Shooting Film in a vintage Kodak

[Bend The Light]

Hi,

I picked up an old Kodak Retinette 1B camera, and stuck a roll of Kodak Colourplus 200 film in it.

I haven't a clue how to use it, all the adjustments are on various rings on the lens...very interesting!

My question...is it worth the bother of having the film sent off for developing, or will a quick develop and print at a supermarket be ok just to see what happens?
Do they do anything different when developing film in the "proper" labs, or is it much the same?

It's only fun, so I'm not that bothered, just wondering.

 

[dyyylan]

If you give it to a drugstore, their machines are calibrated so that if you nail the exposure, your print should come out looking right. If you're a little off, it's going to print that way as well, because no one is looking at the pictures.

This is one of the reasons art photographers (and if you're using an ancient camera I assume you're trying to approach photography artistically) develop their own film and print their own pictures is because you can control everything and correct mistakes to an extent.

If you're not sure what is going to come out, sure I'd say drop the film off at a drugstore and see what happens.

 

[gsgary]

It should be very simply to use, have a look here ORIGINAL KODAK RETINETTE 1 B CAMERA INSTRUCTIONS on eBay (end time 06-Feb-11 10:56:06 GMT)

Don't forget you have one of the best labs just down the road
Professional Photographic Laboratory Sheffield UK True Photographic Prints from Digital Media Peak Imaging

 

[Josh66]

Do they do anything different when developing film in the "proper" labs, or is it much the same?

From my experience, the only difference is how the film is handled.

Pro labs will generally be very careful with your film, while Walmart will leave it hanging in their dusty store and then handle it with their dirty hands, getting dust and scratches all over it.

If it's just test shots though, I would probably take it to the 1 hour place.

 

[gsgary]

Do they do anything different when developing film in the "proper" labs, or is it much the same?

From my experience, the only difference is how the film is handled.

Pro labs will generally be very careful with your film, while Walmart will leave it hanging in their dusty store and then handle it with their dirty hands, getting dust and scratches all over it.

If it's just test shots though, I would probably take it to the 1 hour place.

I have not seen a 1 hour film processing shop over here for years, digital print yes but not film, may be possible in London

 

[Josh66]

Wow. They're still pretty common here. 35mm, C-41 only though.

I think I have at least 4 places in town I could go to if I needed film developed in an hour... I usually send mine out though, just because 1 hour labs around here don't exactly take good care of the film...

 

[gsgary]

Wow. They're still pretty common here. 35mm, C-41 only though.

I think I have at least 4 places in town I could go to if I needed film developed in an hour... I usually send mine out though, just because 1 hour labs around here don't exactly take good care of the film...

It's not a problem getting them developed, personally i'm glad we don't have shops like Wallmart over here i saw a tv program where town centers had been decimated by Wallmart although we have Tesco that are getting as bad

 

[Bend The Light]

Cheers folks.

I think I'll have a look at a quick fix for this roll...check things are ok with me and camera. If all is well, then maybe some more film work will be done, and Peak Imaging will be the place to go, I think.

Thanks