Producing B&W digital from color film

ronlane · Jan 11, 2014

I am new to film and have a quick question. I saw an old thread on here about processing color film for b&w prints. My question is this, If you don't want the prints, can you have the film processed and then scanned as a B&W? Once you have the digital version, you should be able to put it in LR or PSE or CC and then do the adjustments as you would on files from a dslr?

Am I not figuring something right here or is it too much work? I will be getting some b&w film but at this time, I am antsy and wanting to get started and color film is all I can find.

terri · Jan 11, 2014

Don't see why not. Shoot your color film as color film; have it developed as color film and ask for a disk. You can then do whatever you want in LR, etc. You'll want images that have good tonal range and even contrast to get the best conversion.

THEN go get some B&W film for the best results! :lol:

But I understand wanting to get out there and play. (For me it would be too much effort if I was ready to shoot B&W film; I'd just git me some. YMMV)

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

I think you may have confused 'developing for B&W prints' with 'developing in B&W chemicals'.

You'll probably be better off getting color scans and converting them to B&W yourself in PP, just like any other digital file.

The grain is a little different though - in that regard, color and B&W film have a different 'look'.

ronlane · Jan 11, 2014

Thanks Terri. Josh, I believe I understand the difference, you are right that it is kind of a pain to do it this way but when you're impatient, you do the best you can. I'm trying to find b&w film locally.

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

ronlane said:
I'm trying to find b&w film locally.

Freestyle and B&H are "local enough" for me, lol.

Locally, I would pay 3-4 times what Freestyle or B&H charges for a roll - and I'm not exaggerating.

ronlane · Jan 11, 2014

B&H is where I'm probably going to order from but that will take close to a week to receive. I can shoot some color in that time. I haven't found any b&w here yet, but I've just started looking.

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

ronlane said:
I believe I understand the difference

You CAN develop color film in B&W chemicals, but they (the B&W chems) will not remove the orange mask, so it may be difficult to get a good print (on an enlarger) from it ... not really sure. It scans good enough though.

IMO, developing color film in B&W chemicals is a waste of film... It's one thing if the film is expired and you're just trying to get whatever you can. If you want color, shoot color. If you want B&W, shoot B&W. Gary will be here in a minute with scans of color film he developed in Rodinal, lol.

I love me some Rodinal, but I would rather use it on B&W film. Color film is typically more expensive anyway - it would be a shame to use it for something you could have gotten better results with, and for less money too.

Shoot the color film, have it developed normally, convert in PP. THEN, you have your B&W shots, but you still have good color negs.

Buy some real B&W film soon though.

terri · Jan 11, 2014

I hope you can find some locally!! That would be the bomb. If not, give Freestyle some love, too!

Have fun, and post what you do for us!

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

ronlane said:
B&H is where I'm probably going to order from but that will take close to a week to receive. I can shoot some color in that time. I haven't found any b&w here yet, but I've just started looking.

B&H is usually *slightly* cheaper than Freestyle, but Freestyle often has a better selection. I like Freestyle because they are "film people", lol. Plus, they will ship ORM-D chemicals, B&H will not.

ronlane · Jan 11, 2014

Thanks Josh, I will look at them. I am not going to process the film myself, I am going to send it out to do that. I don't have the room to do it and have two small kids, so I worry about the extra chemicals.

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

It doesn't take as much room as you think. 2 or 3 square feet of storage space is probably enough. And if you're only developing, you don't need a darkroom, so there's no need to 'convert' a room of your house.

When (not if, lol) you decide that you like developing your own film, we'll hook you up.

Josh66 · Jan 11, 2014

My kids are 4 and 6. They know more about film than maybe 80% of the membership here. :lol:

Just make sure they know not to get into it, and store it out of their way and you'll be fine. One day, you can show them what that stuff does.

limr · Jan 11, 2014

Josh66 said:
You CAN develop color film in B&W chemicals, but they (the B&W chems) will not remove the orange mask, so it may be difficult to get a good print (on an enlarger) from it ... not really sure. It scans good enough though.

Yup. Color film developed in B&W chemicals will yield some brown negatives with a strange not-quite-B&W images which can be scanned in as B&W, but won't print very well from the negative. I agree that it's not really ideal, though having said that, I'll admit that I just did it myself a couple of days ago! But I only resorted to that to deal with two pieces of torn film that I was just trying to salvage.

IMO, developing color film in B&W chemicals is a waste of film... It's one thing if the film is expired and you're just trying to get whatever you can. If you want color, shoot color. If you want B&W, shoot B&W. Gary will be here in a minute with scans of color film he developed in Rodinal, lol.

Still chuckling about this

If you're really impatient and have an Amazon Prime membership, you can order a couple of rolls from Amazon and get them in two days.

I can't blame you about being impatient. And like Josh said, if you ever want to start developing yourself, you don't need a lot of room at all and we'll totally hook you up!

It's nice to see you so enthusiastic about getting started, Ron! It's exciting, isn't it?

ronlane · Jan 11, 2014

Thanks Leonore. I am excited about shooting street with film. I feel that it can take my b&w obsession to another level.

minicoop1985 · Jan 11, 2014

Hell, I'm glad to see new faces in the film section. Not that I don't like the rest of you guys :lol:

but I'm glad to see more people get involved with film. Good luck getting started! Possibly because of the fact there's so much more work involved, film feels far more rewarding. To me at least.

Quick question, are you shooting 35mm, medium format, or something different? Just wondering, maybe someone will pipe in with a great deal on film.