Processing film

Hi everyone, I am a college student currently taking an Introduction to Photographic Medium class and I have a few questions about processing film and how the camera works. I have a Canon EOS Rebel X and I use 400 TX film.

1. Some of my negatives on one roll may come out perfect meanwhile some do not come out at all. Why is that?

2. How does contrast play a role in the overall picture? and how do you produce contrast?

1. Have the camera checked, the shutter may not be working correctly ever time resulting in no exposure when there should be one.

2. Contrast is the difference between tones/colors in a scene. In B&W contrast is controlled by exposure and development. Color print films are developed for a specified time therefore contrast is controlled by primarily by exposure. Exposure is controlled by metering. Learning to meter takes practice. Meters are calibrated to read whatever tone/color they are pointed to as 18% Gray. 18% gray is considered mid tone. Matrix metering averages the tones to 18% gray. If you point the meter toward a white object the suggested exposure will make the white look gray/dull white in the print. If you point the meter at a black object the meter will make the object mid gray or washed out black in the print.

I remember the first time I learned that film CAN be loaded incorrectly. With a 35mm for example, you need to use the take up handle to get all the slack out of the spool after you load the film and close the back. Then every time you advance the film you can watch the take up handle rotate, indicating film is actually being advanced every time you THINK it is being advanced. We don't have to do that with digital....

I remember the first time I learned that film CAN be loaded incorrectly. With a 35mm for example, you need to use the take up handle to get all the slack out of the spool after you load the film and close the back. Then every time you advance the film you can watch the take up handle rotate, indicating film is actually being advanced every time you THINK it is being advanced. We don't have to do that with digital....

 

Hard to watch the spool spin on a Rebel.

 

In fact, these cameras work "backwards." When you load a fresh roll of film, it actually spools the entire roll out onto the take-up spool and then wind each frame back in to the film can as it is exposed. Given the target audience of these cameras, presumably the logic was that if the back was opened before the end of the roll the already exposed frames would be "safe."

 

In any case, it's been a while since I've played with one, but I think it would indicate improper loading on the LCD if that was the case.

The fact that some of your negatives are worthy and others absent is the ordinary outcome. There are countless reasons for the blank frames, most likely, the camera exposure was so feeble that nothing got recorded. This is what happens when the shutter and aperture settings are in disagreement with the conditions.

 

Contrast is another story: How to begin? Contrast is the span of tones from pure white to maximum black. If you were to succeed an harvest the full range of tones a film can harvest, your films tonal range would span about 10 or 11 stops. In the jargon of photography we use the word “stop” to define the steps of exposure. A “stop” is a 2x increase or decrease in exposing light energy. This doubling of halving increment was defined early on. We typically adjust our lens opening (aperture) by increasing or decreasing the ability of the lens to capture light using this 2x increment (step).

 

Should an image present a picture with a full scale, we say the contrast is “normal” if an image omits much of the center of the scale we say it has high contrast. If an image is bias towards only one end of the scale, we say it is flat, lacking in contrast.

 

Now most pictorial film is manufactured to deliver a full scale. If we are talking about a negative film, likely it will be displayed on paper. Thus we need a matting photo paper with such a scales that when the two dovetail together the results are deems “normal”. Historically papers we made with different contrast scales. The idea is to enhance a negative that might otherwise yield a disappointing scale.

 

Now there are no rules in art, you are free to make prints that are normal, flat, or contrastry. We adjust by adjusting lighting. We adjust by altering developing time. We adjust by choice of materials. We adjust subject matter. We adjust using software. We adjust and we adjust. Again, no rules in art. Also, when we make images we generally strive to make a faithful image. That’s one with “normal” contrast. However when we put on our artist hat, contrast manipulation is one of the keys to this kingdom.

If you have very different results in similar lighting and exposure conditions, there might be camera problems.

 

But otherwise, it could be, as they say, "user error".

 

For a manual camera, you are expected to set the appropriate exposure.

 

With an automatic camera, some will shoot anyway, even when it is too dark.

Why not ask your tutors?

Isn't that what they get paid for?

 

"Go and do some research on the Internet" is very lazy teaching.

Edited November 8, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

(snip)

"Go and do some research on the Internet" is very lazy teaching.

 

That is true, but it does encourage new users to get involved in the discussions.

"...but it does encourage new users to get involved in the discussions."

 

- What discussion? These student postings all seem to be hit 'n' run threads with no follow up from the OP.

 

We're either just doing their homework for them, or they don't want any further involvement in the forum.

"...but it does encourage new users to get involved in the discussions."

 

- What discussion? These student postings all seem to be hit 'n' run threads with no follow up from the OP.

 

We're either just doing their homework for them, or they don't want any further involvement in the forum.

 

OK, in that case I have to agree.

 

I don't remember now, though it wasn't so many years ago, how I got started here.

 

Yes, they should come back, read some replies, and follow up.

 

There used to be a suggestion for USENET newsgroups, that new users should read posts for some weeks before making the first post.

I suspect that was rarely followed, and has likely been forgotten.

 

One does hope that the students are taking the course because of their interest in photography, and not just for the grade.

 

So, maybe after the course, they will return with real questions and real discussion.

"...but it does encourage new users to get involved in the discussions."

 

- What discussion? These student postings all seem to be hit 'n' run threads with no follow up from the OP.

 

We're either just doing their homework for them, or they don't want any further involvement in the forum.

 

College instructors all have differing ways of teaching and this seems to just be a way of having the students branch out and gain a variety of opinions in the photographic field. While you may seem to be annoyed that many students are posting on this forum it is a problem in what way? The students branching on to this site, whether it be assigned or personal, should not matter. If it affects your daily life so much than just do not read the student forums and keep your opinions to yourself. These are students pursuing a degree to reach a future and better themselves and they do not need negative response from someone that thinks they are entitled just because you may have more experience in the field. Your input and opinion is valid in your own sense but keep it to yourself and your mouth shut unless you plan to be proactive in helping the student learn and become better in this field.

And your berating of me has been sooo helpful to these students Jesse.

 

The point is that the questions being asked would (or could) be much better answered in person, or by demonstration by the tutor.

 

For example:

"1. Some of my negatives on one roll may come out perfect meanwhile some do not come out at all. Why is that?"

 

How is anyone supposed to address that question without examining the film?

 

It's the lazy tutor that I was indirectly criticising, not the students.

 

Provoking the tutor into doing their job properly might actually be in the best interest of these students.

Edited November 15, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

1 message, last seen 8th November...

In some other (non photography) forums that I read, there are requests for solution manuals to popular text books.

 

I suppose some students will post here to satisfy the requirement, and not even come back to check for replies.

They are just in it for the grade.

 

But maybe some will be more interested, and come back for active discussions.

 

And I am sure that some non-students post, then never check for replies.