The Film Photography Handbook

This book is intended for anyone who is curious about film and analog photography, whether you need a refresher course or are discovering this wonderful format for the first time. You’ll learn how easy it is to shoot and process black-and-white film at home, and that just a little special equipment is needed to get into film photography.

You’ll learn all about:

• The important differences between film and digital photography
• Numerous film cameras, as well as how to buy a second-hand camera
• Film formats, from 35 mm to medium format and large format
• Exposure settings, tonal values, and tonal representations in different types of film, from color negatives and slides to the enormous spectrum of black-and-white films
• Processing film, covering everything you need to know: equipment, chemicals, and workflow
• Scanning negatives to bring your analog photography into a digital workflow
• Both presenting and archiving your prints and negatives

In this updated and expanded edition, Chris Marquardt and Monika Andrae included topics such as the hybrid film/digital workflow, the digitization of negatives, and using smartphones for light metering and to assist in film processing.

Contents

Why Film Photography?

• Enjoying the Process
• Too Many Options Make You Unhappy

Analog or Digital?

• Film Grain
• Arrangement
• Sharpness
• Area
• Contrast Range
• Angle of Light
• The Bayer Pattern
• Banding
• White Balance vsFilm Type
• Further Processing

Cameras and Film Formats

• 35mm
  • The Film
  • Rangefinder
  • Single Lens Reflex Camera (SLR)
• Medium Format: 6×6, 6×7, and 6×9
  • Film Types
  • Image Formats
  • Camera Types
• Large Format: 4×5”
  • Large Format Cameras
  • Film and Film Holders
  • Camera Movement
• Tips on Buying a Camera
  • Light Seals
  • Shutters
  • Lenses

Exposure

• Stops
• F-Numbers
• Light Metering
  • Reflective Metering
  • Incident Metering
• Without Light Meter
  • Sunny 16
• With Light Meter
  • Handheld Light Meter
  • Smartphone
  • Digicam & Gray Card
  • Professional Light Meter
• Light Metering with the Zone System

Film

• Black-and-White Film
  • From Color to Black-and-White
  • Orthochromatic Film
  • Panchromatic Film
  • Infrared (IR) Film
  • Infrared (IR) Film with Aura Effect
  • Color Filters
• Color Film
  • Color Negative Film
  • Slide Film
  • Other Types of Film
• Instant Film
• ISO—The Film Speed

In the Laboratory

• Industrial Laboratory
• Professional Laboratory
• Processing Yourself: Black-and-White
  • Overview: Negative Processing
  • Chemicals
  • Hardware
  • General Procedure for Film Processing
  • Troubleshooting
  • Digital Helpers
  • Community
  • Push and Pull
• Processing Yourself: Color
  • The Press Kit
  • Temperatures
  • Useful Accessories

Post-Processing

• Traditional
• Hybrid Analog/Digital
  • Scanner Types
  • Scanner Parameters
  • Scanning Software
  • Scanner Profiling
  • Accessories
  • The Scanning Process
• Digital Printing
  • Having Photos Printed: By a Discounter
  • Having Photos Printed: At a Professional Lab
  • Printing Photos Yourself
  • High-End Ink Jet Prints
  • Profiling
  • Printing Workflow
• Historical Processes
  • Cyanotype
  • Albumen Print

Presentation

• Mats
  • It’s All About the Right Size
• Frames
• Mounting Techniques
  • Matting
  • Mounting

Storage and Archiving

• General Considerations
• Storing Negatives
• Prints
• A Tidy House, A Tidy Mind

Fun with “Planned Accidents”

• Cameras and Optics
  • The Box Camera
  • Diana, Holga, and Other Toy Cameras
  • The Pinhole Camera
  • The Subjektiv
  • Zone Plate
  • Lensbaby
• Expired Film
  • Experimenting is Fun
  • Film Speed and Light Conditions
  • The Special Joys of Cross Processing
  • A Residual Risk Always Remains
  • Treated Film
• Double and Multiple Exposure