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  #21  
Old 11th December 2013, 10:14 PM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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HP5 is a favourite of mine too. Not only is it very good to start with, it's very good to continue with.
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  #22  
Old 12th December 2013, 07:21 PM
omega man omega man is offline
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Hi again folks,
Thanks for the many replies!
Here's a quick update, Camera/various lenses/flash unit and filters have arrived (wife allowed me a sneeky peek before she wrapped it,oh the frustration) and look to be in the great condition described : ) films have arrived also and I plan on picking up the button batteries for the ME this weekend.

I'm planning to use the camera for the first time this Christmas while we take our holiday in the rural yorkshire dales....
so upon returning with used films where best would be able to develop said photos for me since I'm a way off having my own DR yet? should I use an online company or is there a physical retail outlet i can employ?

I'm also excited to play with one of the lenses, the 28mm 1:2.8 wide angle lens (Pentax).. it seems there are many pleasing examples of images achived with this lens at close and medium ranges,lost 2 hrs of my life online today lol.

thoughts/advice?

Happy thanks,
Liam OM

Last edited by omega man; 12th December 2013 at 07:23 PM. Reason: poor spelling
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  #23  
Old 12th December 2013, 08:07 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is online now
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Traditional B&W can be expensive if you don't do it yourself. The other issue can be quality of prints. I'm sure Ilford did a D&P service. Check their website for details. Some of our sponsors like Silverprint and Ag also do processing. All these options should be good if they do proper B&W films. An alternative would be to get a developing tank and some basic equipment and chemistry to process your own films. You could then scan the negs via a 35mm scanner, and see results on your computer. I do this to assess the picture content before making prints in the darkroom. I can't see well enough now to assess 35mm from contact sheets. These scanners are £80-£100 new, so you might find one cheaper on eBay. At risk of being struck-off, I would suggest that you could even make prints electronically from the scanned negs. That would at least get you up and running with film processing until you are able to set up a darkroom. Be warned, however, that FADU rules don't allow posting of electronically produced images on the forum. Film processing at home is fairly easy. Once you've tried it, I'm sure you will be desperate to set up a darkroom.
Alex
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  #24  
Old 18th December 2013, 04:40 PM
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Paul Glover Paul Glover is offline
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Ilford do have a D&P service in the UK: http://www.ilfordlab.com/ - I'm sure they'd be reliable and good quality.

I'll second the opinion that you should set up for developing at home, there's an initial investment in equipment but it pays for itself very quickly and affords you a lot more control over the process. When I got into B&W at first I bought a plastic tank with two reels, the cheapest darkroom thermometer I could find, and the chemicals.

Until recently I scanned my negatives, but was falling into the trap of having loads of JPEG files buried in some dark corner of my hard drive and no prints. Have printed more in the last 3 months since setting up a darkroom than I did in the couple of years prior!
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  #25  
Old 19th December 2013, 11:03 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Hi Liam- (nice 'handle' by the way. What did you make of I Am Legend?)
HP5 is a very versatile film- it works in every format from 35mm to 10x8, and bigger I guess. Be prepared for one thing- film shooting is not about instant gratification. Once you're in the groove you tend to exist in the middle of a spectrum of work. Film in the camera, maybe a roll waiting to be processed. Last weeks negs awaiting printing, last weeks prints (of the previous weeks negs) flattening . .
It's involving, evolutionary, addictive, but since you don't have your own DR it's SLOW compared to chimping the screen on the back of a DSLR. Send your first roll away (try Ilford)
http://www.ilfordlab.com/
and keep shooting.
Different when you can process and print yourself. Shoot in the morning, process after lunch, admire your prints in the evening!
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  #26  
Old 28th December 2013, 11:47 PM
omega man omega man is offline
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Hi Guys and seasonal greetings to you

Firstly a thanks for helping me along to-alexmuir,Paul Glover and skellum,very kind!

update time,
So it turns out the ME is awesome!! Condition is well beyond what I'd expected,although new to me it's painfully clear the previous owner was a stickler for neatness,caution and order.. original manuals and packaging for the camera itself,each lens,the flash unit..the whole nine yards! I spent Christmas morning like a little kid carefully inspecting the camera against the instructions and becoming familiar with it,loaded fresh batteries,correctly loaded my 1st film,loved it. Very pleased to report having followed the manual and "initally set up and explored the Auto mode" absolutely all the functions are working as they should.

I've very much enjoyed taking a couple of films worth of pictures up in Yorkshire over the last week (I'm sure what i think are awesome arty pic's will prove upsetting in truth lol).. but nevertheless I do feel comfortable with the camera and encouraged to boot,even took some shots in the manual mode,varyring shutter speeds,F stop positions and used the flash unit too.Low expectations but treating it as a camera test really.

I'm still gonna send these first couple of used films to a lab(probably via the Ilford lab link from Paul Glover,thanks).. but I will be following your advice and buying the chemicals and equiptment to
develop my own negs there on, also a good friend of mine has just informed Me that He has a neg scanner should I require it so that may be a little stop gap too..

Sorry again for being the total novice Just so excited!

Liam OM

p.s skellum, should we make the comparison that 'I am legand' was like a fair digital version of the charming classic FILM 'Omega man'?
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  #27  
Old 5th January 2014, 05:08 PM
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CambsIan CambsIan is offline
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Hi Liam, welcome to the forum
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