B/w film C&C please

Juliette · Nov 12, 2008

Hi,
Am I crazy or all of these are not sharp enough? I used manual focus (only available on the old minolta I use) I was going for shallow DOF, but something tells me either this lens is not sharp at 1.7 or 2.8 or my eye is off.
Thanks for help.

1.

2.

tirediron · Nov 12, 2008

The images don't seem quite sharp, not uncommon when lenses are shot wide open. Most lenses give optimum sharpness between f5.6 and f11. They're also quite grainy which is contributing to a perceived lack of sharpness; was your developer a little too warm by any chance?

TwoRails · Nov 12, 2008

It depends on what you want. I think overall they're fine, not to mention that not all shots have to be crystal clear. In fact, I might even experiment some by adding some grain to them to see what "flavor" it will add. I also scrolled the second shot so that the top part of the shot was off screen and it brought more attention to your to main subject; a little more dramatic.

A4Effort · Nov 12, 2008

I really enjoy the second one. I love the lighting reflecting onto the wall.

jv08 · Nov 12, 2008

I like the 2nd one.

Juliette · Nov 13, 2008

tirediron said:
They're also quite grainy which is contributing to a perceived lack of sharpness; was your developer a little too warm by any chance?

Unfortunately, I wouldn't know. I don't develop myself.
Keeps bothering me that the grain is so big but film ISO was only 125. Shouldn't grain be smaller ?

Thanks!

robbie_vlad · Nov 13, 2008

I really like #1. It reminds me of an old black & white movie, made me think of "Night of the Living Dead". A bit fuzzy, but personally, I think it helps make the pictures look like they were taken in the black & white era when photos might not have been as crisp. Gives it a good, "old-school" feel.

djacobox372 · Nov 13, 2008

Juliette said:
Unfortunately, I wouldn't know. I don't develop myself.
Keeps bothering me that the grain is so big but film ISO was only 125. Shouldn't grain be smaller ?

Thanks!

Depends on the film... plus-x gives me grain like this even at low isos.

Juliette · Nov 14, 2008

djacobox372 said:
Depends on the film... plus-x gives me grain like this even at low isos.

Damn... I was using Ilford ..

frXnz kafka · Nov 14, 2008

Keep a few things in mind when shooting film.....

Your camera isn't doing any sharpening, so if you're used to looking at JPGs film scans will probably seem a little soft. Applying some sharpening in Photoshop will help this.

A lab is probably going to result in grainier film than if you were to develop it yourself. You don't have control over temperatures, developing times, etc. But at least with film the grain looks good, right?

But then again I've been shooting Tmax 400 at ISO3200 for the past month and a half, so I'm probably not the guy to ask about grain or sharpness.

tirediron · Nov 14, 2008

frXnz kafka said:
A lab is probably going to result in grainier film than if you were to develop it yourself. You don't have control over temperatures, developing times, etc.

I'd disagree with that. Generally labs keep very tight control over their process, and times and temperatures are spot on. If that was FP-4, then something does seem out of whack. It doesn't look bad, just not the way I'd expect it to look. Might be worth talking to your lab about it.