taking black and white pictures.

[nickpower]

hi, wan to ask ... when using black and white film.
Do i need to use any special filters?
can i still use my CPL and Skylight filters?
Can i develope my pictures at any photo shop?

thanx....

 

[West_ray]

u dun have to use any special filters, but some color filters like red, orange can increase the contrast.

u still can use ur cpl and skylight filters.

u can develop ur films and print ur photos at specific photo shops. I develop my own films n I print my photos at Fee Fee at Chinatown there.

 

[canturn]

hi, wan to ask ... when using black and white film.
Do i need to use any special filters?
can i still use my CPL and Skylight filters?
Can i develope my pictures at any photo shop?

thanx....

Depending on the nature of your subject. The filters that are commonly used includes red, green and orange. E.g. if you want very dramatic sky, use red filter.

Developing wise, you can send them to either Ruby or Fei Fei, most labs don't do traditional B&W printing unless you're using C-41 B&W film (e.g. Kodak TCN or Ilford XP2). Printing from a black and white negative wise, you can still send it to any colour labs to get it done.

If you want rather convincing B&W prints from a colour lab, try Konota. Quite close to those silver halide ones.

 

[d7t3]

when using black and white film.

Do i need to use any special filters?

not necessarily. but they may help, e.g. red to darken sky & highlight clouds. search web for details

can i still use my CPL and Skylight filters?

yup

Can i develop my pictures at any photo shop?

probably not, if it's traditional B+W. if it's a CN (C-41 process) B+W, yes you can

 

[nickpower]

u mean i can request the lab to develope black and white photos wif color films? example... i use a ISO 400 color film.. then i wan to develope some shot in black and white.. is possible wif those specific labs?

 

[Ah Pao]

u mean i can request the lab to develope black and white photos wif color films? example... i use a ISO 400 color film.. then i wan to develope some shot in black and white.. is possible wif those specific labs?

Or rather it is developing B&W prints with B&W film on colour print paper. Most color minilabs will make it turn out to be sepia-toned, i.e. brownish in colour. I presume canturn is talking about Konota making B&W prints from colour paper but making them look like true B&W prints.

Save the money and get the C-41 B&W film like the Kodak T400CN. Although the film itself is more expensive, you'll be paying the normal (colour) processing and printing costs. You'll have less of a problem looking for the correct labs as well.

Anyway, you don't need filters to take B&W pictures, but as some other posters here has replied, they give better contrast and effects.

Here's a sample I took with the Kodak T400CN without filters. Looks pretty plain without filters (no contrast adjusted):

P/S: The photos are scanned directly from negs to digital without printing.

 

[foxtwo]

I just finished shooting kodak T400CN, first time shooting b&w. So now I just pop into any kodak shop for printing?

 

[patch17]

I just finished shooting kodak T400CN, first time shooting b&w. So now I just pop into any kodak shop for printing?

yes. T400CN uses C-41 developing process, same as colour film. So any photo shop will be able to develop your film in 1 hour.

i find an orange filter very useful for b&W, it's not as overpowering as red or as muted as yellow. CPLs are useful too for boosting the contrast. try them all and findout which suits your style and tastes.

 

[jesser]

hi, wan to ask ... when using black and white film.
Do i need to use any special filters?
can i still use my CPL and Skylight filters?
Can i develope my pictures at any photo shop?

thanx....

these are taken with kodak t400cn c41 b&w film. developed and printed over at konota. no speacial filter used.

http://www.pbase.com/jessersim/zebra

 

[foxtwo]

right, thanks.

 

[coke21]

I just finished shooting kodak T400CN, first time shooting b&w. So now I just pop into any kodak shop for printing?

For chromogenic films like the T400CN, in addition to developing B&W, you can also ask the lab to develop it in Sepia.

 

[foxtwo]

yea, she asked me that at the counter.
but why would anyone want a whole roll in sepia? I would use it for 1-2 pics for special effect but all 36exps? anyway, I haven't seen all that many pics in sepia in anyone's gallery at all.

well, half my roll was presentable... heh, meaning not blurred. try to post them up for feedback. the presentable ones only of course.

 

[meepokman]

yea, she asked me that at the counter.
but why would anyone want a whole roll in sepia? I would use it for 1-2 pics for special effect but all 36exps? anyway, I haven't seen all that many pics in sepia in anyone's gallery at all.

To clear some misconceptions, when printing from C-41 B&W films (e.g. TCN 400), it is POSSIBLE to get B&W prints (or what is near to it) on normal coloured paper. But it has to depend on your printer. To get a B&W print, he (the printer) has to put in effort to adjust CMY. This will require lotsof time and effort.

Sepia is the 'default' colour when printing using the machine. Thats why you get sepia colour prints from TCN 400 most of the time. The printers don't wish to neither do they wanna entertain requests for pure B&W prints. They'll just slot the negs in and let the machine do its job.

So is sepia really a special effect? --> Nope, the printers are just plain lazy.

 

[coke21]

yea, she asked me that at the counter.
but why would anyone want a whole roll in sepia? I would use it for 1-2 pics for special effect but all 36exps? anyway, I haven't seen all that many pics in sepia in anyone's gallery at all.

well, half my roll was presentable... heh, meaning not blurred. try to post them up for feedback. the presentable ones only of course.

Guess its a matter of preference. Some people prefer it over to B&W.