Medium format film

KarmaGarda

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of advice in regards to what type of medium format film to purchase. You see, I went a bit crazy yesterday (well, about €30/€35 crazy) and purchased an old medium format camera - a Lubitel 166B. Now I'm thinking of getting some of the following film for it: Ilford HP5 Plus 120 for B&W and some of the 120 format Kodak Ektar 100 rolls for colour.

Also, I know I'll have to break myself in a bit, so I would like to use some really cheap, semi decent film to start off with rather than wasting good film. So, I suppose I have 2 questions:

1. Would you agree with my film choices above? (Ilford HP5 Plus 120 and 120 format Kodak Ektar 100)

2. What would you suggest for my first few rolls before unleashing the (bad) magic on the ilford and kodak ektar?


Eagerly awaiting your replies!

DaireQuinlan

go into gunnes and camera exchange and see if they have any cheap short dated or out dated film they want to give you as cheap as you can persuade them to. You could just stock up on cheap crap on EBay, but I suspect you probably want to get a roll in there ASAP and get shooting

KarmaGarda

Why did I move to London!! I think I can apply that same advice here though. I'll scout out some shops see if they have out of date stuff.

Also, I should have mentioned, the camera hasn't arrived yet so I'm not in a rush to get film just yet. I'm expecting it later this week. When it does arrive I do plan on getting a roll straight in there

trishw78

does your Lubitel have a built in light meter?

jjoconnor

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

go into gunnes and camera exchange and see if they have any cheap short dated or out dated film they want to give you as cheap as you can persuade them to. You could just stock up on cheap crap on EBay, but I suspect you probably want to get a roll in there ASAP and get shooting

you probably won't get ilford or ektar in dublin, and if they are expired you might end up paying more.

120 in gunns/ photolabs/ camera centre etc is fuji or kodak portra, anything else buy online.

if you want to buy in dublin, john gunn seems to have the best prices

DaireQuinlan

KarmaGarda wrote:

Why did I move to London!!

well you could have SAID :rolleyes:

And yeah, HP5 is a nice film. Ektar can be a bit unforgiving with regard to exposure though. It's kinda like a slide film a bit in that regard.

DaireQuinlan

jjoconnor wrote: »

you probably won't get ilford or ektar in dublin, and if they are expired you might end up paying more

I know yeah, I was suggesting he just go in and grab whatever they had going. And anyone who actually pays more for expired film that's readily available un-expired is a moron. Or alternatively some sort of super-cool hipster urban outfitters lomo street cred dude. IE, a moron.

KarmaGarda

trishw78 wrote: »

does your Lubitel have a built in light meter?

Unfortunately not. All mechanical, no batteries required! So I may have to get myself a handheld jobbie. We'll see.

jjoconnor wrote: »

you probably won't get ilford or ektar in dublin, and if they are expired you might end up paying more.

120 in gunns/ photolabs/ camera centre etc is fuji or kodak portra, anything else buy online.

if you want to buy in dublin, john gunn seems to have the best prices

Thanks for the info. I have spotted ilford and ektar online at what I can only imagine to be reasonable enough prices. So no worries there. I might take the approach of just asking in some shops if they have any cheapo stuff going. We'll see.

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

well you could have SAID :rolleyes:

And yeah, HP5 is a nice film. Ektar can be a bit unforgiving with regard to exposure though. It's kinda like a slide film a bit in that regard.

This is all new to me so everything is going to be unforgiving to start with . Exciting times ahead :pac:

sineadw

I got a load of Ilford a while back? Both HP5 and ProPan. Haven't looked for Ektar yet. Why - is it usually difficult to source?

@OP - I'd be scouring for out of date stuff too. Doing the same in Dublin

jjoconnor

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I know yeah, I was suggesting he just go in and grab whatever they had going. And anyone who actually pays more for expired film that's readily available un-expired is a moron. Or alternatively some sort of super-cool hipster urban outfitters lomo street cred dude. IE, a moron.

gunns have some expired portra (i think) but they charge more for some reason they gave me that i don't remember, and then advised me not to buy it! i love them in there.

karmagarda - try doing some searches on flickr like so:

lubitel 166b & hp5 -
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+hp5&m=text

ektar 100
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+ektar+100&m=text

portra vc
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+portra+vc&m=text

t64
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+portra+vc&m=text

cross processed provia
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+provia+xpro&m=text

neopan
http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=Lubitel+166B+neopan&m=text

etc!

DaireQuinlan

KarmaGarda wrote: »

Unfortunately not. All mechanical, no batteries required! So I may have to get myself a handheld jobbie. We'll see.

Just meter with whatever you have handy, DSLR or whatever. Or wing it. I've used sunny 16* to good effect a couple of times with negative film. B&W film is pretty forgiving with regard to how you can abuse it and still get a good exposure ...

*or rather sunny 11 as I've come to realise here in Ireland...

CabanSail

Just go to 7dayshop & order a few some form there.

Fuji Professional PRO160S £2.69 each. or 3+ £2.49 each Delivered.

Loads more of a similar price. Hardly worth using cheap stuff

KarmaGarda

Wow, thanks jjoconnor! Will have a look at those now.

@Daire: Doh! I was already advised that by a mate (use the DSLR for metering) and I forgot already . Thanks for the reminder! That's what I'll do.

@Sinead: Sounds like the best idea! There's a couple close by I'll start scouring

KarmaGarda

CabanSail wrote: »

Just go to 7dayshop & order a few some form there.

Fuji Professional PRO160S £2.69 each. or 3+ £2.49 each Delivered.

Loads more of a similar price. Hardly worth using cheap stuff

If I can't get cheaper than that then you're probably right. I was hoping to pick up 10/15 somewhat decent rolls for a tenner or something to get me started. We'll see!

jjoconnor

sineadw wrote: »

I got a load of Ilford a while back? Both HP5 and ProPan. Haven't looked for Ektar yet. Why - is it usually difficult to source?:)

in a dublin shop yeah, not sure why but i guess because demand for 120 wouldn't be that high so most places just stock the typical fuji range and maybe some kodak. same with 135 now, i tried to get 1600 neopan recently and couldn't believe how many places don't sell it anymore

DaireQuinlan

CabanSail wrote: »

Just go to 7dayshop & order a few some form there.

Fuji Professional PRO160S £2.69 each. or 3+ £2.49 each Delivered.

Loads more of a similar price. Hardly worth using cheap stuff

Uh, actually yeah this is probably the best thing to do. I get all my film from 7dayshop, cheapest place that I've found. Although I would come down overwhelmingly in favour of kodak negative films rather than fuji ones. I just get on better with them. Portra films scan like a dream.

jjoconnor

CabanSail wrote: »

Just go to 7dayshop & order a few some form there.

i've used 7dayshop for film i can't get here and they've been fine. forgot to send my order once(!) but no other problems and very cheap + good range of films

DaireQuinlan

jjoconnor wrote: »

in a dublin shop yeah, not sure why but i guess because demand for 120 wouldn't be that high so most places just stock the typical fuji range and maybe some kodak. same with 135 now, i tried to get 1600 neopan recently and couldn't believe how many places don't sell it anymore

Yeah there's some nonsense (or at least was last year sometime) with whoever is responsible for distributing kodak film here. I think it was around last year when I was looking to get some portra 800, both a guy in conns and another guy in the camera exchange were both complaining about the situation. They've no guarantees when they'll get new stock and what'll be in it. Thats why most shops here (or at least the last time I checked) have a great selection of fuji and only a so-so selection of kodak. It was round about then that I just started getting everything online.

humberklog

Could be an idea to just run some really cherap 35mm through it 1st and have it developed on the cheap too. It'll let you know if you've any nasty light leaks.

KarmaGarda

humberklog wrote: »

Could be an idea to just run some really cherap 35mm through it 1st and have it developed on the cheap too. It'll let you know if you've any nasty light leaks.

Sounds like a good idea. Could produce interesting results too. I must go look for an online Lubitel guide/manual now. Haven't a monkeys how to use one :pac:

DaireQuinlan

humberklog wrote: »

Could be an idea to just run some really cherap 35mm through it 1st and have it developed on the cheap too. It'll let you know if you've any nasty light leaks.

Might be a little more complicated on the Lubitel, some models have a red window on the back for counting frames, so if you stick a roll of 35mm into it you're going to have to guesstimate your advance. Presumably by counting turns on the winding lever/knob. I'm willing to bet someone has done it already online though and posted the info

trishw78

KarmaGarda wrote: »

Unfortunately not. All mechanical, no batteries required! So I may have to get myself a handheld jobbie. We'll see.

yeah I was going to say you'll have to get one.

jjoconnor

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Yeah there's some nonsense (or at least was last year sometime) with whoever is responsible for distributing kodak film here. I think it was around last year when I was looking to get some portra 800, both a guy in conns and another guy in the camera exchange were both complaining about the situation. They've no guarantees when they'll get new stock and what'll be in it. Thats why most shops here (or at least the last time I checked) have a great selection of fuji and only a so-so selection of kodak. It was round about then that I just started getting everything online.

is that what it is? because the only place i've found kodak is gunns and all they have is portra vc & nc. all the fuji film you want but no proper kodak selection. stupid distributors

humberklog

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Might be a little more complicated on the Lubitel, some models have a red window on the back for counting frames, so if you stick a roll of 35mm into it you're going to have to guesstimate your advance. Presumably by counting turns on the winding lever/knob. I'm willing to bet someone has done it already online though and posted the info

Yeah it's pretty handy especially if you get really cheap film. Offer one roll up for practice in loading and unloading. Load a roll on, keep back open and count the turns to see how much it takes to create one exposure. Also practice loading and unloading up to the popint you can do it with your eyes closed, literally. As then you can replicate what you've practiced in a dark room (any room with lights out, camera in a bag and put under a duvet works for me). Remember you can just wind the same roll back so you can practice by only using one roll a number of times.

KarmaGarda

humberklog wrote: »

Yeah it's pretty handy especially if you get really cheap film. Offer one roll up for practice in loading and unloading. Load a roll on, keep back open and count the turns to see how much it takes to create one exposure. Also practice loading and unloading up to the popint you can do it with your eyes closed, literally. As then you can replicate what you've practiced in a dark room (any room with lights out, camera in a bag and put under a duvet works for me). Remember you can just wind the same roll back so you can practice by only using one roll a number of times.

Never thought of that! I think rerolling the same one over and over until I have it mastered is a bloody great idea! Cheers for that hk.

I had a scout around a couple of places here local for film and it seems online is going to be the cheapest/easiest option. Best price I was quoted was £20 for a pack of 5 colour films, and they had to order it in. I can get up to 8 off 7dayshop for that so online is the best option.

Fun times!

uprising

It sounds like your planning to fail, why not get decent film and try get good shots straight away, you'll save a quid a roll on out of date or cheap film and the processing will cost the same.
Most negative film allows for under or over exposure and you will still get decent results. As said use your dslr and maybe a grey card for exposure metering and you can't go wrong really, just remember to set iso on your camera same as whatever film your using, but I think your wasting your time "breaking in" the camera, what will you do if you get a great shot and it's somehow flawed because the film was a bit dodgy or substandard.

KarmaGarda

uprising wrote: »

It sounds like your planning to fail, why not get decent film and try get good shots straight away, you'll save a quid a roll on out of date or cheap film and the processing will cost the same.
Most negative film allows for under or over exposure and you will still get decent results. As said use your dslr and maybe a grey card for exposure metering and you can't go wrong really, just remember to set iso on your camera same as whatever film your using, but I think your wasting your time "breaking in" the camera, what will you do if you get a great shot and it's somehow flawed because the film was a bit dodgy or substandard.

I'm not so much planning to fail as such, I suppose I'm just trying to be realistic. It's a camera I have absolutely no knowledge about until I spotted in on ebay, googled it, and said why not! Maybe I'm being a bit over pedantic and should dive in head first as you've suggested. I do have the DSLR to do my metering so I can't go awfully wrong!

humberklog

KG my tips aren't about you failing but the camera failing you through damage or age. Always worth inspecting an object before committing one's self.

KarmaGarda

humberklog wrote: »

KG my tips aren't about you failing but the camera failing you through damage or age. Always worth inspecting an object before committing one's self.

I know, and don't worry, I didn't read them as that either!

uprising

KarmaGarda wrote: »

I'm not so much planning to fail as such, I suppose I'm just trying to be realistic. It's a camera I have absolutely no knowledge about until I spotted in on ebay, googled it, and said why not! Maybe I'm being a bit over pedantic and should dive in head first as you've suggested. I do have the DSLR to do my metering so I can't go awfully wrong!

Yea I didn't really mean your planning to fail, but if I were you I'd get good film and go for good shot's with the very first roll, also stick to the same film and you will get consistant results as different films have different characteristics.
But definately go for good shots from the start, and only press the shutter when your happy, I was actually surprised with some of the pics I came across coming from that camera, they were better than I expected, and if you use finegrain film it's like having a 500 megapixel camera.

Mr. Grieves

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Might be a little more complicated on the Lubitel, some models have a red window on the back for counting frames, so if you stick a roll of 35mm into it you're going to have to guesstimate your advance. Presumably by counting turns on the winding lever/knob. I'm willing to bet someone has done it already online though and posted the info

OP, if there's a red window you'll have to tape it up very well to stop the light getting in; 35mm film has no backing paper remember.

Trying to use 35mm needlessly complicates things. Any shop which has 120 will have Ilford, 7dayshop is probably good for too you because UK postage is free.

A bit of patience/care with each shot and loading and unloading will probably save you more than the difference in price of cheap vs expensive film, at least over a small number of rolls.

KarmaGarda

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

OP, if there's a red window you'll have to tape it up very well to stop the light getting in; 35mm film has no backing paper remember.

Trying to use 35mm needlessly complicates things. Any shop which has 120 will have Ilford, 7dayshop is probably good for too you because UK postage is free.

A bit of patience/care with each shot and loading and unloading will probably save you more than the difference in price of cheap vs expensive film, at least over a small number of rolls.

Good point about the lack of paper backing on 35mm. I never thought of that as being an issue. Think I'm going to go all out with Ilford 120 HP5+ anyway. It's not overly expensive on 7dayshop, and it going to suit my needs.

sineadw

Your post reminded me that I have one of these I've not processed anything from since I got it about 2 months ago, mainly because I kept hitting the shutter release by accident when I wanted to change exposure etc. Maybe it's just me, but I've found them to be tricky devils (compared to my Flexaret at least), and I'd be expecting to fail a few times. I've buggered 2 rolls already. Possibly with some interesting results...

Anyway, you reminded me I had one, and I got ANOTHER lesson in its workings tonight, so thank you Results (possibly) to follow...

KarmaGarda

Ohh! Please do share the results! Would love to see them

thefizz

If anyone likes the idea of using 35mm film in a TLR, check out the Blackbird Fly which is actually a dedicated 35mm TLR. I got one in Gunns a few weeks ago but have not developed any films from it yet. You can shoot normal 36x24mm, 24x24mm or 36x36mm which actually includes the sprocket holes. It has one shutter speed and two apertures. A search online will show some cool results.

Peter

DaireQuinlan

thefizz wrote: »

If anyone likes the idea of using 35mm film in a TLR, check out the Blackbird Fly which is actually a dedicated 35mm TLR. I got one in Gunns a few weeks ago but have not developed any films from it yet. You can shoot normal 36x24mm, 24x24mm or 36x36mm which actually includes the sprocket holes. It has one shutter speed and two apertures. A search online will show some cool results.

Peter

I was looking at these when they came out. Unfortunately they're ...

1. Ludicrously expensive for what they are (how much did you pay in gunns BTW ?)

2. You can't focus using the viewing lens. I mean this is the whole POINT of using a TLR :eek: If you can't focus you may aswell just have a viewfinder, which makes it just another plastic toy camera, albeit an interesting one.

on the pro's side, it does LOOK cool. I -do- think that superheadz is making a solid effort to become the new LSI. They'll probably merge into some unholy cartel at some point.

thefizz

Yea they are expensive, I think I paid €110 for mine. I'd expect the price to come done over time as I recon the manufacturer is cashing in on the novelty factor. They are well made though and won't have any light leaks, although that might actually disappoint some people .

They use zone focusing which is similar to the Holga.

The advantage over the Holga is that you get 36 exposures and there would be a lot more places to get the films developed.

They are quite small and light so handy as a sort of walk about camera.

Fajitas!

thefizz wrote: »

Yea they are expensive, I think I paid €110 for mine. I'd expect the price to come done over time as I recon the manufacturer is cashing in on the novelty factor. They are well made though and won't have any light leaks, although that might actually disappoint some people .

They use zone focusing which is similar to the Holga.

The advantage over the Holga is that you get 36 exposures and there would be a lot more places to get the films developed.

They are quite small and light so handy as a sort of walk about camera.

110!?!?!

They're £67 over in London at the moment, but I think it's still too expensive. A mate of mine has one, and it's good fun, but it'd be fantastic to be able to focus through the VF.

DaireQuinlan

thefizz wrote: »

Yea they are expensive, I think I paid €110 for mine.

Yeeks, I payed that much for my Yashica Mat 124G

thefizz

I will say that the view finder is very bright and clear unlike the Lubitel which drives me crazy sometimes. But as I said I do agree they are costly. Still glad I got mine though, great fun to use.

KarmaGarda

Ordered this last night:

10 x Ilford HP5+
10 x Fuji Professional PRO160S

Fun times!

Fajitas!

When you're getting it developed, there'd a place called Photofusion in Brixton which I've been using, they're nice inside there, and it has it's own gallery - You can even rent out the darkrooms/scanners and do it all yourself, but most importantly, it's the cheapest I've found in London - About 4 quid a roll, develop only.

It's only a 2 minute walk from Brixton tube station aswell, which is handy if you're just dropping stuff off or picking up.

KarmaGarda

Fajitas! wrote: »

When you're getting it developed, there'd a place called Photofusion in Brixton which I've been using, they're nice inside there, and it has it's own gallery - You can even rent out the darkrooms/scanners and do it all yourself, but most importantly, it's the cheapest I've found in London - About 4 quid a roll, develop only.

It's only a 2 minute walk from Brixton tube station aswell, which is handy if you're just dropping stuff off or picking up.

Cheers for the tip. Must ask what price the place beside me does. I'd get them scanned onto CD as well, don't have the setup at home yet.

What size would you recommend getting the prints done on?

Fajitas!

How long is a piece of string? :pac:

I usually don't print much, then print off a batch of quite small photos, selected from what I like, then whittle them down and see what I'll print on a larger scale.

It'll probably be a lot cheaper to keep'em digital for the moment, and when you're happy with what you're getting, you can start printing a lot more consistantly.

KarmaGarda

About this <

---

> long?

KarmaGarda

Fajitas! wrote: »

there'd a place called Photofusion in Brixton which I've been using, <...> About 4 quid a roll, develop only.

Holy shoytebags, the place beside me charges 9 quid for develop only, 14 quid for develop+cd. Brixton here I come!

Fajitas!

Lol, yeah, I thought you'd be back with a reply like that

oscarBravo

For those of us nowhere near Brixton, where's good to get 120 developed/printed? I've some film on order for my €5 Lubitel, but no idea where to get it processed.

Bear in mind I'm out in the wilderness of the wesht, so we're talking mail order.

KarmaGarda

There was another post about online development of 120 film that may have some answers to that!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055727744

zero19

Lads i'm looking into getting a holga 120N (big spender me!) Where's the cheapest place to buy?

thefizz

€49 in Gunns I think but €86 in the Gallery of Photography the last time I was there.