Help! What's wrong?Which Film to use?

[hazyme]

HELP!!!

I am new user for Holga 120 CFN and Fisheyes 2.

I have use my starter kit for my Holga, it turns out only two okay photos. The rest are very blur. (Halfway using it, I realized I did not put my film properly and actually remove the cover to adjust the film, could it be the film is exposed?)

I use my FishEyes No.2, it turn out I have only 3 visible photos and these 3 are taken in the total darkness with flash.

The rest I can't see at all. It is all white in color. Which I suspect too bright. Those are photos taken indoor with lights, some with flash, some without flash. I use Kodak Film with ISO 400.

I also tried multiexposure I ended up with two different photos too.

What's wrong? Can someone advise what film should I use under what situation? Is there anywhere I can read up on all these information? So I can use my Holga and Fisheyes to it fullest potential.

I do not wish to waste more money to develop films that are like that. And I have taken some scene that I love alot and ended up not seeing it.. :cry:

 

[jamie-vai]

hazyme, i am sure the problem is not due to the film you used. rather, if you have the instruction manual, i strongly suggest you read it again to familiarise yourself with the mechanics of the camera, such as proper loading of film and exposure.

if you actually got to remove the cover halfway while using the camera to adjust the film, then the film would have been exposed, thus the prints turned out white in colour.

ISO 400 kodak film is perfectly fine. in fact 400 is quite optimum for such cameras as 100 or 200 may be a tad slow sometimes.

don't worry! since you are a new user, i suggest you shoot again, this time, bring your cameras out under bright sunlight condition. make sure you load your film correctly, or check with another friend who has experience with these lomo cameras. i am sure the prints will turn out just fine!

another tip, you can perhaps just send in the rolls for developing first. don't make any prints yet, if the negatives turn out fine, then you can request for prints. alternatively, some labs provide scanning, it will be a cheaper option as well.

lets say you use your FE2 again with colour negatives, developing will cost $3. if the negatives look ok, you can request for scanning which will cost another $5. so even if your second roll doesn't turn out ok, you would have only spent $3.

120mm, i ain't so sure. heh. but keep shooting!

 

[Sam0606]

wow. i feel your pain. i just lost 12 shots yday coz i didn't load my film properly, and had to open it up to reload.

anyway, for both your cams, you should be aware that they have only one shutter speed besides bulb mode, which is roughly 1/100th of a second. at iso400, if you're shooting outdoors in afternoon sun, i can guarantee you'll get all white. i'm not familiar with the fisheye's flash power, but for both your cams, you need to estimate a decent exposure range to get anything. the blacks and whites are probably due to lighting conditions that the 1/100th shutter speed can't handle.

if you're seeing too much white, i suggest going down to iso100 for awhile first, and shooting with only one of your cameras until you get a handle of what kind of lighting conditions it can handle. methinks the fisheye will be a better choice, as 120 film is slightly more expensive to process and develop, if i remember correctly.

 

[lsisaxon]

HELP!!!

I am new user for Holga 120 CFN and Fisheyes 2.

I have use my starter kit for my Holga, it turns out only two okay photos. The rest are very blur. (Halfway using it, I realized I did not put my film properly and actually remove the cover to adjust the film, could it be the film is exposed?)

I use my FishEyes No.2, it turn out I have only 3 visible photos and these 3 are taken in the total darkness with flash.

The rest I can't see at all. It is all white in color. Which I suspect too bright. Those are photos taken indoor with lights, some with flash, some without flash. I use Kodak Film with ISO 400.

I also tried multiexposure I ended up with two different photos too.

What's wrong? Can someone advise what film should I use under what situation? Is there anywhere I can read up on all these information? So I can use my Holga and Fisheyes to it fullest potential.

I do not wish to waste more money to develop films that are like that. And I have taken some scene that I love alot and ended up not seeing it.. :cry:

You using slide film or negative?

 

[wendychui]

you can actually buy a film changing bag... so tat when something is wrong with the film, you can put it in the changing bag, adjust the film (but cannot see lah...must feel your way around), then your film won't be exposed = won't be wasted

I bought mine from perlyinc.com

quite cheap too!

 

[jamie-vai]

wow. i feel your pain. i just lost 12 shots yday coz i didn't load my film properly, and had to open it up to reload.

anyway, for both your cams, you should be aware that they have only one shutter speed besides bulb mode, which is roughly 1/100th of a second. at iso400, if you're shooting outdoors in afternoon sun, i can guarantee you'll get all white. i'm not familiar with the fisheye's flash power, but for both your cams, you need to estimate a decent exposure range to get anything. the blacks and whites are probably due to lighting conditions that the 1/100th shutter speed can't handle.

if you're seeing too much white, i suggest going down to iso100 for awhile first, and shooting with only one of your cameras until you get a handle of what kind of lighting conditions it can handle. methinks the fisheye will be a better choice, as 120 film is slightly more expensive to process and develop, if i remember correctly.

i do not agree that one will be 'guaranteed' to get all white if he or she shoots ISO400 film with a holga or fisheye outdoor in afternoon sun. negatives are pretty tolerant to exposure error. the exposure latitude of negatives will ensure that 2 stop difference still produce an acceptable result. in fact, i usually load my toy cameras with ISO400 film, ISO100 is often too slow for me.

for the thread starter's first try, i got a strong feeling the all 'white' is due to other factors, and not a matter of which film, ISO100 or 400.

 

[alvin]

I do not wish to waste more money to develop films that are like that. And I have taken some scene that I love alot and ended up not seeing it.. :cry:

I'm sorry to hear that! I have also spent quite a bit learning and loosing stuff on film! I do advise, that if you are shooting important memories, shoot them in a camera you are very familiar with.

You said your prints are white? Check your negatives, if they are all black, which means overexposure - perhaps that happened when you opened your cam half way through the shoot.

lsisaxon also asks if you are using slides or negatives.... slides need really really good exposure... if not you will just whiteout the whole thing (I kena before!)

When I used to play with my MF Woca (Holga clone, AFAIK) - I like to use Ilford XP2 super.... it's a B&W negative film. I have rated it at iso 50 to 1600 can still get back acceptable prints.