Tag: 35mm Film Scan

Kodak Tri-X Pan 400 Memories

Bhavna found some treasure in a box in the basement.

Early in my photography journey, shooting with 35mm black and white film was easier. I felt that 35mm colour film was too distracting and did not have the pretension "art" look I was into then.

Tri-X panchromatic (Tri-X Pan) film was popular with photojournalists and many amateurs. Eastman Kodak manufactured it. Sales of Tri-X declined in the 1970s and 1980s due to the falling price and increasing popularity of colour films. Tri-X fell out of use in newspaper journalism with the onset of online newspapers and colour print media, though it remained popular in documentary journalism for a while.

KODAK TRI-X Pan Film was a venerable classic, boasting an impressive ISO 400 rating, making it the ideal choice for various photographic scenarios. This panchromatic film performed well when faced with dimly lit subjects or fast-paced action. It excelled when I needed to capture subjects demanding a substantial depth of field and fast shutter speeds or when I wanted to extend the reach of my flash. TRI-X Pan (TX) Film 6043 was readily available in 35mm film sizes.

TRI-X Pan Film was highly recommended for push-processing applications, opening up creative possibilities by pushing the boundaries of its inherent capabilities.

Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2
Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

Since I found only one set of Kodak Tri-X Pan negatives in my "film treasure chest", since it's over 30 years later, my memory is faulty about the dates. However, these photographs were captured around the Drew University campus using my budget-friendly Pentax P3 and SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 lens.

Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

Drew University offered compressed courses during the six weeks between December break and the start of the Spring semester. I can tell it's winter from the photographs, and the campus seems free of people. I speculate this was one of the many "Jan Terms" I was on campus. I don't know if this was Jan Term 1987-88 or 1988-89, but it was Jan Term 1987-88. The photographs have a theme around reflections, and the pictures of the Media Resource Center make me think this was the Jan Term when I took my first darkroom photography course.

Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

I learned about the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed and how aperture affects depth of field. This is often referred to as the exposure triangle. My assignments were shot on 35mm black and white film on my Pentax P3 and SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 lens and developed in the Drew University darkroom in the campus Media Resource Center. I was supposed to think about composition somewhere between learning to use the camera and exposing film and adequately.

Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

Digital cameras were not generally available in the mid-1980s. Today, what can be learned in minutes with a digital camera, took weeks of effort shooting and developing film in the darkroom and making prints. My first photography course was supposed to be about the "art of photography", but given the steep learning curve, I spent more time thinking about the technical considerations required to make good photos.

Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2
Drew University, Jan Term 1988, Winter, Snow
Tuesday 12 January 1988 · Pentax P3 · SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2

Ilford HP5 400 Memories (Old Negatives)

Bhavna found some treasure in a box in the basement.

Ilford HP5 35mm B&W Film I recently purchased a Kodak Scanza film scanner from Amazon.com to scan some of my mid-80s Kodachrome slides, but the scanner can scan B&W white negatives. Early in my photography journey, shooting in B&W was easier. 35mm Colour film was too distracting and did not have the "art" look I was into at the time. But after scanning dozens of frames of T-MAX 400, I was surprised to find 24 frames of Ilford HP5 35mm B&W Film negatives in my film photograph "archives".

Ilford HP5 35mm B&W Film was a high speed (ISO 400) traditional panchromatic film imported into USA and old between 1976–1989. Ilford is a manufacturer of photographic materials based in Mobberley, Cheshire, UK and is known worldwide for its black and white films, papers and chemicals. The company declared bankruptcy in 2004. Harman Technology Ltd bought the rights to the band "Ilford Photo". The successor to Ilford HP5 is Ilford HP5 Plus.

Since I found only one set of Ilford HP5 negatives among my "film treasure chest", and since over 30 years later, my memory is faulty, I can only speculate that either Ilford HP5 35mm B&W Film was expensive or not to my liking. Comparing Ilford HP5 negatives to Kodak T-MAX negatives, I think I prefer the Ilford HP5. At present, a 36-exposure roll of Ilford HP5 Plus is cheaper than Kodak Tri-X 400 or Kodak T-MAX 400, so assuming it was always this way, my tastes have changed.

11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400

The film strip did not have any dates but based on the "Happy Birthday" sign and the International House banner, and I deduced that the negatives are from November 1988, my fall Sophomore semester at Drew University. I think everyone else had left for Thanksgiving, and only my roommate and myself were left in the International House.

11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400
11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400

Rajat Sikka was my roommate in my sophomore semesters (1987-1988) at Drew University. He and I roomed together because Raj insisted, and I had no good reason to say no. Raj, as it turned out, was a womanizing-boozing-smoking-party young man. He hooked up with a different girl each weekend, even while dating several others. I could not keep track of their names and faces, but they were always white and blond. Arjun was a year ahead of us, but he and Raj were inseparable. We spent a lot of time in the basement at the International House eating rasgulla and gulab jamun, smoking, and talking bullshit. Raj, Arjun and another student, Finn McClain, were my ticket to all the fabulous weekend parties. I attend a few, but not a lot.

Arjun Erry, Rajat Sikka, Raj’s Chicka, and myself, International House, Drew University | 11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400

This might have been Jamie coming to drive me to his home for Thanksgiving. I remember spending at least one Thanksgiving with Jamie's family.

Jamie Brestlin | 11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400
Downtown Madison | 11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400

I'm not sure about how it fared during the COVID-19 lockdown, but the Callaloo Cafe had been around for a very long time.

Calaloo Cafre, Morriston | 11 November, 1988 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Ilford HP5 400

Seattle Filmworks Memories (Old Negatives)

Bhavna found some treasure in a box in the basement.

I recently purchased a Kodak Scanza film scanner from Amazon.com to scan some of my mid-80s Seattle FilmWorks slides. I am very disappointed. The $160 device claims 22-megapixel scan resolution, but the results were so poor I had my doubts. Some post-purchase internet search revealed that the scanning resolution is actually 14 megapixels and the scanner interpolates the images to 22 megapixels. The scanner is 14MP but offers a 22MP. I guess there was some fine print in the Amazon listing that I missed.

Now I am debating whether to live with that limitation or spend $400 on a Plustek scanner.

In any case, the scanner has been useful. Bhavna "found" a box of my 35mm film prints, negative and colour slides in the basement. I am slowly working my way through this "lost treasure". I found some of my Seattle FilmWorks slides from 1989. These are probably from my junior year at Drew University. I had bought the Pentax P3 camera for my winter semester photography course and was still learning. My friends tolerated my new found obsession. Seattle FilmWorks film was originally intended for motion picture cameras but in the 1980s Seattle FilmWorks package the film in 35mm spools. The motion picture film development process, ECN-2, is the standard development process for all modern motion picture colour negative developing, but the film tends to fade rapidly.

Except for half of the Junior year when Bhavna did a semester in London, Traci was Bhavna's roommate for her entire Drew University journey. I spent so much time in their room that Traci joked that I was her second roommate. We are still in touch via Facebook, but we're not as close as we once were.

My roommate, Dalton Einhorn, C'90 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film

Dalton and I lost touch when I went off to the University of Michigan and then even after I moved to New Jersey. But this year we reconnected via Facebook and messaged each other almost once a week. He introduced me to East Coast rap music. He was a big fan of Run DMC and L.L. Cool Jay. Dalton is Head of Pharma at CVC.

Jonathan Spanier, Physics, C'90 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film

Jonathan and I were never close but given that there were only five physics majors on campus our paths crossed often. Jonathan is a Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Drexel University.

Bhavna's roommate, Debbie Barkhausen, C'90 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film
Bhavna and Kavita Sethuraman, C'90 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film

For one year when Bhavna lived on campus, she shared a room at the International House with Traci and Debbie and Kavita. The room was right next to mine. It was a large room, and we share and ensuite closet. Kavita consults for the Office of Food for Peace/Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, USAID. Traci works in the Academic Departments of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics at Muhlenberg College.

Yesha Naik, C'92 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film
Randy, C'1992 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film

Yesha and Randy were freshmen we met in my junior year at Drew University. Yesha and Randy were friends. Yesha was the youngest freshman I met at Drew. She was just 17. We took her under our wing and Randy was part of the package. Yesha is a Senior Children's Librarian at Brooklyn Public Library.

My good friend Scott Nation, Georgia Tech, 1989-1990 | Pentax P3 | SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/2 | Seattle FilmWorks 35mm Colour Negative Film

I met Scott in 1989 during my first year at the Georgia Institute of Technology shortly after I transferred from Drew University to complete my degree in electrical engineering. Scott was a friendly and kind-hearted southern gentleman. He taught me to love sweet tea, cornbread and grits. When Scott realised that I would not be returning home to New York for Thanksgiving, he invited to his home to eat with his family. That's where I learned about football, eating too much, sleeping and getting up early for Black Friday.

Good memories.

Submitted for the 100DaysToOffload project.