Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts

31.8.12

Film Matter: Kodak, what's next?

We have already became accustomed to various news from Kodak. Some time ago, they stated film manufacturing is one of the few remaining profitable sectors. Then, they said they will discontinue slide film production, but will keep the remaining film product line alive. Then the last news is they intend to sell the film business simply because they need to clear their 660M$ debts. I think Kodak behaves much like a ship without compass. How much of this misbehavior is due to Antonio Perez' leadership is another question and not the most crucial one. But it is very sad if we should witness the final decay of such a glorious brand and more importantly, their excellent line of film products! In case they sell the film line, we can only hope they sell it to a responsible owner, taking care and advantage of their glorious emulsions like TriX, Ektar, TMax and others! And the bottomline question: are you ready for the next news from Kodak?

30.8.12

Film Matter: The Impossible 8x10 Film is launched!

Dear Readers,
I am sure all of you have (at least) heard about the efforts made by the team of the Impossible Project. Some of you are also using their products already. These people made a terrific effort in bringing back the instant integral film, once Polaroid products went away for good. Although on a small budget and on a very short deadline, they made it happen. And they made it happen once again! Today they started selling the 8x10 film-not the old Polaroid stock, but from their own production! Yes, they have been already working on the ultra-large format 20x24 film, jointly with the 20x24 studio, but that's a niche product par excellence, given also its prohibitive price... Instead, the 8x10 film is meant to be affordable to a larger number of photographers, albeit it won't be cheap (but still cheaper than old Polaroid stock). Here is their brief description about the film.

An "official" test shot made on the new film. Photo by Jennifer Trausch, retrieved from http://www.the-impossible-project.com
I must admit, I have never been particularly interested in instant film, especially not in integral instant film, due to its drawbacks. Only lately, I quite fell in love with the peel-apart ("pack") film made by Fuji and used on an old Polaroid Land camera. But that's another story for another day. In the meantime, we can just wish the Impossible Team will make their product prices more affordable.
Mitja


23.7.12

Monday Column: Your Bathroom Can Be Also Your Darkroom


This is not a column dedicated for seasoned analogue photographers. I will describe my own experience, how I developed my first roll of film. This column is for those photographers who think that analogue photography is something very difficult and complicated and that you need a special equipped room for it. In fact it is not.
In the last column I described that I was attracted into the analogue photography by finding my grandfathers camera. It uses 120 format films. I bought some. I think it was Fuji Across. I enjoyed photographing with that camera. And then, when film was exposed I was before dilemma. Where the hack I could develop this film? In local quick labs they don’t develop B&W films any more. So I informed myself how I could develop B&W films, what do I need for doing that and then I made a decision that I will do it myself. In the bathroom!  I bought a developing thank and borrowed chemicals needed for developing film (thanks to Vlado). You only need two of them, developer and fixer.
The only thing the bathroom must not have is a window. Primary requirement for developing film is that you have a place with total lack of light. It’s needed when you open your camera and transferring film into the developing tank. So I prepared a place for all the action (transferring film from the camera in the developing thank) in the bathroom on washing machine. I prepared chemicals, for developing agent you need some accuracy on dosage and temperature, take a big breath and turn off the light. The most challenging thing in developing a film is when you are putting film into the reel of developing tank. Into complete darkness! You could do it into changing bag, but you don’t see a thing also. You can rely only on your preparation, memory, touch and skill. Practice is also helpful. I complicated for myself with couple of 120 format film taped one after another. My first try to wound the film into the reel was complete disaster. You could not turn on the light and see what went wrong and then correct it. So, after two or three tryouts I succeed and then put the reel into the developing tank. The lid was on and then I could open the light. At last! Afterwards was easy. You simply put developer first, then you wash out then you fix, and then wash again, open the developing tank and dry the film... Ok. Now I’m on slippery territory. If you want (and you want it) to have film developed OK, it’s not so easy after all. You need right dosage of chemicals at right temperature at right time. You need to agitate properly... and so on. But I succeeded.
Now what could I do with developed film? I went to local quick lab to scan it. The result was disappointing. That’s another story.
Matjaž

16.7.12

Monday column: How did I Get Into the Analog Photography


None the less that I’m old enough to start with photography in analogue times, I waited the time that digital cameras was good enough and cheap enough, so I could afford one. Before that I didn’t know how to begin. Black and white photography, with your own developing and printing seemed to me too complicated, colour photography without intimacy and too expensive.  At that time (in the nineties) actually I was photographing with my parents “focus free P&S”. But only sunsets, home cats and dogs. So this time I don’t count as my photographic experience.  So I waited the time when I had enough money to buy my own photographic camera. It was a P&S, and digital. But it was mine own photographic camera. And with it, I could get some photographic experience. But my photographic years (for me) began to counting only when I get a DSLR. Only then, for me none the less, I start the learning of the photographic way.
Agfa Isola 1, a frame from the first roll of film
Then deep into the photography, I started to look at my grandfather’s legacy in different way. I’d remembered that we have an old camera in the cabinet.  I remembered that as a child, from time to time I was taking it from the cabinet and played with it. But wait. It seemed to be in working order. Could possibly be still working? Only film was odd format. The camera was very old, and I wondered could I possibly still get the film for the camera? At that time I have already heard about medium format photographic equipment. But for my surprise when I was taking measures for the opening in camera where the film plane it should be, it was 56 mm in both directions. It was hard to believe it. The camera was too simple to be a medium format! At that time I did not know, that 120 format film was a standard in past times, because of low resolution of film around WW2. Yes Leica format was in use, but at that time (before the war) the only advantage of 35 mm film was portability (and number of frames of course). So when I learned all about 120 format film, I bought some, put it into the camera and start to do some true analogue photography. The camera was Agfa Isola 1. And of course I had to learn how to develop the film after exposure. But this is another story.
Matjaž

13.7.12

Film Matter: The Schizophrenic Ektar


Kodak Ektar might be the most sophisticated color neg film we have ever seen, in my (and also others) view. It was also the latest film emulsion being introduced (in 2008). No surprise then if it incorporates very advanced features, borrowed mostly from the movie film industry (2-electron sensitization from Kodak Vision films, for example). In the 1990's we could only dream about such a (ISO 100) film. While I find Ektar amazing, I never really made up my mind about it. Why? Because in some respects it just »looks too good« to me. Yes, I do really like saturated, contrasty films, but...Ektar's look sometimes almost reminds me of a (high-end) digital photo-it's too "polished" in my eyes. For some people (or circumstances) that might be a good thing, while for some not. Yes, all I have been dealing up to now were scanned negatives (or Frontier-made prints, for that matter). Yes, scanning Ektar is a breeze. I just think I need to make a decent optical print from an Ektar negative to get a fair assessment-hopefully soon...That's the story when your Ektar rolls undergo the standard C-41 processing. But what happens when you push- or cross-process your Ektar rolls? Let's find it out! Here we have 3 remarkable examples of cross- and push-processed Ektar from Hannah, Will and Leo.
Hannah's Ektar processed in E6. Image retrieved from her photostream on Flickr..
 Hannah crossprocessed her Ektar at home in E6 chemistry. The colors are a bit more muted, yet still rich, there's a bit of bluish cast there, but nothing exaggerated. Probably, a light warming filter will compensate the color cast (if you wish so). But most importantly, the film gets an entirely new look. To me, it looks much like the old trichromie photos. It's like we have a brand new slide film to choose from-who did ever say Kodak discontinued all slide films ? -:)

Will's  2-stop push-processed Ektar in C-41. Image retrieved from his photostream on Flickr.
Leo's 3-stop push-processed Ektar in C-41. Image retrieved from his photostream on Flickr
Will and Leo, on the other hand, push-processed Ektar in C-41 for 2 and 3 stops (ISO 400 and 800), respectively. Yes, these negatives inevitably pick up in contrast (corrected after scanning), but their color rendition changes very much as well. In fact, it's like you're dealing with a completely different (uknown?) color-neg film! Another good thing is, graininess remains reasonable. Will's photos remind me of earlier Kodachrome versions, while those of Leo render a more pastel-like color palette. I shall thank all 3 contributors to gave me the opportunity to show a side-by-side comparison of different processing versions of Ektar. It's just amazing how a "vintage" look you can get from the most modern film! Ektar is definitely a film with split-personality and it's worth to try all the processing variants shown (and perhaps some more)!
Silver regards
Mitja

29.6.12

"In the Prairies, Film Photography Rises"

I just found this nice contribution on the Lomography site . I think it's not just yet-another-good-news for the analog community, in terms of our "survival" or just some lifestyle stuff. This story clearly shows analogue photography is not only a goal by itself, it's also a pleasant means for people to stay connected. Luckily, there are many other similar stories like this one. These stories need to be shared. Photos of their gathering can be found here.
Mitja

25.6.12

"Just When You Got Digital Technology, Film Is Back"

This is the title of the article Jenna Wortham published on NY Times . Actually, good news to us and for raising  film-awareness and (re)popularity among people. Yes, but what I found disturbing to me, was the fact that she refers to the "imperfections" of film. "The pictures are rarely perfect", she also states. Any medium has its own imperfections (digital too, for that matter), that's a fact of life. Well, even vacuum tubes have their inherent imperfections-but it's for these very imperfections people still use them to amplify jazz music after all....What I find concerning it's that the majority of people obviously forgot so much about how film looks, behaves etc. But things look promising (again). And there's only one cure to this: buying and shooting film.

silver regards
Mitja