Back to film in a big way

Some film toys and filters

And some of you might wonder WHY?

Fair enough, I mean digital is the way forward, right? Well...no...at least not for me and allow me to explain why.

I got my first medium format camera about 10 years ago. Life happened and film photography had to wait a bit.

It is a Mamiya m645J. As the model name suggests, it shoots a 6cm x 4,5cm negative on 120 roll film. OK, so it is not a perfect 60mm x 45mm negative but that is venturing into serious nerd country. It basically shoots a 4x3 image which is a bit different aspect ratio from the 2x3 images we have always shot with 35mm film and the D-SLR cameras we now know.

You can expect 15 frames from a roll of 120 film.

Mamiya m645J medium format film camera with 2,8/45mm Sekor-C lens.

I made some good images over the first year or two and then life happened. I had to retire her for a while. Also, film became hard to source for a few years. This has changed. As for sharpness in the Mamiya lenses there is really nothing lacking. Even with mediocre scans on a flatbed scanner it is possible to make good quality prints up to around A2 or so.

Cockscomb Mountain shot on Provia 100

These two examples are scanned negatives straight off-camera as developed.

The Lookout Restaurant, Kirkwood.

So what started this were some images I shot on 35mm negative many moons ago. That and boxes full of 35mm negs containing countless memories over the years. I mean they were pleasing but the possible print size from a 35mm negative is rather limiting as already said. Even this old image below show quite a bit of film grain.

With the limitations of a flatbed scanner and the small negative size of 35mm film I reckon A4 is already pushing it. With larger 120 roll negatives a much cleaner image is so much easier to obtain when enlargements are made. This is really unfair towards 35mm film negatives though.

The Kareedouw Dutch Reformed Church circa 1993.

I shot this image around 1993. I used 35mm Ilford FP4 Plus and hand-developed it myself.

Digitising 35mm negatives with a D-SLR.

As a good friend recently pointed out when he asked me what the point is shooting film if it gets digitised anyway. Well, that is a valid question.

Digital images are very clean and almost clinical. Film has this mood to it which is hard to describe if you haven't shot film before. Film images have a much better dynamic range than digital images and camera sensors. This is a fancy way of saying it can handle highlights and shadows much better. Black and White and also Colour negative film can handle a lot of abuse in terms of over-exposure. Slide film, also called positive film, not so much. That is a story for next time though.

There is also this feeling pulling a freshly developed film out of the development tank reel that is hard to beat. Much like seeing a wet print coming to life in the developer tray. Also, all films have their signature colour renderings or qualities of contrast in Black & White.

Sure, there is a LOT that can go wrong. Film does not take kindly to ham-fisted workflow and careless technique. It can scratch very easily as the picture below shows. And there is almost always dust in play. Part of the fun.

Things CAN go wrong.

So I always knew I wanted the ability to make large prints and when things started looking up another bargain fell in my lap. The bottom line is that film is STILL better and will be for a good few years to come. We will get back to that point soon, promise...

The Mamiya is perfectly capable of very large prints but hey, who says no to another toy?

Hasselblad 500C with removed film back.

I had a look at system cameras with removable backs for a while. I considered the Mamiya RB67 for quite some time when this beauty joined my collection. Now the RB67 is not off the radar yet but it dropped a bit down the ladder of priorities.

The m645J is a lovely camera with great lenses but the film loads into the body like most 35mm cameras so there is no switching before the roll is finished. With removable back system cameras you are only limited by the number of film backs you are prepared to carry,

Enter the Hasselblad 500C that came along...so with 2 backs I can carry two different films. Sure, since the developed colour film is digitised anyway, black & white conversions can be made from colour images, right? This is true but part of the charm of film photography is picking a specific film for a specific effect. Colour films have their individual colour renditions and in Black & White there are matters such as contrast and grain.

Also, the 500C shoots a square 6x6 image. There is much we can say about that. For now I will keep square aspect ratios square. The square image demands a very deliberate composition...well, to me at least. There is also the thing that 6x6 will only give you 12 frames on a roll of 120. This is actually great and I will explain that in a future article.

The Kareedouw Dutch Reformed Church shot with a Hasselblad 500C in 2023.

So I thought it was just fair to revisit this image thirty years later. Where DID the time go?

Well, I have a lot to learn so I will report back soon on how these adventures unfold,

Happy shooting!

Anton