Question for film camera owners

I've noticed a trend on this site and others of camera owners using film cameras strictly for black and white use. My question is why? Why do you limit the use to black and white when there are so many different color films available such as this Agfa - 3 x Agfa CT Precisa 135/36 Fresh Slide Films Dec 2011 - eBay (item 140420503850 end time Jul-24-10 04:22:00 PDT) (hard to find maybe, but still available) Is there a specific reason you're only using them for black and white? Just curious.

Hi Ken - I use both color and B&W...but do have a fondness for B&W as well as vintage Nikon's and perhaps I am trying to capture a era missing from my life based on when I was born...by the time I got into photography everything was easy and modern...the pioneers who only had B&W are really interesting to me, and I also simply enjoy how some things look in B&W...

Back in the early 70's when I started in photography, I shot almost exclusively with b&w film. I used a lot of ISO 400 film back then. Gave the pictures a lot of texture and grain. Pictures on photo paper actually look different in b&w. Besides.....a lot of b&w photos look pretty cool.

So it's more about nostalgia than purposely not shooting in color?

First of all it is the fact that I LOVE Black and white. As a kid I was fascinated by such photos as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, etc etc..... So much can be done in black and white to show everything from beauty to sheer emotion. Second is the fact that I can develop the film at home and you have control over the processing and other creative components of it. (Yes you can process trannie and neg at home.... but..... $$$$$) Then regardless if you have a digital or wet/dry darkroom you still have the beauty of creating a great black and white, or sepia toned work.

There is so much creativity in black and white. It is easier to do, handle and is less expensive then color.

I just prefer black and white for film. I will shoot Fuji Provia or Velvia for people/clients if they need it. I prefer the medium cameras for that though. (Don't want to have to talk about other manufacturers as this is a Nikon site LOL) Yes I agree color film is nice, has it's advantages. But due to the fact that there is now no labs in my near vicinity for doing C41 and to get E4 done, that is a major day trip.

When I get the urge to shoot film, I can get a roll of B&W out of the fridge the night before, then go shoot the next day, go home and process the film, scan, edit.... Then I have the images on my computer for processing. To do Color is a lot more work, yes I know I can send my film off, wait for it to come back etc... etc... It is just more expensive and I only do it if I have to. Or if there is a special event.

To sum up, for the love of film, in all formats in all types, I think Black and White is just wonderful. If I want color, I will use my DSLR.

Just my opinion.

Agree with the post above,

I use my film camera for B/W film (Ilford C41/HP5) or colour slide film, (yes I still have my Hanimex slide Projector )

If I need the shots straight away I just use the DSLR

Em11y said:

Agree with the post above,

I use my film camera for B/W film (Ilford C41/HP5) or colour slide film, (yes I still have my Hanimex slide Projector )

If I need the shots straight away I just use the DSLR

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That's a great way of looking at it

When you have bulk chemicals that you haven't used in awhile, (many that weren't opened) and a decent amount of frozen outdated bulk film in the freezer (some expired in the late '90s) then you have a good excuse to shoot B&W and process the film yourself.

I mixed some chemistry some weeks back and processed some T-Max 100 bulk last weekend that I hadn't shot in a few years and developed it in some old stored HC-110 and was quite pleased with the results.

I shoot color as well but the processing costs are getting ridiculous and number of processors out there are going by the wayside. Even the cheap ones like Clark Color Labs are jacking up their shipping charges per roll. (They will honor old mailers if you still have some, I just use those). Naturally I would use a local lab for serious work, though, if the need arose.

I envision myself gradually weaning myself off of the dozens of color print film rolls that I still have and then just shooting B&W exclusively. I will probably have to bite the bullet and go digital for color, but that won't be for awhile considering how expensive the equipment is.

I'm colour-blind. B&W levels the playing field for me - I see what you see.

Black and White film has a special Mood, I also don't want to spend $3.00 for developing Color. B&W chems are cheap. and have a long shelf life in concentrated form. (At least Rodinal does). I also prefer my Digital for color photos.

LGBowden said:

I'm colour-blind. B&W levels the playing field for me - I see what you see.

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This made me Grin....

B&W is a helluva lot more difficult to shoot properly than color...

Eye-level said:

B&W is a helluva lot more difficult to shoot properly than color...

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Yes, it is... a whole different mind set IMO.
And shooting B&W can really fine-tune your composition skills in many ways...

What the others said... plus, it is/was simpler (and cheaper) to self-develop B&W than colour. Personally I never got into self-developing colour, maybe because it was expensive when I was a beginner (a long time ago). (And now it is again!) That's more of a practical consideration (I strongly prefer self-developing, when possible)... but the strength and the intensity of B&W imaging is the main reason I mostly use B&W film. I also do a lot of B&W from digital. I have nothing against colour (film), in fact at the moment I'm finishing a roll of colour film in my FE-2. However, I find that doing artistic colour photography well is a challenge (film or digital). It is too much like reality.

dt2003au said:

What the others said... plus, it is/was simpler (and cheaper) to self-develop B&W than colour. Personally I never got into self-developing colour, maybe because it was expensive when I was a beginner (a long time ago). (And now it is again!) That's more of a practical consideration (I strongly prefer self-developing, when possible)... but the strength and the intensity of B&W imaging is the main reason I mostly use B&W film. I also do a lot of B&W from digital. I have nothing against colour (film), in fact at the moment I'm finishing a roll of colour film in my FE-2. However, I find that doing artistic colour photography well is a challenge (film or digital). It is too much like reality.

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The big plus to black and white is that when you inventory the on-hand stock of colors, you're finished in about a second!

Black... Check!

White...Check!

All Done!!

I shot a couple of rolls of B&W here lately...yuck...hard...plus I don't have any darn filters...

B&W film is more expressive than color film to me but with all of the craziness in the Photography business today, those of us who appreciate film photography have see a spike in processing cost ( especially for 120/220 ) film and can still enjoy the art of photography and process our work in our own homes!

Its very easy to process and print B+W and can be done rather cheaply. Process only and a scanner is another popular method.
A lot believe colour does nothing but distract from what is important in the picture too.

I still shoot black and white films simply because of the natural grain and mood that the film offers. It is not something that can be replicated with digital. Sure, you can spend hours editing and try to get that 'look', but it will take you hours. But I'm not down to spend hours in front of my computer; rather go out to create images.

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