beginner

greenspun.com : LUSENET : B&W Photo - Film & Processing : One Thread

I have been considering B/W as a new hobby, as I live in Hawaii I see beautiful shooting opportunities daily- However, I have been told that the only problem w/ b/w is 1- the film is very hard to find, 2- you have to develope it your self, and 3- both the film and developing are very, very expensive???? So... Is any of this true? I have the space to set up a dark room, and don't mind doing so, but how much am I looking at to set up a simple one?- Can my current Yashica 35mm be used. It has a zoom, etc, and takes great pictures? Can you also suggest a place to START on getting more b/w info, tips, etc? Lost for now, but anxious and willing to learn!! Aloha Brian

-- Brian D. Onwiler (justb@gte.net), February 17, 1998

Answers

Congratulations on deciding to try black and white, hopefully you'll find it very rewarding. To answer some of your questions, if you live in or near a city you shoud be able to find many brands of black and white film. You probably won't find them at your local supermarket but certainly a camera store and film processors will stock some. If you don't want to develop your own film there are two excellent BW films that are processed by the normal commercial color processors; they are Ilford XP-2 and Kodak Tmax 400CN. They cost the same as color film and you only pay for the developing it will be cheaper to process. I think you'll find in general that after the initial cost of equipment and paper that developing and printing your own BW will be cheaper than color. As for books you can save money by visiting a good library where you should find all the best darkroom books. You might also want to check out a local camera club. Typically most members shoot color but there is bound to be someone that has a darkroom and can give specific advice and as you can tell by this forum we love talking about our passion. Finally, your Yashica or any other camera can be used for black and white. Good luck.

-- Andy Laycock (aglay@interchange.ubc.ca), February 17, 1998.

reply to beginner

I don't know where you get your information, but black and white isn't that expensive to do. Once you get the hang of it, it's cake. Any 35mm camera is good. Your camera sounds adequate. If i had the money to set up a dark room i would. Technically, all you really need is a simple room with no light leaks, some trays for the chemicals, an enlarger. That stuff can be bought cheap if you shop around enough. I think if you got into it more you would realize the control you have, and it's much more satisfying to develope your own film. Any questions, just write me more, good luck. Mike

-- mike howser (sabre265@aol.com), February 18, 1998.

We were all beginners once and had the same questions and concerns. As for help getting started, a suggestion I've read elsewhere is to check out local community colleges or vocational schools that may offer beginning photography courses. You might also go to your local library and see if they have back issues of any of the photo magazines. They sometimes run articles on beginning B&W subjects.

The actual cost of getting started can vary from practically nothing to lots more than you have, but getting with a camera club or a school program will put you around people who can give specific advice on specific equipment. Once you have a darkroom set up (or just available, if you can find a school program with a darkroom) the actual cost of producing prints is modest compared to color work. Using B&H prices for film and paper I've bought recently, a 36 exposure roll of TMax 400 is $2.59 and a sheet of 8x10 RC paper from Kodak or Ilford is just under 35 cents in boxes of 100 (about 31 cents in boxes of 250). The cost of developing chemistry is calculable but small, and the cost per roll or print can depend almost as much on the dilutions you choose and whether you use the chemistry to its full capacity as on the original cost of the chemicals. In short, apart from the initial capital investment, you should find the cost of making an 8x10 black and white print to be considerably below the cost of a good 8x10 color print, and you get the fun of doing it yourself.

-- Kip Babington (cbabing3@swbell.net), February 19, 1998.


I could get you set up in one afternoon and have you printing the next day. It's all pretty straightfoward. You can get good results pretty quick, but it takes years to be a master at it. Of course that is just like anything.

Stay in touch. This is a good source.

-- Peter Thoshinsky (camerabug1@msn.com), March 12, 1998.


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