c/film-photo-newbies

Learned my film camera's light meter is basically guessing above 800 ISO

I found this out from a blog post by a lab in Chicago called Midwest Film Co. They tested a bunch of vintage cameras and showed how the selenium cells get lazy over time. Has anyone else run into this with their old gear?

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ryanprice•4d ago

I finally figured out why my film keeps coming back blank after 6 weeks of frustration

Ngl it took me 6 weeks and 4 ruined rolls to realize I was loading the film backwards in my Canon AE-1. The spool notch needs to face the lens, not the back plate. Has anyone else made this dumb mistake or just me?

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karenm49•5d ago

Lost 3 rolls of film from a family wedding because I didn't check the seal on my camera

Last month I shot my cousin's wedding in Austin with my old Pentax K1000. I was so careful about the shots, got the couple kissing, the cake cutting, all that. Dropped the rolls off at the lab and waited a week. When I picked them up the guy said all three rolls were completely blank. Turns out the light seal foam on my camera back had rotted away. So the whole time I was shooting, light was just pouring in. I felt like an idiot. Now I check that foam on every camera I buy, even if it looks fine. Has anyone else had a camera fail on them at a big event like that?

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skyler516•6d ago

Hot take: should new film shooters start with black and white, not color?

I spent 6 months and $150 on color rolls that all came out muddy before I finally switched to black and white. Now I'm wondering if jumping straight to color is actually holding beginners back or if I just wasted time.

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thea246•6d ago

The old guy at the lab who showed me how to load a reel in the dark

I was fumbling with my Paterson tank at this photo lab in Austin last year and this retiree named Bob just came over and said "you're fighting it, let the film breathe." He showed me a trick where you pinch the spool with your thumb and forefinger while feeding the leader in and it clicked instantly for me. Anyone else have a stranger teach them something that totally changed their film workflow?

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sage52•6d ago

Hot take: should new film shooters start with black and white, not color?

I was at a camera shop in Portland last week and overheard this guy telling a beginner they should shoot B&W for their first 10 rolls because it teaches you about light and composition. But then the beginner said they wanted to learn color because that's what they see. I get both sides. B&W is cheaper to develop and you don't have to worry about white balance. But color gets you excited to keep shooting. I started on a $30 Kodak Gold pack and messed up a bunch. What do you all think - which one makes more sense for someone just starting out?

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gibson.sean•6d ago

Guy at the camera shop told me to stop metering for shadows

Old timer at Blue Moon Camera in Portland said to meter for the highlights instead when shooting negative film. Finally tried it on a roll of Gold 200 and my indoor shots didn't look like trash for once. Anyone else get bad advice that turned out to be the opposite of what works?

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skylerg17•7d ago

Was dead wrong about expired film being a scam

I bought a 10 pack of Kodak Gold that expired in 2003 for $15 off eBay last month. Everyone told me it would come out blank or super faded, but I was broke and wanted to shoot. Shot a roll at my sister's birthday party in Austin and the colors came out with this wild purple shift that looked amazing. The grain was heavier but honestly gave everything a dreamy 90s photos vibe. Has anyone else had good luck with super expired film from random sellers?

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tyler614•25d ago

I used to shoot everything at box speed until a bum roll of Portra taught me a lesson

Tbh for my first year shooting film I never even thought about pushing or pulling. I just loaded whatever film I had, set my camera to the ISO on the box, and fired away. Then this past winter I was shooting some portraits in a dimly lit coffee shop in Portland and my whole roll of Portra 400 came back completely underexposed. I was so frustrated until a guy at the lab told me I could have rated it at 1600 and pushed it two stops in development. I tried it last week with some expired Tri-X I had in my fridge and honestly the grain and contrast came out way cooler than I expected. It feels like I unlocked a whole new way to salvage shots in crappy light. Has anyone else had a happy accident that forced you to try pushing film for the first time?

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the_sean•28d ago

My uncle's old-school advice about metering was totally backward

My uncle who shot film back in the 70s told me to always meter for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may. Tried that on a roll of Portra 400 during a bright afternoon shoot at the park. Everything came out way underexposed, the shadows were just black blobs. I finally looked it up and realized for color negative film you're supposed to meter for the shadows instead. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a veteran who learned on different film stocks?

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james_martin93•29d ago

Shot 20 rolls before realizing my lens was fogged up inside

I picked up this old Canon AE-1 from a thrift store for $40 and ran through 20 rolls over like 3 months. Everything came back super soft and hazy but I thought it was just my shaky hands or cheap film or whatever. Then last week I was at a meetup with some other film folks in Portland and one guy looked through my viewfinder and asked if I knew my lens had internal fog. I held it up to the light and sure enough there was this weird cloudy patch inside the front element. The guy said it was probably from moisture getting in or maybe old lubricant haze. I spent hours researching and finally cleaned it with basic lens tools and now my shots actually have contrast and sharpness. Has anyone else dealt with hidden lens issues that took way too long to figure out?

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christopherwilliams•1mo ago

My first roll of Portra 400 looked awful compared to the sample shots I saw online

I shot my first roll of Portra 400 last weekend and the colors came out super washed out and greenish... not like the golden warm tone photos everyone posts. I was using a local lab in Austin for processing and standard scans. Turns out the lab was underdeveloping by about 30 seconds because they were rushing through a big batch of film. I sent the same negatives to a different lab in Dallas and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had a bad experience with a lab messing up your film development on a first try?

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bell.taylor•1mo ago

The whole 'x100 flash is a must have' thing is overblown

I keep seeing people in here saying you need the Fuji x100 or a flash for street shots at night. But I've been shooting with my old Canon AE-1 Program and a 50mm f/1.4 lens for about 6 months now, pushing Tri-X to 1600, and I get plenty sharp shots in dim light without any flash. The grain adds character and people don't even notice me. Am I missing something, or do people just like the look of harsh flash over natural street light?

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grayb64•1mo ago

Finally got a roll of Portra 400 developed and every single shot of my dog in the park came out blurry.

I thought I had the shutter speed fast enough at 1/125 but after looking at the negatives it's clear I need at least 1/250 for anything that moves, anyone else struggle with motion blur on their first few rolls?

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nathan851•1mo ago

Took a roll of Fuji 400 through that old train station downtown and changed my whole mind about pushing film

The light coming through those dirty windows at Union Station gave me way better contrast at box speed than I ever got pushing two stops in a basement, so has anyone else found a specific location that made them drop a technique they were stuck on?

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karenm49•1mo ago

That one guy at the lab who asked if my camera was a toaster

So I'm dropping off a roll of Tri-X at the photo lab downtown. This older dude sees my Pentax K1000 hanging around my neck. He squints, points at it, and goes 'Is that one of those new digital toasters?' I laughed awkwardly and said no it's film. He just nodded and walked away. Still not sure if he was joking or actually blind. Anyone else get weird comments from strangers about your film camera?

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marymorgan•1mo ago

My film advance lever broke on a Canon AE-1 last weekend

I was halfway through a roll of Portra 400 at a park in Austin when the advance lever just snapped, no warning at all. I had to pull the film out in a dark bathroom and spool it into a canister by feel. Has anyone else had a camera body fail on them mid-roll and found a good way to save the shots?

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the_jennifer•1mo ago

Warning: Ripping film off the spool on your first roll will ruin the first few frames

I shot my first roll of Kodak Gold 200 on a old Pentax K1000 I found at a thrift store in Portland. I was so excited to see the results that I rewound the film too fast and ripped the leader right off the spool. The lab said they could still develop it but the first 3 frames got totally ruined by light leaks. I learned that you gotta rewind slowly and feel for that little click when the film comes off the take-up spool. Now I always bring a dark bag to the lab just in case I mess up again. Has anyone else had a similar rookie mistake with their first roll?

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willowroberts•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about using a phone light for metering?

I kept getting underexposed shots indoors with my Nikon FE until I tried using my iPhone flashlight to meter off a white wall instead of the subject. It actually gave me way better readings for tricky low light scenes. Has anyone else tried this trick or got a better hack for dim rooms?

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christopher385•1mo ago

Overheard a guy at B&H saying you should meter for shadows on slide film

I always thought you expose for highlights like with negative film, but he was dead serious about slide being backwards. Has anyone else tried this metering trick and seen a difference?

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umaprice•1mo ago

My Canon AE-1 light meter went dead mid-roll at a wedding shoot last Saturday

I was shooting a friend's backyard wedding and the needle just dropped to nothing after frame 12. Had to guess exposure for the rest of the reception using the sunny 16 rule and my phone's light meter app. Has anyone else had a camera meter fail on them during an important event?

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jessicaw54•1mo ago

Spent an hour at the darkroom and my roll came out completely blank because I loaded it wrong

Was trying to load my Pentax K1000 (which I got from a thrift store for $15) and guess I didn't wind the leader tight enough, so the film never advanced past frame zero, has anyone else had that gut punch of pulling a blank roll from the tank?

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wesley_grant33•1mo ago

Was super skeptical about those $15 plastic film reels, but dang they work great

I spent like 5 months fighting with a cheap metal reel trying to load 120 film in the dark and kept screwing it up every time. Finally bought a plastic Paterson reel for $15 at a shop in Portland after a guy there literally begged me to try it. Loaded my first roll in under 2 minutes flat in the changing bag without a single jam. Anyone else have gear they were anti on but totally flipped for?

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pat_hall87•1mo ago

Appreciation post: I finally tried pushing a roll of Portra 400

I was always told it would just make my photos look weird and grainy, but I shot a roll at 1600 for a dim indoor party last month. The lab developed it normally, and the colors held up way better than I thought they would. Has anyone else had good results pushing other color films?

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wilson.emma•1mo ago

Heads up about the film fridge at that little camera shop on 4th Street

I stopped by that place yesterday to grab a roll of Portra 400, and I opened their fridge to look. The temp inside felt way off, like it was just cool, not cold. I asked the guy behind the counter about it, and he said it's been 'acting up' for a week. They had a bunch of film in there, including some slower stuff like Ektar 100. Heat is the enemy for film, it speeds up the fogging. If you're buying from a small shop, maybe just check the fridge feels properly cold before you buy, especially in the summer. I ended up passing on it. Has anyone else run into a shop with a wonky film fridge?

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