Photography Stack Exchange
Photography Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [film]

Questions regarding photography using film.

The primary method for capturing images prior to the invention of digital cameras.

Tag Usage

  • Use this tag when the use of an analogue photographic medium is a significant part of your thread.
  • Do not use when referring to motion-picture photography.

General Information

Film photography uses a photographic medium coated with a light-sensitive emulsion, oftentimes containing silver halide crystals.

The film base is, today, commonly made of either a cellulose acetate or polyester base. However, the photographic emulsion does not always reside on a cellulose base, which is displayed by, for example, Washi films or the collodion wet plate process.

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Why can't I see any images on the roll of film that I've removed from my camera?

I am very new to photography. I bought a Zenit 12xp and color film for it. I loaded the film in the camera but I can't take any photos. When I take a picture and remove the film and hold it up to the light, I don't see anything. Is there something I…
kulaksız
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(How) should I start with film photography?

I've been toying with the thought of starting analog (film) photography for a while. Buying a film SLR and the equipment to develop and print the photos doesn't seem to be too expensive. Now my question: Does it make sense to do this? Did anyone of…
eflorico
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Why can I see through this astronaut on the Apollo 11 footage?

I’m not sure if this is the correct place to put this but I’d assume it’s a photography thing. In this video When Aldrin is climbing down the ladder of the lander I can see the horizon through him. Why is this? I’d also like to add that this is not…
Beans
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How do I unwind a roll of film?

When putting in a new roll of (35mm) film, I accidentally told my camera to rewind, rather than load the film. Now there's no tab sticking out of the roll, so I can't load it. Is there a way to unwind the film slightly, so that I could still use…
Evan Krall
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Which current 35mm film will render results closest to Panatomic-X?

After a 30 year hiatus, I would like to get back into B&W film photography. Where I live (Guatemala), none of the following films are available, so when I go to New York in a couple of months I plan on bringing a job lot of film and developer back…
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
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What is the size of 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 sheet film?

What are the dimensions of 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 sheet film required to fit the sheet film holder for a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 speed graphic? I have heard elsewhere that 2 1/4 means 6 cms. But 6 cms (or 120 format) is not even 6 cm wide, it is more like 61mm by the…
Alex
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How to tell if a roll of film has been exposed?

I have found film reels some with tails of film others not. Is there a way of telling if they have been exposed/used in a camera? Film types are for 35mm and one Kodak Advantix.
Mervyn Williams Jenkins
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What surfaces have been used to capture images in analog photography?

I'm trying to form a list of the different kinds of materials that have been used in analog photography for the capturing of images. Not necessarily the chemical emulsions, but the 'surfaces'... for a lack of a better term. For some context, I am…
rpd
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Tri-X compared with HP5 plus, grain

I have used Tri-X for a long time as my general-purpose 35mm film. I use it at 400, process in Rodinal (or a clone in fact) 1+25 and using the massive dev chart times (which agree with Kodak's), and print traditionally (so, in particular I'm…
user82065
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Accidentally reset film counter to 0, what to do?

I accidentally removed the battery from my Ricoh RT-550 camera and the film counter reset back to 0. I was in the middle of using it and still had ~10 frames left... Does this mean I should just remove the film and process it with ~10 blank frames…
Pamela Lemmuela
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Is the space between frames on film standardised?

Is the spacing between frames on different film formats standardised? I suspect it is not, but not sure. I'm trying to figure out as much as possible about the dimensions of different film formats (135, 120, 4x5 et cetera). For example, 120 roll…
Erik Tjernlund
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What does the temperature specification on a roll of film refer to?

I got hold of an ancient film SLR, and have purchased a couple of rolls of film. One of then, a roll of Ilford Delta 400, has an indication about maximum temperature of 24°C. It also has an indication of 27° (which I assume is also a temperature…
Pete
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What happens if I take too many shots on a film?

I finished what I thought was a 36 exposure roll of film earlier, but once I got it out of the camera I realised it was only a 24. I am using an old Ricoh XR2 camera which has manual film advance so it didn't automatically wind back; it also didn't…
ElendilTheTall
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Math of EV numbers

I am trying to fully understand EV (exposure values) as used in photography. This is a system intended to simplify camera shutter speed/aperture combinations using a single value instead of two. EV calculation using log base 2 EV=log ((N²/t) where N…
Alan Marcus
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How to test if my film was exposed or not

So yesterday, after assuming I'd finished my roll, which I'd been shooting over a few months because I don't shoot film that often, I went to wind my film back into the canister. I did everything right, but noticed that there was a lack of tension…
Josh Moore
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