w._keith_griffith

<p>Don't forget,,, (imho), a MF is a much steadier product. C33 vs Nikon Ftn, I felt I could hold a whole stop slower with the C33. I know,,,, film size, enlargement factor,,, blabla, but the bottom line, except when I really needed wide open, I just took better looking negatives with the dumb bell stuck on my left arm</p>

<p>Lots of that sort of problem here back in the 70's when I was doing microfilm in a lab. Humidifiers and dryer sheets are/were the answer. (central Washington State). Winter is dry and cold RH in a heated house is really low.</p>

<p>"LOL My Father is Mr. Dressler I am Mr. Larry or just Larry"<br>

You're the first person I"ve seen do this besides me ;-)<br>

Back to film. The OP'er admitted to being mostly a beginner? Not a thing wrong with doing the first roll by the book, checking your exposure and make sure the neg's scan or print, adjust processing or exposure a bit and go shoot and process for a while, untill you're sure you know what you want to change with the developer or exposure. There was a really good thread "somewhere" about testing resudual silver and thiosulfate in films,,, perhaps on apug,,, bottom line, just follow the manufacture's direction works fine.<br>

So, after a dozen rolls or so, you're going to have a feeling about the contrast range you're getting and a feeling for how it behaves for you in various contrast situations. Then, (imho) you'll be in a position to actually know what it is you want to change by using 1:100 diluted bat blood developer followed by a 2% milk soak before the final rinse. (kidding ;-)<br>

Starting off without a baseline even discussing stand development and various dilutions is fun, but without some prior knowledge seems a bit premature at best, could really add a bunch of variables that can be a pain to troubleshoot even with a lot of experience.</p>

<p>Grab a developer, pick a dilution and schedule, EI and go shoot a roll. scratch head, make small changes shoot second roll. good results? go shoot a bunch of film in various situations to see how you and it handle. decide what to change, (one thing, one thing only), make that change, go shoot a roll,,, did it work? And at that point, follow the yellow brick road.<br>

You know, and I'm not one to talk,,, in the old days, one film, one developer, one lens, one year. Always wish I had the focus to actually do that.</p>

<p>I've used Air cells in my Ftn, and finally needed a cleaning anyway, so I had it converted to use silver oxide. Just a matter of adding a diode and recalibrating.</p>

<p>Really happy with the conversion. Air cells didn't last long enough for me to think it was worth the effort. I usually ended up using a hand held meter.</p>

<p>Wow,,, Go take a dark room class if there's still one around you. If you used Kodachrome for everything, and took the time to get it to respond in a variety of situations, you're not going to have any trouble with b&w.<br>

Get one asa 400 film, and get one slow film. One of the new asa 100's, or an old school asa 50 or so.<br>

Pick one developer out of the air. If you really need to get fancy, pick two. (I wouldn't).<br>

Then go shoot a roll. Develop it. Go back and reshoot after you look at your negatives/prints. Do that a couple of times for each "shoot". Then do the same thing with the other film. Get some of the books other folks have advised. Look at your negatives and how the prints actually look.<br>

I think using an outside lab might be a good idea. The processing should be consistant. Nothing like new film, learining how it responds to changes with filters and exposure while you're monkeying around with adjatation schedules, tempature, old devloper, new developer, I'm tired today,,, <br>

Just like every other skill. It's hours in the cockpit. After 5 years with kodachrome you were to the point of not needing to think much about anything other than focus. You knew if you needed a polarizer. You had a feel if the light meter was leading you astray. How did you know that??? The click counter. Lots and lots of images examined. Go do the same thing with a few dozen rolls of any of the black and white negative film and I think you'll find it will respond just fine.</p>

<p>I do computers for a living. Don't need them during my time. Having said that, I have two hobbies that involve images. One is the 5mp pocket thing I use instead of a note book for projects and "stuff". <br>

The other film images are products I use for my photography hobby. It's all about the hobby, and taking the picture,,, not about a snapshot to remember something.<br>

I've never really gotten this down to words well,,, but if I'm out fly fishing, or working on my lathe, and need a shot, it's the digital thing to record something. This is about spending the day fishing.<br>

If I'm going out to take pictures. It's to take pictures, I might take the fly rod with me as a subject to use, and even try to catch a fish, but the whole show is photography, not fishing.<br>

Poor job of describing it (again) ;-)</p>

<p>Hey,,, get an extra roll or two or more of each of the films you shot, and do some tests with your light meter and camera that you used. If you come out under exposed,,, at least you've got the chance to push things a bit, or even pull development,,, (which I doubt).<br>

Everybodys mileage is going to vary on this comment. Just pick a developer. 110, 76, xtol,,, I really don't care, just pick one. Mix up a bunch,,, and shoot some test rolls, get your developing times and temps straightened out before you start souping your trip shots.<br>

Then,,, before you do something like this again,,, shoot some test rolls based on the above tests. bracket your exposures and develope at what was normal above and see if things are still working ok for you. If you need a bit more contrast,,, up the dev time. See one of the charts, or just pick 15%, try that and shoot a test roll with bracketed shots and see what you like. If you supprise the heck out of me and actually have some overexposed shots that are way to contrasty, well,,, cut back on the development and test again.<br>

Hummm,,,, test and bracket. I'll bet of all my haywire ideas, few good photographers, of which I'm really not, will argue with that.</p>