new pics from my 35mm Pentax, and a question (or 2)

[John_05]

i got another 2 rolls of film developed yesterday. i wasnt going to take the rolls in because i set the ISO to 200 for 400 speed film and was told they needed to be "pushed" (maybe pulled?) or they wouldnt come out right, but curiosity got the better of me, so i decided to take a chance with them. i figured if i was going to pay for photos that didnt come out, i may as well save some money and go through walmarts 1 hour lab again. these are a few of the pics i got back. after seeing them i was happy with them, but it raised a couple of questions too.

i am positive i had the ISO set to 200 and it was 400 speed film, so i was wondering why they came out as well as they did. i didnt mention shooting them that way to the person at walmart until after i got the prints back, and even he was surprised they came out but he also had no clue why they did. does anyone here have an explanation for me? i dont know anything about developing film. i was just told by a different lab that they needed to be pushed or pulled and they didnt have the capability to do that.

the other thing i was wondering is if i had taken the rolls to the only lab here that can process film the way i was told it needed to be, would these shots have come out better somehow?

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thanks for looking, and for any comments or answers to my questions anyone has for me!

a little side note, even though i think i get better "looking" pictures from my digital, i am really beginning to prefer film. i do see differences in the similiar shots i take, and i dont know if i want to either switch to film and just practice alot more (which i intend to do anyways), or save up for a DSLR and see what i get with that. i like the higher amount of detail i get with film, but i see pics here that people get with their DSLRs and to me they look alot more detailed then the shots i see from the "point and shoot" type digitals like i have. i know i would probably get better shots with my digitals after i learn more, but i also know they have limitations that DSLRs dont. either way, i am looking at saving what i can and spending it on camera equipment so i would like to make a good decision before i commit to spending a couple thousand dollars on equipment. does anyone have any suggestions or advice? thanks again, in advance, to anyone that has any input for me.

 

[crawdaddio]

Start with film. I wish I did, I am only re-learning it now. As for the exposure question I don't know. Maybe you underexposed these shots in the camera?

 

[Wally]

Modern C41 color film has a pretty wide latitude for exposure. ISO 400 shot at ISO 200 is only one stop and that is really not that big a deal. Also most (if not all) Wal-Marts use Fuji Frontier Min-Labs which has a very good digital imager that corrects basic exposure problems on the fly.

I am also unsure why a lab would tell you to push/pull C41 film? Pushing and Pulling is a very common B&W darkroom trick, but it is not done that often with C41.

 

[hammy]

Stick with film.

 

[grimmett]

1 stop isn't too much for film to handle, as you can see by the way your pictures turned out. Many people intentionally overexpose by 1/2 or 1 stop for different reasons. I personally like to overexpose by about 1/2 stop for most of the stuff I shoot. Also, there is so much detail in the highlights on film that even 2 or 3 stops of overexposure can be saved in printing. If you go to a professional or 'prosumer' lab your prints will be even better. You could have pulled 1 stop in processing, but it obviously wasn't absolutely necessary. Pulling and pushing film in processing can affect the colors and contrast, and can also add grain. It's basically only something you want to do if you are going for a specific look, or if you know you overexposed by a lot.
The great thing about shooting film is that you can shoot with a very old, inexpensive camera and get the same quality as with a $10,000 set up.
Keep shooting with film. I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[Digital Matt]

Yes, you did need to pull process the film, but by not telling the lab that you rated your film at ISO 200, they "pulled" it without even knowing they did. All pulling is, is underdeveloping to compensate for overexposure.

I would wager that there is more contrast and grain in your photos now, than there would have been otherwise.