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.
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.
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 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.
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.
NOTE: I’ll begin this experience report with a brief disclaimer. It’s been less than three years since I returned to shooting 35mm film after switching to digital photography over 20 years ago. I’ve inundated myself with as much film education as possible between web articles and advice from experienced film shooters. But, since my prior experience with film is decades old, this review is from a rather novice point of view.
When I was a young teenager, I had lots of hobbies. I collected stamps, coins, and shells. I learned a lot about physics designing paper aeroplanes, kites and trebuchets.
My buddy, Andy, and I experimented with the aerodynamics of different wing and body shapes, trying to see how far or how high we could throw a paper plane. Far, very far.
Andy and I were inseparable. We did covert chemistry experiments in my bedroom, making a mess of the rug and the bedroom walls. I loved physics and chemistry. We took apart discarded electronics and built new things with them. I remember one time, we built a radio transmitter. I insisted on hooking it up to the television antenna. We had fun broadcasting our ramblings on the airwaves. Dad was not amused.
But we loved biology, too. One year, we got into fishkeeping. My dad bought me an 18-litre fish tank where I kept some guppies we netted from a nearby stream. Later, he bought me a larger tank, perhaps 100 litres. I kept guppies and swordfish and platys. Dad gifted me the book he had used when he had a tank as a young boy. That surprised me. Up to then, I had had no idea Dad was into fishkeeping. I read the book cover to cover, learning about the difference between fish that lay eggs and fish that have live births. I was fascinated by fish breeding.
I saved up my birthday money and bought another 100-litre tank to breed guppies and platys. I wanted to see what wild combinations I could produce. Could I do it successfully? We created all sorts of fun combinations of these fish. Other than curiosity, there was no point in breeding tropical fish. We lived on a tropical island with lots of "free" fish to be caught from nearby streams. It was a fun challenge.
I can speculate as much as I want about why photographic film is making a comeback. I think it’s nostalgia and a desire for a more challenging and hands-on medium. After decades of digital photography, I recently started using 35mm film again. I bought a film camera on eBay, had it cleaned, lubed and adjusted, slapped in a roll of film and failed. I had forgotten the film roll in the pocket of my jeans, and it didn’t survive the laundry.
35mm film is inferior to 35mm digital. 35mm digital IQ is superior. 35mm digital lenses are superior. 35mm digital dynamic range is higher, and the colour is more true to life. Too many things can go wrong with making prints from 35mm film - in the camera, in the development process, and in the printing process. There are far fewer variables with 35mm digital. 35mm film takes much more work. More work does not mean better images. It just means more work.
We are used to how 35mm film looks from seeing it in magazines or family albums. We have cultural emotions and memories associated with 35mm film. At some point, all these people, including myself, will die, and only weirdos will make inane statements like “I like the aesthetics of film”. Sometimes, I like to fish, and sometimes, I like chicken, but in 50 years, when vegans rule the world, that statement will seem quaint.
I use 35mm film because it reminds me of the 1970s when I was ten. Dad would pile us into his white Volkswagen Beetle for a road trip around the mountains of St. Vincent or to the beach. He always took photos using his Asahi Optical Co. Pentax Spotmatic II. Or when my uncle, Dad’s brother, would host his yearly “cookout” with all the family. He would break out his slide projector, and we would go through the family photos, laugh, and have fun.
Every time I pick up my X-700, those are the memories that come back to me.
I’ll quote Ken Rockwell, who hit the nail on the head.
If and only if you're an accomplished artist who can extract every last drop from film's quality, then film, meaning large format film, technically is better than digital in every way. Few people have the skill to work film out to this level, thus the debate.
...
Convenience has always won out over ultimate quality throughout the history of photography. Huge homemade wet glass plates led to store-bought dry plates which led to 8 x 10" sheet film which led to 4 x 5" sheet film which led to 2-1/4" roll film which led to 35mm which led to digital. As the years roll on the ultimate quality obtained in each smaller medium drops, while the average results obtained by everyone climbs. In 1860 only a few skilled artisans like my great-great-great-grandfather in Scotland could coax any sort of an image at all from a plate camera while normal people couldn't even take photos at all. In 1940 normal people got fuzzy snaps from their Brownies and flashbulbs while artists got incredible results on 8 x 10" film. Today artists still mess with 4 x 5" cameras and normal people are getting the best photos they ever have on 3 MP digital cameras printed at the local photo lab.
...
So why the debate? I suspect the debate is among amateurs who've really only shot 35mm since it's been the only popular amateur film format for the past 25 years. Pros never say "film," they say a format like "120," "4x5," "6x17," "8x20" or "35" since "film" could mean so many things. Amateurs say "film" since they only use one format and presume 35mm. Therein lies the potential for debate when people don't first define their terminology. Today's digital SLRs replace 35mm, no big deal. Ken Rockwell
The second roll came out better, but the results are nowhere close to what I can do with my digital camera. My wife chided me for wasting money. I bought another gently used film camera, and my results were much better. Then, the most recent roll was developed after the film door on one of my cameras accidentally opened. My wife looked at the photographs.
“Why are you doing this to yourself? You don’t even know if the pictures will be good.”
I looked at her, trying to think of an answer.
“It’s a fun challenge. It’s my hobby within a hobby.”
Unfortunately, like other Fujifilm stocks, Pro 400H is prone to green and magenta color casts. I was really hoping this wouldn't be a problem with Fuji's flagship film, but it remains a distinct characteristic of Fuji's color science. ~ Fuji Pro 400H — 35mm film review by Tobias
All images in this post were made on a 36-exposure roll of Fujicolor Pro 400H in a Minolta X-700 with MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.7 lens and developed and scanned at The Darkroom. in San Clemente, CA. The images are presented here as scanned, without any colour correction, to show the characteristics of the film. If you don't like the green cast, use another film or shoot digitally and use a film simulation. Now that I understand the Fujicolor Pro 400 film better, I may use it when the subject can benefit from the green cast on a sunny day, e.g., in the woods or on a sunny winter day in the city.
Kiran changed her mind about attending the first sophoremore semester on-campus, so we quickly made other plans for what was supposed to be the move-in day.
Despite months of planning by students and Oberlin College, at the last moment, our daughter Kiran decided not to attend on-campus classes for the fall semester. The last bit of paperwork with the college did it. She had to fill out a form with her plans in case she fell ill to "COVID-19". She realised that Oberlin, OH is an 8-hour car ride from home, and if she was infected and we had to bring her home, we could not quarantine her inside our car. She did not want to risk infecting us. The news reports about infections breaking out in colleges and universities were probably another push. After a last-minute scramble of phone calls and emails on Tuesday afternoon, since I already had the day off, Bhavna and I quickly made other plans for Wednesday, the day we were supposed to travel to Ohio.
Bhavna and I left home around 8 AM and drove down the shore to Seven Mile Island in Avalon, a borough in Cape May. We arrived at the Avalon Community Hall around 10:30 AM and bought two beach passes. We found a spot near the pier to set up our beach chairs, table and umbrellas and sat down to start our "doing nothing" day.
I brought my Fujifilm X-T2 and XF27mmF2.8 lens, and a vintage camera kit, my Minolta X-700 35mm film camera loaded with a roll of Kodak Gold 200. I captured a few test shots on the Fuji X-T2. I was not too fond of the results from the colour recipe I usually use. It just felt too warm and contrasty. The sky was mostly clear with a few clouds, and the scene was brightly lit.
Kodak Porta came to mind because I had a roll of Kodak Portra 160 in my bag. Fortunately, Ritchie Roesch has two film simulation recipes for Kodak Portra. Because of the abundant sunlight, I chose his Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation recipe. It took seconds to look up his recipe and configure my Fuji X-T2.
Between long stretches of doing nothing, just sitting and staring at the sand, surf and passers-by, I captured beach scenes on my Fuji X-T2 and Minolta X-700. It was fun. I love the sound of the shutter of the Minolta X-700. I shot in aperture priority mode.
Around 1:30 PM, Bhavna and I packed our beach gear and ate lunch at Sandbar Village, an outdoor restaurant. Of course, I ordered a Maine lobster roll and a beer. We regretted not doing anything like this before and why we hadn't visited Avalon and Seven Mile Island.
After lunch, we returned to our previous location on the beach for more sitting around and doing nothing.
I quickly completed the 24-exposure roll of Kodak Gold 200 and then loaded a 36-exposure roll of Kodak Portra 160 colour film. Bhavna wanted to walk the beach. I quickly completed the roll of Kodak Portra 160. We returned to our seats and sat down for another stint of "doing nothing". I loaded a roll of Kodak Ektachrome 100 slide film.
Then Bhavna wanted to walk the beach in the other direction. Surprisingly, I finished that roll of Kodak Ektachrome 100 as well. Bhavna was bemused that I had so much fun taking photographs on an almost 40-year-old film camera. I was surprised as well. Of course, my excitement could turn to disappointment once the film is developed, and I download the scans from the Darkroom.
Around 5 PM, after we had our fill of "doing nothing," we packed up and went home. We enjoyed our day of "doing nothing".
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to using ALL the cookies. However, this website has no interest in selling your information. It does not explicitly use social media cookies from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Threads, Instagram etc. Read More
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.