Grain – Page 6 – tim dobbs photography

First time shooting JCH Street Pan …. at the wrong iso!

A new online film store opened up recently at Analogue Wonderland which as a film shooter I was keen to support.

I bought a varied selection of films some of which I have never used before … this roll of JCH Pan Street 400 being one of them.

I have seen loads of images online of how this film looks and I loved them so I was looking forward to seeing what I could capture.

As you know I develop my own film and when using B&W I use the Massive Dev app on my iPad to get the dilutions and developing times.

For the developers that I had to hand that were featured in the app database I used Rodinal at 1+25 dilution for 11.30 minutes which was 1 minute over compared to the app because somehow I managed to shoot most of the roll with my OM2S set to 1000 iso.

I have no idea how and it could not have been accidentally knocked to that setting as you have to lift up the ring quite high to set the iso.

Anyway I was not holding out much hope for the 1st half of the roll that I shot in poor light and rain at a local event in Bridgend where the town centre was sent back to the war years featuring soldiers, vehicles etc.

To my surprise when I got the film out of the tank the images looked ok, maybe a little underexposed but I was confident that once scanned I could get useable photographs which was the case in fact they were really good … the contrast/sharpness and especially the grain were excellent.

So here is a selection of the photos that I liked …. I will be buying more of this film for sure … it’s look is right up my street 🙂

Click on an image to view larger …..

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

and finally I have a new zine for sale if anyone is interested featuring the incredible “Merlin Maddock” friend and neighbour for over 20 years and inventor extraordinaire.

DM me on twitter or email me for more details ….

My new zine hot off the press featuring "Merlin Maddock" & his final project .. DM for details if interested .. very limited quantity @EMULSIVEfilm @FfotonWales #Wales #zines #printyourstuff pic.twitter.com/kUfQpQPzZV

— Tim ….. (@timdobbsphoto) July 9, 2018

HP5 shines when shot in 6×9 …..

I have probably said loads of times on this blog that ilford HP5 is by far my favourite B&W film stock.

I love the contrast and grain especially when pushed to 1600 iso and beyond.

I mainly shoot it in 35mm with the odd roll in 120 now and again so when I got my Fuji GW690iii I was eager to see how it looks in 6×9 format.

I shot it at box speed and developed it in ilfotecHC at 1+31 dilution and I was not disappointed with the results.

Here are all 8 frames …. click on an image to see larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

1st time shooting Kodak 5219 Vision 3 500T ( that’s a bit of a mouthful) …

For Christmas my better half bought me a load of film some of which was motion picture stock.

I have shot a few of the daylight balanced ones but never tried using the Tungsten balanced before.

After reading up on the interwebs about what filter I would need when shooting in daylight with this film I realised that I didn’t have and 85A or 85B filter … the closest I had was an 81B so I loaded up my F100 and stuck the 81B on the 50mm f1.4 and went out to give it a go.

The day was a little overcast so I decided to rate the roll at 400 just to see how it performed as I have read that it can be shot at quite a few iso’s so 400 was in the middle.

I shot a varied set of subjects but didn’t manage to shoot a portrait as I shot the roll before I knew it …

I developed the roll at home in C41 chemistry after removing the remjet and was very happy with how they looked.

I am impressed with the sharpness and the nice grain.

The colours were a little subdued and cool which I am not sure if that was because of my development or rather the fact that I used an 81B instead of an 85.

I have now bought an 85A & 85B to try next time … also I will either buy some ECN-2 chemistry or get it developed in a lab to see what this film stock looks like in the proper chemistry.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

1st time shooting Rollei RPX 100 ….

Over the past year I have managed to pick up quite a few rolls of different film stocks that I have never shot before … Rollei RPX 100 being one of them.

Slowly but surely I am trying them and seeing what I like or don’t like with them and whether or not I would buy more.

I have a small selection of B&W developers that I use and after reading up on the web about which may be the best for this film stock and decided on Rodinal at a dilution of 1+25 which should give good sharpness and contrast from the images that I have seen especially as I pushed it to iso 200.

The day was pretty rubbish with grey clouds and sleet so I used the Leica M2 with the 7 Artisans 50mm f1.1 with the hope of trying to shoot a few images wide open.

I was very impressed with how the film performed giving tons of detail with excellent tonality and I will definitely be buying more of this stock that’s for sure.

I need to try the RPX 400 just to see if the extra grain you may get with a faster film will lessen how sharp the images may appear especially if pushed a bit.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

#BIFScale18 … my keepers from 2 rolls of 35mm Redscale …

Just like last year over at Believeinfilm.com there is a challenge to shoot and post Redscale images during February with the added bonus of prizes on offer.

Here is the link … believeinfilm.com/BIFscale18

Anyway here are my images that I liked taken with my Nikon F100 and both 50mm f1.4 & Nikkor 24-85mm VR.

I made some of my own Redscale using a roll of Agfa Vista 200 & Kodak Colorplus 200.

You can find my link to a post I did for emulsive.org here … Making-and-experimenting-with-homemade-redscale-film-agfa-vista-plus-200

Nikon F100 - Kodak colorplus Redscale018

Nikon F100 - Kodak colorplus Redscale010

Nikon F100 - Kodak colorplus Redscale008

Nikon F100 - Kodak colorplus Redscale006

Nikon F100 - Kodak colorplus Redscale002

Shooting Redscale film is fun and the resultant images do surprise sometimes but also disappoint too … I was happy with 11 frames from my 2 rolls to be honest.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

“There’s mist on them hills” .. testing my New/Old lens …

A few months back I picked up a Nikkormat FTn from an old photographer who was selling a few bits and pieces, I bought it without a lens as I have plenty of Nikon F mount lenses ( or so I thought ).

Once I got it home I mounted my 50mm f1.4 only to find that I couldn’t meter properly as the lenses that I had with an actual aperture ring didn’t have the little aperture lug thingy that is on the older Ai lenses which tells the camera meter what aperture was selected.

I did however find out that there is a way of using the stop down metering method which I tried and it worked fine but I wanted to get one of the older Ai lens just to use it properly.

So 2 weeks ago I was in Cardiff visiting the David Hurn “Swaps” exhibition in the National Museum of Wales and I paid a visit to a few of the little camera shops only to come across this Nikkor 35mm f2.8 Ai which was in excellent condition and just as importantly it was in my price range.

To test the combination I loaded up some ilford XP2 and went out into the wonderful welsh weather and shot away.

The lens was great to use, very smooth and I love the 35mm field of view so all was good.

I developed and scanned the film and here are the results.

I am very happy with how they both performed especially the lens which is sharp and contrasty given the condition that I was shooting in.

The camera shop that I purchased this lens also had 2 Nikon F3’s and a Nikkor 28mm Ai which I played with a bit but held my nerve and left them in the shop … until next time I am in Cardiff (I don’t have an F3 in my collection) 🙂

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

December’s #FP4Party entries all together ….

This month’s entries were taken using my Nikon F100 with the 50mm f1.4 on ilford FP4 rated at 200 iso and developed in ilfotec HC.

I only manage to get through one roll so I was pleased that I had quite a few keepers on the roll to post.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

1st time shooting Bergger Pancro 400 …

A few weeks ago while buying my usual selection of film stock I also bought a couple of rolls of the new Bergger Pancro 400 to try and see how it compares against my favorite ilford HP5+.I loaded up my Leica M2 and went out for a quick walk hoping to miss the rain that had been forecast.

I rated the film at box speed and processed it in Rodinal 1+25 dilution for 8 minutes.

When it emerged from the tank I was happy with the overall look, pretty good exposure and contrast.

The 1st scans confirmed my initial thoughts and the film scanned very well.

I always try to scan as flat as possible and then increase the contrast in Lightroom.

The level of detail was very good as was the grain and what was really impressive was how much detail I got in the shadows while also retaining the highlights.

Overall I was very happy with how this film performed at box speed but I think I would like to push the next roll which is something that I nearly always do with HP5+ with brilliant results.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

October’s “DeltaDefJam” photos all together …..

As per last month here are all my photos taken for October’s “DeltaDefJam” challenge.

They were taken on my Olympus OM1n with the 50mm f1.4 except the turntable one’s which were the Tamron 35-70 f3.5 CF Macro using ilford Delta 400 processed in Rodinal.

I didn’t post all of these so there are some here that you may not have seen over on Twitter.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

New film stock to try out … Agfa APX 400

I was recently sent a lovely little package from a twitter friend Sandeep @Givemeabiscuit that contained a bunch of different films stocks.

He kindly sent me the films due to losing a bet that we made last year in regards to Liverpool FC ( who I support) finishing higher than Manchester UTD (who he supports) .

We both agreed to send each other a pile of film which ever one of us lost the bet, I won but to be honest I forgot all about it but Sandeep being the gentleman that he is reminded me and suffice to say he sent me a excellent pile of films some of which I have never shot before.

The 1st film that caught my eye was some Agfa APX 400 which is a film that I have not tried so I decided as the weather last weekend was total pants and my rugby match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch I though I would get wet anyway so loaded up a camera that I have had a while but never shot the Minolta Dynax 500si (more about this at the end of the blog) and went out up the mountain in the mist and rain to see how the film/camera performed.I tried to test the film/camera with a variety of settings and subjects from wide open closeups to stopped down wide shots all in aperture priority at iso 400 and developed the roll in Ilfotec HC 1+31 dilution for 8 minutes.

The camera performed really well I did switch to manual focus for some of the shots as it did struggle in the light a little but other than that it was great. The film itself was also a revelation with lovely contrast and excellent sharpness which really showed in some of the images where I stopped down to f8 and more.

The grain is pretty uniform and tight which helped in the large areas of mist in the pictures.

Overall I am very impressed with this film and will certainly look into buying some more in the future.As I said earlier in the post … more about the Minolta Dynax 500si …

I have been thinking about how to give back to the film community in some way.

I have given a few cameras/film away in the past but I was thinking about how to get others to join in the absolute joy that is “film photography” so as a start I am going to give this camera and AF35-70mm lens away along with some film to a newbie film shooter.

I will do a follow up blog post in the next few days with details about how I am going to do this as I am not really sure how to target newbie photographers.

Hopefully my fellow film togs can spread the word somehow and I can get the ball rolling soon.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂