35mm film is not dead yet.

[ScepticalScotty]

Since starting work (temporary I hope) up in London I have got right back into my photograpghy - B/W is my favourite but I have been playing with cheap colour film, or indeed free cameras and film. A few weeks ago I was given a bag of expired colour film, and three cameras; Canon EOS10, Minolta Dynax 3L, and an X300. So far;

Dynax 3L died after 23 shots - shutter wont fire.
EOS10 has the dreaded sticky shutter and its now a paperweight
X300 is still on the test roll, but fingers crossed this one will be a winner. Has an interesting zoom lens + macro on it.

And of course my three other cameras; Nikon FE, Olympus Trip35 and 35RC are all going brilliantly and I love using them.

Film itself, has found its own niche I think. People are coming back to it. Not for snapshots,  or for work (I use a digital camera for work), but for art. This year has seen more new films launched than have stopped production. We now just develop and scan.

[rodekyll]

Are you finding darkroom supplies?

[MotoChuck250]

Haven't priced film, processing or printing in years but 35mm SLR cameras are crazy cheap.  Can find brand name camera outfits with multiple lenses at thrift stores for $25-$50. 

Lenses that can work on Digital SLRs are a bit more expensive but even they are pretty cheap.

[fotoguzzi]

Ah, reminds me of the good old days of 16mm color reversal News film.. nothing like mixing up a bag of toxic developer/fixer chemicals with water and the fumes from it, then waiting for the film to process through it, hoping all the time that you had the exposure right and nothing broke in the Houston Fearless processor. and those chemical were corrosive so the machine was always breaking down.
that was back in the days when I shot Elvis.. (I mean filmed Elvis)

[Triple Jim]

That's good news for me, I was thinking of selling my enlarger and other darkroom equipment.

[wyno]

I just got processed 10 8x10 inch transparencies that have been waiting for 7 years. God thjey look great on the light box. I normally shoot B&W 8x10's but since I got the Griso, I really haven't used it much as I no longer have access to a darkroom. The sales assistant at the store where I got the film processsed told me about a new darkroom that has opened up that has darkroom hire and 8x10 enlargers. I'm going to become a member there, but it will have to be a once a month thing as its 90km (45 miles) away. I think I have about 30 8x10 B&W negs to process, will have more soon.

[rodekyll]

I just got processed 10 8x10 inch transparencies that have been waiting for 7 years. God thjey look great on the light box. I normally shoot B&W 8x10's but since I got the Griso, I really haven't used it much as I no longer have access to a darkroom. The sales assistant at the store where I got the film processsed told me about a new darkroom that has opened up that has darkroom hire and 8x10 enlargers. I'm going to become a member there, but it will have to be a once a month thing as its 90km (45 miles) away. I think I have about 30 8x10 B&W negs to process, will have more soon.

I've got an Eastman Commercial for my 8x10.  What do you shoot?

[wyno]

I've got a Tachihara 8x10 triple extension. I'm using a 300 Nikkor and a 120 Nikkor. I wish I had bought a 450 fujinon when our dollar was $1.09 against the USD.

[dguzzi]

I still have a Polaroid too, I should use it and see if its working.

[Two Checks]

Polaroid no longer makes film.

[steven c]

 I spent years processing E6 (Hope, Hostrat and by hand) and BW don't miss it a bit, though I do miss making a BW print and watching the magic as your image appears! Unless i had a hundred contacts to do.

[LowRyter]

Polaroid no longer makes film.

it's still available.  I don't know who manufactures it.

sorta like printer ink, the camera is cheap the film is expensive.

[donn]

I never had 35mm, but my 8x10 is a Burke & James "flatbed".  Haven't used it in many years though.  Initially thought I'd have a use for color transparencies, then got to liking the view camera "user interface", but the options for developing large format color film dwindled to nothing and all I ever did with them anyway was poor quality digitization.  Towards the end, I got into "full plate" size, 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 which is just right.  Big enough that you can really see what you're looking at (unlike 5x7), but only like 2/3 of the three dimensional size of 8x10.

[AJ Huff]

Polaroid just released a new instant camera. You are behind the times. Impossible Project makes and sells film for the old cameras. I currently have the cameras loaded with film and have three rolls from three other cameras out for processing. I find I shoot and enjoy more if I don't process myself.

-AJ

[ramarren]

I like photography, regardless of film or digital capture. I have Leica M and R film cameras, Leica M and SL digital cameras, and can share all my lenses between them. I have a brace of Polaroid SX-70 cameras (one original, two refurbished and upgraded by MiNT) and a short stack of Impossible/Polaroid Original film for them. I have a Hasselblad system, and a couple of pinhole cameras.

All of them have their place in doing photography. :D

[steven c]

 I still have three SX70's, never new I could have them repaired. Thanks

[normzone]

Are any of you scanning your old 35 mm negatives and doing digital work on them? What is the appropriate method/tools for scanning them?

I passed on my darkroom gear, but would like to make one pass through my old negatives looking for missed gems before I commit them to that big archive in the sky.

[steven c]

 I get pretty good scans From negs with a Epson V700 Photo not so great with slides.

[Triple Jim]

My best results scanning negatives and slides have been with a dedicated slide scanner.

[rodekyll]

I have a Flextight scanner.  It's a poor man's drum scanner.  Goes to 5x7 nicely, and 8x10 if I talk nice to it.  Does negs and reversals as well as any other transparencies you might have.  Will not do glass plates.

[AJ Huff]

Dated but still current

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/free-digital-camera.htm

-AJ

[Carlo DeSantis]

Dated but still current

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/free-digital-camera.htm

-AJ

Except Costco doesn't process film any longer.

I still shot film occasionally and had Costco do the processing/scanning for me.  When they stopped processing, I pretty much shelved my film cameras.

Anyone know of a processor with costs that approach the numbers Rockwell quotes?

Best,

Carlo

[AJ Huff]

Darkroom processes for $11. North Coast is about the same. Then you can print at home, Walgreens, CVS where ever you like.

-AJ

[ramarren]

Are any of you scanning your old 35 mm negatives and doing digital work on them? What is the appropriate method/tools for scanning them? ...

If it's a one time thing, I'd just bundle all the old negatives and slides up and send them to an outfit like http://www.scancafe.com ... they do a great job and are not too expensive.

If you want to scan 35mm media, in my opinion the best film scanner ever made was the Nikon Coolscan V ED. I drive the scanner with VueScan.

For larger formats, I use a copy-camera setup with macro lens and bellows to capture the negatives.

[vstevens]

Had an old Nikon FE2 back in the day.  I miss using it's little light meter that helped me decide the settings.  Took gorgeous photos. 

[rodekyll]

I have a drawer full of Nikon F's and photomic finders.  I used to be able to set up an array of them for sequential northern lights shots (stage 6 cameras 10sec apart for 15sec exposures -- a slick trick @-20f, in the dark, using cable releases and counting the seconds off in my head). 

A few years back I was hurting for money and ebay'd a pristine -- perhaps unused -- F4.  I set a low opening bid ($200) with no reserve, figuring it would get bid up.  It sold for $200.      I'm not even thinking about selling the others.

[dguzzi]

I still have real Polaroid film too.  Power source probably no good though. I should get out my Argus, but where to send film for developing?

[donn]

I still have real Polaroid film too.  Power source probably no good though. I should get out my Argus, but where to send film for developing?

For me, Polaroid had a pretty short shelf life.  Individual packages to be used in a 4x5 film holder.  The developer chemical was in a little packet at the top, that was supposed to burst and spread its contents evenly over the paper when you pull the packet out, but often as not the chemicals were stale and/or dried up.

Argus Argoflex was my first camera, $2 yard sale purchase.  Probably post-war.  I didn't get much use out of it, because of the 620 film, but now I read that people were able to jam 120 in some of them.

[steven c]

 I think you rewind the 620 onto 120 spools .

[Two Checks]

I need some 126 film for my Rollei 126 SLR..used to have it by the palllet here at work....Pollaroid 88/668/669, too.
Still have a bunch of 2-up and 4-up Polaroid ID cameras.
Had a few of the Polaroid large format jobs, too.