c/film-photo-club

I was reading a 1980s Kodak manual and the film speed advice is totally backwards now

I picked up a used copy of 'Kodak Color Films' from 1983 at a garage sale in Boise. On page 22, it says to rate Kodacolor 400 at EI 200 for 'best color' in daylight. I've always pushed film, never pulled it, so this blew my mind. They were basically telling people to overexpose by a full stop as the standard practice. Has anyone else found old instructions that completely go against how we shoot film today?

Just realized I was wrecking my negatives for years with a bad wash

I used to rush the final wash step when developing my own black and white film. I would just run tap water through the tank for maybe 5 minutes, thinking that was enough. About 6 months ago, I started noticing weird white marks and a sort of haze on my scans, especially on frames I really cared about. It hit me after a roll from a trip to Seattle came out with these marks on my favorite shot of the Space Needle. I switched to using a proper hypo clearing agent and now do a full 10 minute wash with water that I've treated with a wetting agent. The difference is night and day. My negatives are crystal clear and dust doesn't stick to them as much when I scan. Has anyone else had a problem with water spots or residue that they finally fixed?

My buddy in Chicago swore by stand developing for Tri-X in Rodinal. I thought it was a waste of time. Tried it last month with a roll from my Pentax K1000. The shadow detail was way cleaner than my usual agitation. Anyone else have a go-to developer for pushing film two stops?

He kept saying 'just let it sit for an hour, don't touch it'. I finally gave it a shot with a roll of Tri-X 400 pushed to 1600. The grain was sharp but controlled, no blown highlights. What's your method for high-contrast scenes when you need that extra stop?

My uncle told me to always use distilled water for my final film rinse, and I'm so glad I listened

Unpopular opinion: I think the push for 'perfect' scans is killing the fun of film

Last week I had a great day shooting with my old Pentax K1000 at the city park. I got home, developed the roll of HP5 in my bathroom, and hung it up to dry. The next day, I looked at the negatives on my light table and just loved them. They had a few dust spots and one frame was a bit scratched from loading, but the feeling was there. Then I went online and saw all these posts about $800 scanners and hours of spot removal in Photoshop. It hit me: we're so focused on making film look like digital that we forget why we shoot it. The little flaws are part of the story. I scanned my roll on my basic Epson V600, cleaned up the big stuff, and called it done. The photos are up on my wall and I'm happy. Has anyone else felt pressured to make every scan flawless and just decided to stop?

Showerthought: I always thought pre-soaking film was a waste of developer

My negs kept coming out streaky, so I tried a 1-minute water bath before the dev tank and it fixed it completely. Anyone have a better fix for uneven development on 120 film?

Spotted a forgotten film lab sign in an old part of town

Honestly, I was walking around the old industrial district near 5th and Maple yesterday. I looked up and saw this faded painted sign on a brick wall for 'Kramer Photo Finishing'. It had a little graphic of a film reel. Tbh it got me thinking about how many of those small labs just vanished. I wonder what kind of chems they used back then, or if they had a specific house style for prints. Has anyone ever found old lab paperwork or chemistry notes from a place that closed down?

The whole 'stand development is magic' thing is driving me nuts...

I keep seeing people post these super flat, muddy scans and then ask what went wrong, and every single time they say they did a 1 hour stand development in Rodinal. Look, I love Rodinal too, but it's not a fix for bad exposure. I shot a roll of HP5 at a concert, metered for the shadows like you should, and developed it normal. My friend shot the same show, underexposed by two stops because 'the lights were bright', did a stand dev, and wonders why his grain looks like clumpy oatmeal. The developer can't create detail that isn't on the film. It just gives you more contrast control, not a free pass. I've ruined maybe three rolls myself trying to salvage poorly exposed shots that way before I learned. Has anyone else had to unlearn this stand dev myth the hard way?

Just developed my 500th roll of film and realized something weird

It was a roll of Kentmere 400 I shot last week. I've been doing this for a while, but hitting that number made me see how much I've learned to read the negatives before scanning, just by looking at the density. Do you guys have a personal milestone that changed how you see your own work?

My barber said my film scans looked like a 'real place' and it stuck with me

I was getting a haircut yesterday and showed him a photo from my trip to Portland. He said 'That looks like a real place, not just a picture.' He meant the grain and the light felt like being there. I always chased perfect sharpness, but his comment made me think about texture and mood instead. Anyone else have a moment that changed what they look for in a shot?

Rant: My local shop ran out of D-76 and I had to pick between HC-110 and Rodinal for a roll of Tri-X

I was all set to develop this roll of Tri-X 400 I shot at a car show, but my usual spot was totally out of D-76. The guy behind the counter basically said my only choices on the shelf were Ilford's HC-110 or some old Agfa Rodinal he had in the back. I had never used either. I went with the HC-110 because the idea of that super long Rodinal development time, like 45 minutes with stand developing, just seemed like a pain. The HC-110 was fast, which was nice, but man, the grain is way more noticeable and the shadows just didn't have the same detail I'm used to. The whole roll came out looking a bit more harsh and contrasty than I wanted. Has anyone else had to make a quick developer swap like that? What's your go-to when your first choice is gone?

My grandpa insisted I always use a 1:100 dilution for Rodinal, but my first roll came out way too thin and flat.

Turns out his advice was for 35mm, not the 120 format I was using, so has anyone else had a favorite developer tip backfire when switching film types?

Spent a whole evening trying to fix a weird light leak in my Bronica

I got a roll back from the lab and every frame had this thin, bright orange line along the top edge. I figured it was the film back seals, so I ordered a foam kit and replaced them all. The next roll still had the leak. I checked the lens mount, the focusing screen, even the dark slide slot. Finally, after maybe five hours total, I shined a flashlight into the camera body in a dark room. The light was coming from a tiny, almost invisible crack in the mirror box itself, right near the hinge. I had to send it out for a repair that took three weeks. Has anyone else had a light leak that turned out to be something really weird like that, not just the usual seals?

Can we talk about how people treat their film after a shoot?

I used to just toss my exposed rolls in a drawer for months, but seeing the color shift in a roll of Portra 400 I left in my hot car for a weekend convinced me that temperature control from shot to development is way more important than I gave it credit for, so how do you all store your shot film before you can develop it?

My film jammed halfway through a roll at the Grand Canyon

I was on the South Rim trying to finish a roll of Portra 400 when the advance lever locked up completely. I had to open the back in a dark bag later and lost about 8 frames trying to salvage the film. Do you rewind and cut the roll early or try to force the advance and risk tearing the film?

Pro tip: I thought stand development was just a fad, but it saved a roll for me last week.

For a long time, I thought stand development in Rodinal was just a trick for people who didn't want to watch the clock. I figured you had to follow the times on the chart to get it right. Then I shot a roll of HP5 at a family picnic and completely forgot what I had the camera set to. I was sure the shots were ruined. A guy at the camera shop in Springfield said to try a 1:100 Rodinal stand for a full hour, with just one gentle turn at the start. I was so sure it would be flat and grainy. I did it, and every single frame came out perfect, with detail in the shadows and highlights I didn't think were there. It handled my bad guess on the exposure like it was nothing. Has anyone else had a 'last resort' method turn into a go-to fix for a messed up roll?

A darkroom disaster in my college dorm changed my whole film routine

I was developing a roll of Tri-X in my dorm's tiny bathroom last fall, using a changing bag for the first time. I fumbled the reel, dropped the film on the floor, and got a bunch of dust and hair stuck to it before I could load it. The whole roll had these weird little marks all over the negatives. Now I'm torn: some friends say a real darkroom is the only way to avoid this, but others say I just need more practice with the bag in a cleaner spot. Has anyone else had a mess like this make them switch up their whole loading process?

Pro tip: I found a camera shop in Portland that still sells 35mm film for $5 a roll, but their fridge is set way too cold.

Some say cold storage keeps film fresh for years, but I think freezing it can make the emulsion brittle and cause cracks, so what's the right temp for long-term film storage at home?

My film back jammed shut at the worst possible moment

I was in the middle of a shoot at the old train yard yesterday, about to load a fresh roll of Portra 400. I slid the back closed and heard a nasty crunch. The latch mechanism just froze solid, trapping the film inside. I had to sit on a rusty rail for twenty minutes with a tiny flathead screwdriver, gently prying at the hinge until it gave way. Has anyone else had a film back fail like this, and is there a fix that doesn't involve surgery?

Used to always push Portra 400 to 800 for indoor shots, but a roll of Cinestill 800T from a show in Denver made me switch.

A stranger at the camera shop gave me the best tip for expired film

I was buying some old Tri-X at a shop in Denver and mentioned I was nervous to shoot it. The clerk told me, 'Just overexpose by one stop for every decade past the date, you'll be fine.' I tried it on a roll from 2005, and the shots came out perfect. What's the best piece of simple advice you've gotten for tricky film?

My fix for a light leak on a Pentax K1000 took two whole evenings

I noticed fogging on the right side of every frame from a roll of Portra 400. I thought it was the back seal, but after replacing that, the leak was still there. Turns out it was a tiny crack in the mirror box foam that I only found with a flashlight in a dark closet. Has anyone else had a leak in such a weird spot, and what did you use to seal it?

My uncle told me to load film in a dark closet, not a dark bag

He swore by it, said a closet with no windows was better than any bag. So I tried it in my tiny bathroom, door shut, towel under the door. I was fumbling with the canister in the pitch black and dropped the whole roll. Spent like ten minutes on my hands and knees feeling around the cold tile floor. Found it, but it was totally covered in dust and a hair. Developed it anyway and every frame had these weird fuzzy lines. He laughed when I told him and said I must have a dirty closet. I'm sticking with the bag from now on. Has anyone else had a weird tip backfire like that?

Remembering my first roll of expired film

Three years ago in my old apartment, I shot a roll of Kodak Gold from 2005. The colors came out super muted and grainy, but I loved it. Anyone else get weirdly attached to their first expired roll results?

Tried to develop a roll of film with instant coffee and got a surprise

I saw a video about Caffenol and thought, how hard can it be? Mixed up the brew in my kitchen, left it for 12 minutes, and the negatives came out with a weird orange tint. Anyone know if that's from the washing soda or my terrible measuring?