Tag: b/w

The Peak District on Ilford Pan 100

Last month we took a trip with some friends to a tiny camping barn in the Peak District, for a 30th birthday celebration. Lots of laughs were had, new friends made, and I struggled to work through a roll of film. Not for any particular reason, I just couldn’t find anything that looked as good through the viewfinder as I expected.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I finally developed the roll of Ilford Pan 100 yesterday, (in Rodinal, 1+25, 9 minutes). The Pan 100 was a gift from the Emulsive Secret Santa last year, and I’d not used it before. It gives a wide range of tones, some fantastic sharpness and deep, lovely blacks. I’ll definitely be buying another couple of rolls!

Rescanning old negatives, and the curse of dust

I recently (grudgingly) sold my Nikon Coolscan IV 35mm scanner, to be able to buy a flatbed that could accommodate both 35mm and 120 negatives. I’m still not massively sold on the flimsy film holders, as opposed to the easy-peasy “feed it in the hole and wait for the clanging to stop” method of the Coolscan. However, I can’t fault the quality of the scans, even if the method of obtaining them is a bit of a pain.

These shots were taken in the spring, locally to me – a test of my new 50mm Bronica SQ-A lens, and mostly metered on my phone or by eye (still not perfect, but not bad!).

I scanned and processed these all at night, in the dark… which meant I didn’t spot the MASSIVE amounts of dust on the negatives. At some point I’ll go through and clone it all out, but for now, it’s nice to have them properly scanned.

 

A new scanner, and some wedding photos

I’ve used a trusty Nikon Coolscan IV for years, since I bought it for a song from someone who didn’t really know what it was (sometimes in life, you get lucky). It’s a fantastic scanner – quick, produces scans of decent size, and because it focuses on the film itself, capable of producing sharp results. However, it’s only designed for 35mm film – as I’m shooting more and more 120 film recently, I thought it was (sadly) time to replace it.

Continue reading A new scanner, and some wedding photos

Experiences in home developing

… or “How to ruin a roll of film”.

I shot a roll of Fomapan 400 through my Pentax MX, over the course of a few months. It’s a film I’ve had success with before, but only developed in shops. I’ve wanted to have a go at home developing for ages, and picked up the chemicals from AG Photographic. I ordered powdered Kodak D76 (to make up one litre), Ilford Rapid Fixer, and Tetanal Mirasol 2000 antistatic. All cost about £15 plus postage, and I already had a Paterson System 3 tank and changing bag.

Continue reading Experiences in home developing