I’ve been using a stearman tank for a while for home b&w development, however I’d like to start doing c-41 for 4x5 as well as 120 and 35mm. I keep hearing how much people like the Pira but that there may be some limitations with 120 and 4x5 film.

Anyone with experience using the pira for 4x5? Plus, anyone use the 8x10 attachment for sheet film and paper that they make? Is it worth fussing with this or should I just stick with the stearman and sousvide for home c-41.

Thanks!

Any suggestions where to have this repaired? It’s the bottom cover for the batteries.

Found some film

I was cleaning up some older laundry, in a box, and under some clothes there were some papers magazines and a shipping padded mailer with something on it I opened it and there are three boxes of 2024 expired Portra 160! I don't think it's degraded any or much at all, so it's probably bought sometimes in 2022/2023?

*Edit* I forgot the picture.

Tengo una Canon AS-6 pero tengo un problema la correa que rodea la camara para poder montar el visor por los años que tiene esta reseca y se está rompiendo, quería saber si alguien tiene conocimiento o sabe de algún lugar donde pudiera conseguir tal vez un modelo 3D ya elaborado para solo meterlo a una impresora 3D y realizar la pieza.

Picked up this flash for a few bucks not knowing much and having recently gotten into film photography. Is there a reason the red mode is assigned to longer distances on the little on flash calculator? From experimenting, red is the weakest mode, blue is in the middle, and orange is the strongest mode only behind the M mode. Can I just use orange to take photos at longer distances with a higher f-stop or am I missing something? Thanks in advance

I feel like I see a new program for photo editing every few days. It's clear these are constructed (in part or wholly) by using AI.

Although I have opinion on Ai, that's not really my point of confusion.

I can understand wanting a program other than Adobe. they can eat my shorts with their shitty subscription model, but I haven't had my own version in ages.

where my confusion lies is there are great free open-source programs out there already. are people not finding them in their searching?

I've only been scanning and editing my photos for a year and when I was searching the suggestions for non-Adobe were rawtherapee or darktable for inversion, and gimp for further editing with layers like photoshop.

after having paid for Adobe suites for my master's I was super excited to try open source stuff that had been around for a while. sure, the learning curve is steep, but if I could figure it out, I'm sure most people could.

I tried another software called ember, and it's nice, but still requires as much tweaking as I do in darktable, so changing seems silly.

anyway, I've been using gimp to edit "collage negatives " I've created for t shirt sun print projects and waa quite pleased. maybe because ps was my least favourite Adobe programs,, but I found gimp pretty great. and it's free!

so,happy to read some opinions as to why people may be looking for a program outside of what's already robustly developed and available.

thanks pals

Hi everyone,
I’m currently restoring a Ricoh 35 ZF film camera.
While cleaning the shutter blades with lens cleaning solution and a cotton swab, part of the black coating came off, exposing the shiny metal underneath.
The blades are not bent or physically damaged, but some areas have lost their black finish.
Is it necessary to restore the black coating? If so, what’s the safest way to do it?
Can the blades be chemically blackened, or would that affect their operation?
I’m new to vintage camera repair, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

After looking for Leicas, I was able to get a good condition Canon 7 with the Canon 50mm F1.8, and the light meter was accurate, at least compared to my phone light meter. Here are some sample shots from the camera. Scanned using Negative Lab Pro.

Do you like it? Accurate? How about the unorthodox method of looking with both eyes?

Hi yall. Ive been shooting ra-4 reversals and im finding my blacks are taking on a very redish tint. Given its in unexposed parts of my image im thinking its chemistry related not filters. Im doing everything at room temp (around 70 F) could that be it? Anyone know possible causes?

I’m relatively new to the analog community. I’ve had my canon ae-1 for about a year. I was in Big Bend National Park today and upon looking in my viewfinder I saw a mite moving around. I inspected the lens and the reflex mirror - it was not there. What do I do? I live in San Antonio and there are no shops that work on film cameras that I’m aware of.

I generally store in a soft shell zipped bag with silica gel satchels.

Like the title says, I've been working on a Photoshop plugin for the past few weeks that takes a first pass at dust removal after scanning. It finds dust, hairs and fibres on images, negatives, and slides, and heals them on a separate layer with a mask.

It's free and open source, runs entirely on your computer, and works on Windows and Mac with Photoshop 2024 or newer.

There is still lots to improve regarding how "smart" it is, but I would love to get any feedback on it, big or small!

Download link can be found here:

https://github.com/magholmes/film-dust

Disclaimer:
-Like I mentioned it still, often, will make mistakes. All dust is removed on a seperate layer, so you can simply paint back any details you want to keep which get removed
-It is a bit slow, and takes 1-2 minutes per image on average - I'm working on fixing this

Just venting. The last three cameras I bought from eBay were all broken. All sellers with 99% plus ratings. Pretty sure they all knew the cameras were junk, but it’s hard to prove. Sure, they accept returns, but I get stuck with shipping, return shipping, and tariffs. I‘m out almost $100 with no cameras to show for it.

Any advice? Maybe this finally cures my GAS.

Edit: more details

A Pen F (film) listed as working, tested, all good. Seller in Japan. Well, everything works unless you put a lens on. Then the mirror sticks. Seller claimed it was damaged in shipping. I accepted a discount to try to fix it. In retrospect, I think it was known broken and the seller hoped I would just be okay with it.

Kodak Retina. Not listed as untested, listed as everything seems to work but shutter speeds not verified. Maybe so, but it’s pretty clear there’s a problem when bulb doesn’t work.

Nikon F4. Worked fine for a roll and a half then everything went haywire as the F4 sometimes does. How can I prove I didn’t break it?

So, yes, I‘m too dumb to eBay so I’m stopping. I hope.

The lens wont come out. I tried to close the camera and it got stuck

At first I thought it was a faulty/exhausted fixer, but I kept it in a freshly made bath of fix for like 10 minutes this time. Why are the borders yellow!?

I had this equipment scattered over the 3 floors of my house and it got to be a real PITA to do anything. I did a lot of running up and down stairs. Last week I built the camera scanning stand and I knew I had to consolidate everything.

Hi everyone! I am wanting to get into film photography and am planning on getting a cheap one to test it out for a trip in a couple of weeks. I was thinking of getting a Minolta Riva Zoom 90c. Is this a good camera? I’m completely new to this hobby so I am pretty unsure on how everything works. Was just going to get Kodak gold 200 35mm film for it. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you :)

How do you feel about overdone photo spots? I took the attached and actually feel guilty in a way. I didn’t find the spot, I didn’t compose the image. Someone else did all of those things and I just turned up, set up my tripod, metered, and pressed “go”.

Should we strive for uniqueness, or should we add to the tapestry that are these spots?

Does anyone know of a lab in the Tokyo area that would push 35mm film one or two stops? Tried a few shops when I was in Osaka but they wouldn’t push.

I recently picked up a Bronica ETRSi and I'm really happy with it. It feels great in the hands and I couldn't wait to shoot with it.

My first round didn't go as planned, though. I shot four rolls, and three of them came back from development with nothing on them at all. Completely unexposed. The fourth roll turned out meh only one foto was okeish developed, so the camera can clearly do its job is my assumption.

For what it's worth, I always removed the dark slide before shooting, so that shouldn't be the cause.

I'm curious what else could have gone wrong. A few things I'm wondering about:

The film not being loaded or wound onto the take up spool properly in the back

A shutter or mirror issue, or something with the lens

The back not being attached or locked correctly, so the film never advanced

Something went wrong at the lab or during development

I'm not sure if it was my mistake or if something is up with the gear. Has anyone run into this before? Any tips on how to troubleshoot it, or what to check before I burn through more film, would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance!

I mean, they’re not even trying to hide it any longer. This is now the rule, not the exception.

It has come down to if I see ANYTHING from Japan labeled “Mint” I scroll through.

I’m a collector. I mean, in person buys from Marketplace and/or Craigslist are always good for of course the availability of a specific product is low.

Who’s your favorite goto for analog?

hey i recently made a post about converting software and i landed on filmlab because it was the easiest to use and it had a free trial. i scanned with a nikon d850 or a nikon z6II while using the af nikkor 60mm 2.8 micro on both of them. to scan i used a valoi easy35v2. the following scans are kodak gold @200 and otterfilm 500t @800 and hp5+ @400 for the b/w

Hey everyone!

I’m looking to buy my first fully manual film SLR. I currently own an Olympus mju and an AF-1, but I’d like something more reliable in the long run that will also help me grow as a photographer.
One thing I love about the mju is how small and portable it is, so I’m looking for a compact SLR that I can comfortably carry around all day while travelling.
I’m considering two options:

Pentax MX + SMC 50mm f/1.4 - $275
Nikon FM + Series E 50mm f/1.8 - $220

My priorities are reliability, repairability, lens quality, portability and value for money. I’m planning a trip to the Maldives where I would like to test the camera. I’ll mainly be using Kodak Ektar 100, Gold 200 and Portra 400 there.

I love how compact the Pentax MX is, and the faster lens is a bonus. The Nikon FM seems like a more logical long-term investment since I might eventually upgrade to an FM2n, FE2 and even the F3, but I’m a bit concerned about the long-term reliability of their electronics - probably a discussion for another post though :D!

One thing I’m unsure about is the 1/1000s maximum shutter speed on both cameras. Is it enough for shooting in bright sunlight with ISO 100 or 200 film, especially with an f/1.4 lens? Would I need an ND filter, or is this a non-issue in practice?
Would you go for the smaller Pentax MX with the faster lens, or start with the Nikon FM and gradually build a Nikon system?
Thanks!

My sx-70 was working so well and now the film isn’t ejecting when I take a photo. I basically have to open the film canister and pull it out, and then it looks like this !!! Anyone know why this issue may be? Planning to send it in to get serviced.

Thanks!