Woohooo!!!

sillyphaunt · Jan 11, 2005

I think I'm in love!

I have been shooting digital all this time (my whole 6 month photography "career" :lol:

).... I got into an intermediate photography class at my college, and it has a darkroom available if you want to do that part of it (I'm doing the digital class).. I did it last week, and I LOVE it!!!

I have a box of old negatives that my grandfather shot (over 50 years ago) of 120 film, so I used those just to get a feel of the printing. I knew right away after doing the first couple prints that I was hooked. The whole process of going from negative to picture is so awesome.

I salvaged my dad's old Canon AE-1 to shoot some B&W so I can do more developing. I shot a roll today, but I think I didn't load the film right, becuase when I developed it it was all clear :lol:

Anyway, I just wanted to say hey, that I'm going to be hanging around here more often.. I'm loving this darkroom stuff!!

oriecat · Jan 11, 2005

Welcome to the Dark side, Kylie!

We love getting new people in, discovering the wonder of traditional photography. Tell us more about your clear film, so we can figure it out. Did the film have the writing on the edges still or was the whole thing completely clear?

Canon Fan · Jan 11, 2005

My sister in-law has done this three times now with the AE-1P we gave her for Christmas. They can be somewhat tricky to load if you are unfamiliar with them. I usually wind the crank once or twice before closing the back just to be absolutely sure it is loaded on the take up reel correctly and then one more crank and shutter fire once the back is closed to ensure good tension on the film. It may waste one or two shots but it's good piece of mind.

Congrats on making the jump (backwards?) to film! You're gonna love it. I had forgotten how fun it can be.

BTW IMO nothing sounds better than those old AE-1 shutters :wink:

oriecat · Jan 11, 2005

Film is not backwards, man!

Does the AE-1 have a manual rewind lever? If so, when the film is attached it should spin with each wind, showing the film moving and properly loaded. Just something to watch, if it is troublesome to load.

Canon Fan · Jan 11, 2005

oriecat said:
Film is not backwards, man!

Does the AE-1 have a manual rewind lever? If so, when the film is attached it should spin with each wind, showing the film moving and properly loaded. Just something to watch, if it is troublesome to load.

I know it isn't backwards! Hell I have spent more money on film and film cameras in the last month than I have in the last 10 years! All I am saying is that she is going "back" to film from digital where as most of us started in the darkroom and moved to digital.

The AE-1 does have a manual rewind but I don't understand your test? If you rewind the film it will go back in the film canister and create the same problem she is having! I don't get what you're saying I guess is all.

oriecat · Jan 11, 2005

I know you didn't mean it like that. That's why I put the tongue smilie

What I mean on the test - I don't mean to use the rewind lever, just watch it. As you wind the film using the film advance, the rewind lever will spin (in the opposite direction you would spin it to rewind it) that shows you that the film is attached. If the film is not attached, it would not spin, thus telling you that the film is not loaded properly. So if you're advancing and advancing and the rewind lever doesn't move, you know the film isn't actually loaded.

terri · Jan 11, 2005

bwahahaha!!!! All it takes is one trip to the darkside...I mean, the darkroom....generally after that, you're hooked forever. :wink:

Glad to see another one aboard!

Canon Fan · Jan 11, 2005

oriecat said:
I know you didn't mean it like that. That's why I put the tongue smilie

What I mean on the test - I don't mean to use the rewind lever, just watch it. As you wind the film using the film advance, the rewind lever will spin (in the opposite direction you would spin it to rewind it) that shows you that the film is attached. If the film is not attached, it would not spin, thus telling you that the film is not loaded properly. So if you're advancing and advancing and the rewind lever doesn't move, you know the film isn't actually loaded.

Ha, heh

Excuse the blond moment

Guys have them too we just rarely admit it :wink:

sillyphaunt · Jan 12, 2005

When I developed them the numbers were still on the film.. I think I just didnt load it correctly. The numbers were advancing on the film count, so I assumed that it was working. :lol:

I'm going to try again tommorow (I think), and develop on Thursday, so I'll get back to you on if I figured it out.

On a side note, I spend 3 hours in the dark room today burning and dodging and doing filters. I'm still getting a feel for times and all that, but I had a much easier time today than last time.

The coolest thing about it all is that I found an old box of 120 negatives that my grandfather shot over 50 years ago. He was a big photography buff (my grandma tells me I get it from him :lol:

) and even won a few competitions, so now I have his negatives to print from!

I made a really nice print and gave it to my Mom, she said she hadn't seen the photo in 30 years. Its neat to have a part of history like that.

ksmattfish · Jan 12, 2005

sillyphaunt said:
The coolest thing about it all is that I found an old box of 120 negatives that my grandfather shot over 50 years ago. He was a big photography buff (my grandma tells me I get it from him ) and even won a few competitions, so now I have his negatives to print from!

I made a really nice print and gave it to my Mom, she said she hadn't seen the photo in 30 years. Its neat to have a part of history like that.

Awesome!

oriecat · Jan 12, 2005

That is cool. I wish I has old family negs to print too!

Yes, I agree if the numbers were on the side of the film, it probably was loading error. If there were no numbers on the side, then it could have been a chemical error.

ksmattfish · Jan 12, 2005

sillyphaunt said:
When I developed them the numbers were still on the film.. I think I just didnt load it correctly. The numbers were advancing on the film count, so I assumed that it was working.

Sounds like a loading problem. Don't be afraid to burn a bit of film to make sure you have it loaded right. Crank it with the back open, and make sure it's taking it up. You'll get the hang of it. And as someone mentioned, you can watch the rewind lever spin as you advance the film to know it's going through the camera.

GerryDavid · Jan 12, 2005

sillyphaunt said:
The coolest thing about it all is that I found an old box of 120 negatives that my grandfather shot over 50 years ago. He was a big photography buff (my grandma tells me I get it from him ) and even won a few competitions, so now I have his negatives to print from!

Since the film was your grandfathers, you could probably sell copies of the images on some stock websites. I think the old pictures are in demand. But I wouldnt bother with a cheap stock company, but im not sure how hard it would be to get corbis's attention.

Just something to think about. :0)