More T-Shirts for Film Fanatics

Daniel J. Schneider is making Out Shooting Film T-Shirts for the film photographer who is always asked, "Do they still make film for that?" The shirt features that question and a sketch of a Rolleicord. He hopes to raise a few bucks for himself in the process, but the shirts are reasonably priced at US$19.99.

Film Shooters Collective

The Film Shooters Collective is an organization that supports the global community of film photographers. They publish books and hold events, such as photowalks and gallery shows to promote film photography.

They also sell T-shirts and decals to raise money for their operations. The shirts designed for their 2017 operations feature the logo "No grain, no glory" and come in three themes, MF, SLR and Rangefinder. Each shirt features an iconic camera from the corresponding theme and the logo. Also available is a shirt with just the FSC logo and two women's tank style shirts.

Maybe a gift idea for a film shooter you know?

Article: Which Film to Use?

The F-Stoppers has a great article on which film to use for 6 different broad scenarios. Whether it is wedding photography, portraiture, landscape photography, travel photography or street or urban photography. The choices are spelled out clearly with specific films and the reason to choose any one or all of them. Well worth the read.

Keep in mind, the recommendations are just that, any film can be used if one knows what one is doing.

Film Ferrania, Part V

Film Ferrania has stepped up their game. Part V, cutting down the large (wide) spools of acetate base for the film to the (narrow) size required by their coater, has been underway now. Since they will soon be coating the base to make film, no more photos of the Little Boy coating machine are possible. However, they will now be making weekly updates, so following their feed is worthwhile. Progress should soon be at hand. In the meantime, the Punto Foto Group have toured the Ferrania site and produced a fine photo album, on film of course.

Best of luck to Film Ferrania on this next important step, actually producing film.

Review: Kentmere 100

Kentmere Photographic is now from the same producers of Ilford film, Harman Technology. The film comes in the familiar white boxes, but with Kentmere markings. There was some controversy on the takeover of Kentmere by Harman, but that is in the past and Kentmere is being marketed and sold as it had been before the takeover.

The Kentmere 100 film was tested. This film is available at B&H Photo for under US$3 a box, currently. The conditions at time of testing were outdoors in afternoon sun on a partly cloudy day. The need for a yellow filter becomes apparent, as the film did not capture much in the way of clouds. The camera TTL aperture priority metering was used, with a 24mm lens set at f/8 and hyperfocal focus. This lens read 7ft to infinity on its focus scale for this aperture. Exposure was at ISO 200 (this film is ISO 100 on the box).

After shooting, the film was quickly souped in D-76 1+1 (it was what was on hand) according to the Digital Truth tables for ISO 200 effective speed. There is a handy iOS or Android app to help in this regard. After drying, the film was scanned on a flatbed scanner. The tiny lens hood that came with the lens did not seem to help prevent flare too much. This made getting a good scan from some of the frames difficult. The scanner software, VueScan, kept changing the exposure for each frame despite the Lock Exposure checkbox being ticked. Not sure if this is a bug in my understanding of what this button does, or if it is a bug in the software. This made controlling the exposure during scanning a bit difficult, particularly where the sun was involved in the frame.

This film lays nearly perfectly flat when cut. This makes it easy to put into holders and scan. After a bit of touch up for the inevitable dust, the following frame shows this film in action. For the price, Kentmere 100 is an strong challenger for more expensive B&W films.

Minolta Lens Resources

The Minolta SLR system lenses, referred to as A-mount lenses, are still treasured today. The A-mount system was first released in 1985, which gives one a selection of lenses to chose from over at least two decades worth. Minolta and Konica merged to form Konica Minolta, then in 2006 Sony bought the merged company. Sony still supports A-mount lenses, even on the newer E-mount system for the mirrorless cameras, so one's investment in A-mount lenses need not go to waste if changing systems. The LA-EA3 lens adapter can fit A-mount lenses that have built-in focus motors to E-mount cameras and the LA-EA4 will support auto-focus for A-mount lenses with screw drive focus. A quick glance at the lens mount will verify whether the lens is screw drive or not. If a large screw is seen at the bottom of the lens mount (held with the contacts at the top) that turns when focus is changed, then the lens has screw drive focus.

Earlier Minolta MC and MD lens mount lenses require an adapter, but do not have autofocus. The one issue with MC/MD lenses, is that if the adapter does not have a corrective lens, then focus at infinity is not possible. On the other hand, the lens in such adapters, if present, often reduces the quality of the image from the lens. The LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 adapters do not require a corrective lens and so do not even have this issue.

First up, the Dyxum.com site offers a review board for many Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony lenses (both A-mount and E-mount). Beware that some Sony A-mount lenses may be designed for APS-C sensors, and so may not have complete frame coverage for film cameras. While the reviews on this site may be helpful, many are contradictory. For example, a lens may be declared as sharp by one reviewer, but soft by another. Further reading might find that the given lens is soft at the corners wide open, but sharp in the center. Someone else might find that the lens is acceptably sharp throughout at f/5.6, but someone else might not find it sharp until f/11. It may be useful to read the reviews to find out the idiosyncrasies for a particular lens, though.

Second, Michael Hohner offers an extensive list of A-mount and E-mount lenses with detailed specifications for each lens. Often, a link is included to a review or two for the specific lens.

Third, Photo/Jottings has a few lens reviews and comparisons.

Finally, a comment from Mr. Johnston of TOP fame, who says that you only need a pair of 35mm and 85mm prime lenses.

Or peruse the lens charts, satisfying the thirst for Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

Closest Supermoon Since 1948

Today, Monday, November 14th, the moon will be at its closest since 1948. That means it will be 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. For best effect, photograph while the moon is rising at the horizon. It will appear largest, particularly behind manmade or natural features, such as an iconic building or even people. The Photographer's Ephemeris will give nearly the exact time of moonrise for your specific location. For example, London, England will see the moon rise at 16:44 (4:44pm), while Mumbai, India will see the moon rise at 19:02 (7:02pm).

Check previous articles for an exposure chart for the moon and more!

* Shoot for the Moon!

Film Ferrania, Part IV

Film Ferrania is at it again. This time, they are taking steps to synthesize the sensitizers for making colour film. They have containers of old synthesizer materials, but making fresh and using the original chemistry for comparison seems to be the more sustainable way. To that end, they hired Ivano, who worked at Ferrania since the sixties making film chemistry. The original Ferrania still exists, but no longer makes film or chemistry for film.

In practical terms, what does this mean? Next week should be the first run of film! The journey has been long and hurdles many, but soon we should be able to report on film from Film Ferrania!
 
Previously on Ag+ Process:
* LRF Testing Underway
* Saga of Film Ferrania Continues
* Film Ferrania Update April, 2016
* News from LRF, February 2016
* News from LRF, Start of 2016
* Update from LRF, December 2015
* LRF Engines Restart
* News from LRF, July 2015
* Film Ferrania Delayed by Harsh Winter
*Film Ferrania Starts Towards Make the Rewards

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