Film is Dead for Overseas Travel…

A 3eV (blue) photon absorbed by AgBr generates a developable grain.

Really? 100% photon efficiency?

Last time I was even remotely interested in such things, I read that it took at least 3 photons, on average, to make an AgBr crystal developable.

at least 300 rolls of 120 for this kind of project, 500 would be preferred.

If you're talking about colour film, that's about $5000 in film and processing costs alone. Going a fair way toward buying a Fuji GFX 100 system, or similar.

You've got to be pretty sure of publication or print sales to outlay that amount 'on spec'. And then any agency or publisher is going to want, or make, digital scans as an interstage to any kind of mass distribution. So where's the advantage to using film? When the images are only going to end up as a collection of numbers in AdobeRGB space?

Plus you can't erase and re-use any duff pictures with film. It just doesn't make commercial sense at all, unless you're in with a crowd that are overly impressed with the fact that you can shove a roll of paper and plastic into a camera before pushing the button.

So where's the advantage to using film?

It's often in the attachment to film as a means rather than as an end. Some people like the feel of working with film and film cameras. And, though the negs might be scanned for professional use, perhaps there will be a more personal use of prints directly from the film as well. People's mileage varies.

It's often in the attachment to film as a means rather than as an end. Some people like the feel of working with film and film cameras. And, though the negs might be scanned for professional use, perhaps there will be a more personal use of prints directly from the film as well. People's mileage varies.

In case you have not noticed it before, Joe is NOT a fan of film.

Joe is NOT a fan of film.

REALLY???

But there are plenty of film fans still out there, desperately working through the Kübler-Ross five stages.

I have many friends who are film users and since I really love old film cameras, I still shoot a fair amount of it myself, but it is not getting any easier.

REALLY???

 

But there are plenty of film fans still out there, desperately working through the Kübler-Ross five stages.

 

I have many friends who are film users and since I really love old film cameras, I still shoot a fair amount of it myself, but it is not getting any easier.

FYI, I am a BIG fan of film

In case you have not noticed it before, Joe is NOT a fan of film.

LOL. I've noticed. Still worth a reminder now and then that there are others in the world with different needs, tastes, and desires. :)

As well as I know, one is developable with one photon, though maybe not enough for good photography.

But putting 70keV into a grain does not make it 10,000 times more developable than 7eV.

(But yes probably a little more than 3eV.)

When I go on trips, I usually take a film camera and a few rolls of film, along with the digital camera.

Not 500 rolls of film!

I try to have mine hand inspected, as I often use Diafine for higher EI, even if the actual film is less than 800.

Though I do remember one time the TSA agent commenting on the expiration date on the roll, probably before he was born.

As far as I know, TSA rules still require them to hand inspect when asked, and they are usually nice about it, though not always fast.

So far, I don't know any other country that has that requirement.

Not sure if you're aware of it--sounds like maybe not--but one of the folks (some would say one of the greats) who clung to film for publication use long after most people went digital finally gave it up way back in 2008 because he was worried about losing months (or more) of hard work (and on one occasion did lose over 50 rolls of film) because some officious jobsworth at an airport somewhere was going to ruin it by refusing to hand inspect it and maybe zap it with some destructive level of radiation.

Sebastiao Salgado now shoots digitally--although his assistants produce simulated contact sheets for him, and he has the digital image "printed" to a 4x5 inch film negative, so that the final, published images at least have some of the look of film. (The POV Interview: Sebastião Salgado – Point of View Magazine)

I love to shoot film--I just bought an RZ67 kit so I can shoot more of it, including loads of color film I've had in the freezer for ages. But any idea that you can demand hand inspection at some foreign airport (again, TSA officials in the US have been, in 100% of my many experiences, totally okay with it) and that you're going to get satisfaction every time may very well, I fear, run up against the reality that the world--and particular individuals in it--don't always move to our expectations.

OP...do film and digital for BU. film cost $$, suck it up. If you cant afford all that film entails then that is your answer. No way round doing film cheap anymore. This is not the 1970's.

Film expensive today v the 70s?? Not so sure. In 1970 a roll of Tri-X cost me about $1.25. (maybe a little less) Today, the same roll costs ~$8.00 depending on where you buy it. In 1970 a large Snickers bar cost 10 cents, or perhaps a bit more. Now? Even the smallest bar is over $1.00. And don't forget the price of gas back then. It's all relative.

Slide film prices have been going up faster than others. But overall, they aren't so bad.

Over the years, processing prices have gone down, at least prints. When I first started

in darkroom work, I remember that the prices for reprints (3x5) were $0.07 for black

and white, and $0.22 for color. That was 1967, and one of the things that convinced

me that darkroom work was a good idea.

It is today easy to get color prints for less than $0.22, in addition to the inflation

difference in 54 years. The popular films and sizes are mostly reasonable.

Though Super-8 cartridges are over $30, black and white or color, which does

seem high.

It seems that the film is already bought.

Unless there is another use for it, it doesn't help so much to have it.

But that still leaves $10/roll. And the Hasselblad will also be useful in the future.

I don't enjoy traveling and I hate flying so I avoid it as much as possible so I don't really know the latest airport security processes. But, having said that, I do sometines wonder if you can "force" a hand inspection by putting your film in a container that x-ray cannot penetrate? Then, your luggage gets pulled to the side and you're told to open the package for inspection. Would this work?

I did just that and was asked to take the film out of the lead bags and everything was put through the scanner at NY's JFK ; mind you this was before the new scanners were installed. I suspect that I would be asked to do the same again.

Go over on a boat and damn the airlines.

Hmm... I'm thinkin' icebergs...

http://bayouline.com/o2.gif

My $.02. For a number of reasons, I prefer film - one of them being a smaller footprint for the street - Nikon FE2:and two primes. A few months back I posted on the Nikon forum (no reason to repost here) about the feasibility of film for a “la Ruta Maya” archaeological photography trip to Guatemala if COVID ever abates and travel is once again possibie. I decided not to go with film. While I can probably get hand inspections from TSA in Houston, Guatemala is a different scenario. Lots of narco traffic across the Peten - I’m not about to request hand Inspections from the drug police at El Munrdo Maya airport in Flores, Guatemala. Who knows where that would lead! Looks like I go with my giant D700, a few primes, and rely on NIK software if I need the film look.

I can’t risk having film damaged, no matter how slightly, from CT scanners.

What about hand inspection? If you show up at the airport early (i.e. give yourself and the airport employees plenty of time) and just politely but defiantly refuse to put your film through the scanner, wouldn't some supervisor concede to your request for a hand inspection? I've had recent hand inspections granted.

I have consistently and successfully required hand inspection of film in the U.S., Britain, France, South Korea, Mongolia (twice!), Slovenia, Germany, etc. One must be very persistent and polite. There was one time they threw it through the xray anyway, but I had it in a fully lead-lined pouch. I told them in advance about the lead, they did it anyway, got the big black blob I warned them about, and THEN hand inspected it. It worked fine without ruining the film; though that was about 3 years ago.