for both negative and slide).....

 

[leftnose]

That's a great camera.  I have its predecessor, the A2.  I agree with SleepyOne, learn B&W.  The whole argument about the feel of film vs. digital is especially true with B&W.  Real B&W film has a feel that just can't be replicated.  You really lose the tonality of B&W doing it digitally.

Developing B&W film is very easy, too.  You don't even need a darkroom.  Just get a daylight changing bag and a small two-reel tank.  Stick to more conventional B&W film, like Kodak Tri-X or Pan-X or Ilford FP4, HP5.  The more modern films like Kodak Tmax or Ilford Delta use a different grain structure and don't have that special feel.  There are some color films that can be developed by C-41 process.  Don't use them if you develop on your own as you'll just ruin the film.
 
Once you've got the negatives developed, you can use a neg scanner or get an enlarging rig.  The enlarger does require a darkroom and is a pretty good investment for quality equipment, especially with the slow death of film camera.  You can do you own contact sheets without an enlarger and you can then get a good look at the shots to see if you would want to have some of them printed.
 
Color print film is harder to develop and much harder to print.  Really not a DIY undertaking for a hobbyist.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

 
Color print film is harder to develop and much harder to print.  Really not a DIY undertaking for a hobbyist.

I won't be doing B&W for some time, and I need to decide which color print film to order before the camera arrives.  Reading people's opinions about various films is like reading about audio equipment opinions LOL.  
 
I need a color print film that I'll use mostly for people indoors (likely will need higher ISO than 50, 100) that won't overly soften the photo.  It also should take good nature/landscape occasionally, but perhaps not as saturated as Velvia 50.  Finding this kind of film from on-line chatter has been difficult but considering Kodak Supra 400, Fuji Superia 400, Kodak High Definition (Royal Gold?) 200, Kodak Portra 160 VC (too soft for nature?), etc
 
There's also the consideration that my local Costco needs to be able to develop/scan this film half-way decent.

 

[leftnose]

Velvia is a reversal film, not print.  You really won't find a print film as saturated, anyway.
 
How fast are your lenses?  Do you really need a pro quality film for commercial work or are you just taking family snap shots?  Commercial work is generally all done on reversal film, anyway.  And I think a lot of the pro print films are daylight balanced so you'll have a bit of trouble getting accurate colors indoors without a lot of lights.
 
When taking snap shots, I always settled on ISO 200 but my lenses are relatively fast and I can hand-hold pretty well.  I think anymore, the film companies make two grades of film, consumer and pro.  As for which brand, here's my suggestion: FUJI, FUJI, FUJI, and FUJI.  To me, the color and contrast has been better from Fuji for a long time.  I'd pick up 2-3 rolls each of the Fuji 200 both pro and consumer and the equivalent Kodak products.  400 will also work just fine if you want to test those as well/instead.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Velvia is a reversal film, not print.  You really won't find a print film as saturated, anyway.
 
How fast are your lenses?  Do you really need a pro quality film for commercial work or are you just taking family snap shots?  Commercial work is generally all done on reversal film, anyway.  And I think a lot of the pro print films are daylight balanced so you'll have a bit of trouble getting accurate colors indoors without a lot of lights.
 
When taking snap shots, I always settled on ISO 200 but my lenses are relatively fast and I can hand-hold pretty well.  I think anymore, the film companies make two grades of film, consumer and pro.  As for which brand, here's my suggestion: FUJI, FUJI, FUJI, and FUJI.  To me, the color and contrast has been better from Fuji for a long time.  I'd pick up 2-3 rolls each of the Fuji 200 both pro and consumer and the equivalent Kodak products.  400 will also work just fine if you want to test those as well/instead.

I love primes, so most of my lenses are F1.4 to 1.8.  Slowest lens I own is Tokina 11-16mm, which is F2.8.  
When you say "consumer" and "pro" Fuji 200, which exact models are we talking about??  There are so many..

 

[Bones13]

My son is still using my old Nikon film camera.  All 3 of my kids, and a couple of neighbor kids have used it in Photography class in High School.  My son is the first one to take it to college.  He seems to be enjoying it.
 
I of course was one of the nerds shooting pictures (Pentax at first, then a Canon AE1) in High School and College for yearbook and newspapers.  Back then color was pretty much only done at the store, but we did all the black and white processing, film and paper in the darkroom at school.
 
Neat hobby, about as expensive as HiFi.

 

[leftnose]

Quote:

I love primes, so most of my lenses are F1.4 to 1.8.  Slowest lens I own is Tokina 11-16mm, which is F2.8.   When you say "consumer" and "pro" Fuji 200, which exact models are we talking about??  There are so many..

Actually, it looks like I'm a little behind in the latest offerings from Fuji as far as pro level print film is concerned.  Their pro level film is actually ISO 160.
 
Film is very much like headphones.  I prefer the Grado house sound, you might prefer Sennheiser.  Go to B&H's website and buy 3 rolls each of the offerings from Fuji and Kodak in the speeds you want.  Pay attention to the price levels and you'll get an idea of the target use.  Under $3.00/roll will be consumer, around $5.00-$7.00 will be pro.  Also, consumer films tend to be 24exp rolls and pro 36exp.
 
Remember that film does have a finite life and goes bad.  Don't buy too much at once.

 

[plaidplatypus]

Most power grips have a AA battery option.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Most power grips have a AA battery option.

True, and that's what I will be doing until I can get a NP E2 Ni-MH battery.  The problem with that is the charger, which seems to command very high prices  
I've read that the AF and fast-shooting benefits from the Ni-MH over AA.  
 
But I doubt I will want to carry around the power grip for travel/outdoors due to size and weight.  Thus I need to locate a stock GR-E1 or E2 grip and buy some 2CR5 batteries..
 
Hey, this feels similar to when I started this crazy audio hobby.
 

 

[jellothatsyellow]

In my honest opinion, grips are not worth the hassle they create if you plan on just doing some casual shooting (unless the grip is a part of the body like on my F5) since in my knowledge they are mainly mean to increase the amount of pictures one can take in a row and the rate at which these frames are shot.
In terms of film choices, just make sure you stay away from slide film and it should be fun to experiment (since virtually ANY place that develops film will develop any "negative" type roll of film). In addition, if choosing "faster" films (higher iso) remember that the higher the number----the grainer/"noisier" it gets...so "too soft" shouldn't be a problem...
If you're starting in the hobby....CONGRATS...and my basic advice is in general its usually better to upgrade glass first, then "body add-on-things" then the actual bodies. Also make sure you have a decent tripod (getting a cheap one will only delay the fact that you WILL buy a decent one).
If you have any other questions, I am a photo student that mainly deals in 35mm film so just ask! I am no expert but should be able to answer/help with most things. 
Have fun!

 

[Jon L]

 
Quote:

In my honest opinion, grips are not worth the hassle they create if you plan on just doing some casual shooting (unless the grip is a part of the body like on my F5)

 I didn't realize F5 has integral grip, unlike F4 and F6.  How do you carry that F5 around for casual walkaround, etc? 
 
I really wanted a F6, but that sucker still goes for a LOT of money, and I'm already deep into Canon lenses anyway. 
 
Do you have a favorite local place/market to develop film?  I'm thinking Costco..

 

[jellothatsyellow]

Yeah the F5 is massive, even more so than my buddy's F4s. In terms of walking around with it....I don't....I use my FM2 (oldest/most trusted/beatable body), or newly (year old) bought F100 (praise AF) for that since it honestly isn't worth the hassle/awkwardness/weight. I mostly use it if I am shooting something that needs fast AF and/or need to shoot lots of film quick (sports type things). In which case I have my camera bag (Kata 3-in-1) and strap.
 
If you are just starting out, even though an F6 might be WONDERFUL, it think alot of its features may be lost on you, considering my FM2 and it's full manual set-up taught me things for years. And if you already have devoted some time and money into the Canon platform, it's probably not worth trying to spread yourself over both platforms (or more) since neither one has something the other doesnt. Most reasons for someone choosing one over the other is either availability, just happened, given something to start with from one, and maybe in some extremely experienced cases...VERY subtle control differences in bodies and lens choices.
 
As far as developing film.....as a photo student I am lucky enough to have full access to a community darkroom to both print and process film....but unless you have a roll you really cherish and would die for I dont see what is wrong with either going to the cheapest or most convenient place. Since with you negatives you can always re-print an image somewhere else. Just keep in mind, that in most places the kids developing your film won't know/care about photo and only know the steps they were taught and not care if they are green....but as long as your negatives are fine all should be well.
 
Hope that was at least somewhat helpful! Any other questions? Just ask away!

 

[leftnose]

Quote:

As far as developing film.....as a photo student I am lucky enough to have full access to a community darkroom to both print and process film....but unless you have a roll you really cherish and would die for I dont see what is wrong with either going to the cheapest or most convenient place. Since with you negatives you can always re-print an image somewhere else. Just keep in mind, that in most places the kids developing your film won't know/care about photo and only know the steps they were taught and not care if they are green....but as long as your negatives are fine all should be well.  

This is the reason why I never go to the 1 hour places.  Go to a store that sends them to a lab.  At least those people do the work full time and the equipment is probably better calibrated.

 

 

[jellothatsyellow]

 
Quote:

Quote:

As far as developing film.....as a photo student I am lucky enough to have full access to a community darkroom to both print and process film....but unless you have a roll you really cherish and would die for I dont see what is wrong with either going to the cheapest or most convenient place. Since with you negatives you can always re-print an image somewhere else. Just keep in mind, that in most places the kids developing your film won't know/care about photo and only know the steps they were taught and not care if they are green....but as long as your negatives are fine all should be well.  

This is the reason why I never go to the 1 hour places.  Go to a store that sends them to a lab.  At least those people do the work full time and the equipment is probably better calibrated.

 

I agree. I just wanted to make sure he understood that even if he found a place that printed all his pictures with a green hue (as an example), that as long as they were able to process his film more efficiently/cheaper than any other place and do so CORRECTLY, he could always, then, take the prints he wanted to keep/enlarge/devote more time to, to any other establishment (that printed whatever medium he was using) which could then use his PROPERLY processed negatives to print magnificent pictures. I was just trying to explain (at least in my opinion) that it would be more important to find out which "place (be it COSTCO or some elitist photo " gathering) could PROPERLY process his film into negatives in the most convenient manner...since he could always use any prints this (print-wise) sub-par place gave him, just as a reference and tool to which he could then decide which frames were actually worthy of being paid more attention too. This advice is of course given under the assumption that he does not (nor plan) to shoot (all/majority/anything more than one or two) his frames (although not even close to impossible) in a manner in which the vast majority he would want to keep (because this would obviously make the printing process redundant to a point of being infeasible). I only give advice because I assume he is new to the world of photo, or at least in the realm of film....and so I just want to offer some advice I don't usually hear given, in hopes of helping him stem the costs of this new hobby (which is wonderful!). Take for example myself who this semester did not shoot NEARLY as many rolls as I had hoped to for my photo class (I shot only 22 when I had wanted to shoot closer to 30 as I usually do in a single semester...for a critique of 20) AND had access to a free darkroom with free chemicals and equipment (which I lived in final weeks before critique), and still ended up spending on materials ALONE, close to 300 dollars (100 film and 200 on paper). If I was forced to pay for my printing/processing that cost would have been enormous (i shoot b&w)...and so I hope this idea helps your bottom line!
 
But if I do agree with leftnose that the vast majority of  employees and processes used at 1hr places type places are severely lacking in a proper knowledge base and care. With that in mind, I highly suggest (if possible) that you look into finding a community darkroom (or if serious/privileged enough---set up your own) and learn how to print; since I don't think ANYONE will have the same level or motivation and care for your photography that you have for you own (meaning you are most likely the most motivated person to make your photos in a way that that they are able to express themselves in the the best manner possible..which will show in the prints) as well as because of the fact that (I only claim to be helpful in the realm of b&w since I have only dabbled in sufficient color film photography) the woefully second-class paper/dye/ink/printers/process/employees/attitude of these places do not even come close to the results possible with even relatively simple to learn/use variable graded RC or even better yet...Fiber paper, simple and cheap chemicals and a cheap enlarger.
 
Sorry for the painfully long-winded response/comments/advice...I am just trying to help the best I can! And if anyone disagrees or has something to add/counter any point of mine please let us know since I admit to only being a student and I am sure we can all learn for it.