Film Still Photography
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Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

Why I will move to ONE film...

1/8/2018

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Picture
I am an eclectic shooter in every sense of the word.  I like shooting multiple cameras, I like digital, film and would LOVE to learn glass plate photography, I shoot multiple genres including portraits, architecture, landscape and street.  This being said, I have recently decided to shoot only one B&W film.  

This has nothing to do with having found the 'perfect' film, but has allot to do with versatility.  Up until now, my 35mm go-to film has been Ilford's HP5+ and Fomapan 100.  I liked this combination as it gave me an ISO 100 film, for fine grain work and a high speed film that could be pushed from ISO 400 to 3200!  With these two films I had fine grain all the way to the low light stuff!

The two drawbacks were that I had to keep two films in stock and I have to process both films differently.  If I could consolidate to one film type, I could standardize my development, reducing changes for error and simplifying my life.  But I needed a slower film for some of my work and HP5+ at 400 just was not slow enough.

Then I started pulling HP5+ to an Exposure Index of 200.  The first few attempts were not really noteworthy and I dropped it.  Then I tried exposing at 200 but developing at the recommended timings (as if I had exposed at 400).  This came VERY close to what I wanted.  When I reduced the time by 10% I found a result I fell in love with!  

The one stop difference in speed is not worth keeping both Foma and HP5+ so I have consolidated my film to Ilford.  I still have a 100ft bulk roll of Foma100 film that I will enjoy shooting.  I love this film, it is inexpensive, fine grained and easy to work with.  It is a bit thiner than HP5+ making it more likely to curl but this is easily fixed with a heavy book.  

So for my B&W 35mm work I will be purchasing HP5+ in bulk exclusively.  For my other formats I buy what I find.  While I love HP5+ in medium format there are times it is too expensive or difficult to find.  So I will shoot whatever I can find.  Same for my 4x5.  
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    Patrick...confirmed film & digital photography addict.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants