Which Camera do You Use?

[Agrippa]

Some canny gear in these posts  !    Must get some film ! 
BTW in a charity shop a few weeks ago i got a Mamiya DSX 500 ,
a bit like a Pentax Spotmatic, looks like it was hardly used,
50mm lens pristine, a bargain at £12.

[petercharlesfagg]

If you pick your battles, and aren't bothered about convenience, film beats digital every time.

http://danbarlowphotography.co.uk/index.php/why-i-still-shoot-film/

What a beautiful sight!

Some of my absolute favourites in there!

HP5, FP4!  In the 50 and more years of my photographic endeavours I cannot possibly bring to mind the thousands of feet of FP4 that have been through my hands!

Cheers Peter.

[Mr Sprue]

If you pick your battles, and aren't bothered about convenience, film beats digital every time.

http://danbarlowphotography.co.uk/index.php/why-i-still-shoot-film/

What a beautiful sight!

Some of my absolute favourites in there!

HP5, FP4!  In the 50 and more years of my photographic endeavours I cannot possibly bring to mind the thousands of feet of FP4 that have been through my hands!

Cheers Peter.

You know what I was going to give my old EOS 100 away but after seeing those films I'm tempted to buy a film and give it another go!

Just one thing though, do shops still sell 35mm? 

[Agrippa]

Some do,   depends where you live, if you're after anything
other than colour print film you might have to get it by post.

[MalcolmInN]

Good luck trying to find any hypo locally,
probably set off a security alert asking for amidol

Ah, those were the days
mind u acetic acid for your stop bath is still common in your local fish&chiper !

[Agrippa]

Nova darkroom products aka The Imaging Warehuse sell all the usual dev, stop bath,
fixer etc plus Kodak , ilford films all the old favourites.

[Agrippa]

PS to previous post, Calumet have about 5-6 stores across the country with the
usual films and developers.

A note on their website says orders of  £50 and over shipped FOC.

[MalcolmInN]

PS to previous post, Calumet have about 5-6 stores across the country

Well well, there is one in Bristol ! which these days almost counts as "local" !!
I wonder if they have amidol ? that other lot dont

In the words of the prophet - "get thee behind me Satan, stop all this temptation " at this rate you'll have me spending more time in the dark room than on the layout !!

EDIT " amidol? Did you mean: widow? Your search for "amidol" returned 0 results."
Wot !

[Agrippa]

Nothing beats devving a film in the kitchen and getting
some splashes of fixer onto your food.....

[MalcolmInN]

devving a film in the kitchen

I usually used a spiral tank for mine
Universal ? Johnsons ??

As for splashes, that usually arose from droping the tongs in the dish when fiddlin with the papers

Calumet : ha ! in Bristol but a mere hyperfocal stone throw from Maplin, ample parking as well they say, that is unusual for Brizzle.

Nightnite, a pumpkin has just arrived  > > >

[d-a-n]

You know what I was going to give my old EOS 100 away but after seeing those films I'm tempted to buy a film and give it another go!

Just one thing though, do shops still sell 35mm? 

You should! Supermarkets and simple photo places like Max Spielman will sell basic colour print film like Kodak Colourplus and Fujifilm Superia which will be overpriced at £4-5 a roll (superia 200 should be about £2.50 a roll). Jessops and high street independent camera shops may also carry a bit more of a selection and whereas Jessops might be overpriced, the local could be surprisingly reasonable. The big boy places for film like Calumet will price competitively and will be able to get stuff in with 24 hours notice, however, my local Calumet (Manchester) doesn't keep a full stock in. Online, you have Amazon, WEX and 7 day shop and they offer the best value but you may want to shop locally - where are you in the South East?
For both my professional and personal film developing, I use ds colour labs as I know their chemicals are kept fresh, their lab is clean as a whistle and the chap who I always speak with is very knowledgeable http://www.dscolourlabs.co.uk/film_neg_services.cfm - post them your negs and for £7.50, they'll print and scan them to disc and return it to you first class.

[Webbo]

I really think you guys are nuts over your hankering for film. While it may be that film can produce some effects that digital can't just as vinyl sound has some advantages over digital, but do you really want to return to the bad old days of expensive film and processing? Digital imaging has mostly superceded film for very compelling reasons.

Webbo

[Agrippa]

It's a tradition, digital gives quick results and easy photoshopping etc , but
film can give very high quality if used with skill. Film isn't dearer than digital,
a common misconception. With digital you need a computer, software,
memory cards,batteries, and if you make prints the cost of printer, paper
and ink.

For commercial and news photography digital beats film easy , but for hobbyists
it's doing what  you like, and I use both.

[Bealman]

An interesting comment, which to a certain extent I agree with. However,  as with everything these days, it's the spontaneity.... you can just fire off a heap of frames and select the best one. Very useful for model railway photography.

[d-a-n]

I really think you guys are nuts over your hankering for film. While it may be that film can produce some effects that digital can't just as vinyl sound has some advantages over digital, but do you really want to return to the bad old days of expensive film and processing? Digital imaging has mostly superceded film for very compelling reasons.

Webbo

Why save all those dirty old expensive steam trains when we can have quiet, clean economical electric trains?

I get where you're coming from; digital has meant you can take a whole bunch of pictures, experiment more and improve as a photographer. I shoot digital for work because the inflexibility and insecurity of film would be unmanageable and quickly put me out of business, but there are many reasons beyond cost why you'd shoot film. For me it's about a break from working with digital photographs day in day out, it's the not spending a further 5 hours in front of a screen working on my photos instead of spending time with my family and friends, it's the opportunity to use wonderful old cameras that are solidly built with precision, it's the slowing down to meter and focus, it's the solace of the dark room, it's the contemplation of what you're going to use those 12/24/36 precious frames for, it's the moment of taking the photo and being sure you've set everything correctly, it's the satisfaction of getting an amazing print back, it's the conversations started with other enthusiasts which I wouldn't have if I were holding my Canon 5D3, it's the nostalgia and experience, it's the colour, dynamic range and sheer resolution film can have over even a full frame sensor.

Hopefully you'll see it's not totally irrational.