(The following is a very quick mind dump. Unedited. Raw.)
I prefer black and white over color film for most of my photographic work.
I do shoot color film. I mostly like to capture personal memories on color film while reserving black and white for my more serious, thought out photography. I think black and white captures the spirit of a person far better than color does. But I think color does far better at capturing the mood of a scene than black and white does. So while I shoot less color than black and white, I think it has its place for me.
But I’m rethinking my use of color film.
On Monday I developed 5 rolls of color film in the darkroom. Developing color film is slightly more complicated than developing black and white film – you must keep the chemicals within a specific temperature range. This means that developing takes a little longer to get set up, and it also means that I have be more mindful and attentive during the entire session.
There are a few ways I could help reduce my cognitive load and make developing color film much easier on myself.
I have a larger Patterson tank that holds more rolls of film. I haven’t used it yet but I could mix larger batches of chemicals and use this new tank and finish more rolls in a single development session. This would significantly reduce the amount of time I need to keep the chemicals at temperature.
Or, I could make it easier to keep the chemicals at temperature. My current method for bringing my chemicals to temperature (and keeping them there) is about as crude as it gets – I have a large basin I fill half way with very hot water and I put my chemicals in it. I’m constantly recycling that water to keep things right at the proper temperature for each step. It is a carefully choreographed dance (read: hectic mayhem) to keep everything just so. I could invest in a sous vide apparatus to keep my water temperature constant meaning that I wouldn’t have to babysit it.
But should I be developing color film at home at all?
I’ve never sent my film out to any third party to be developed. Not a single roll. Since starting my film photography journey in 2019 I’ve developed every single frame (for better or worse) on my own. I’ve toyed with the idea of sending my color film out to be developed, scanned, and returned to me.
But I’m also considering not shooting color film and all and moving to digital for my personal memories. Vacations, family events, small moments – these could be captured on a simple camera (not a mobile phone).
But which camera? Do I need lenses? Do I go mirrorless? How many megapixels do I need?
Leave it to me to find another reason to buy yet another camera. I have way too many cameras. But I love them all.
I really want an excuse to join the Fuji family. My eyes are on the GFX 100 system but I don’t feel like spending $15,000 on a camera for the purposes I described above (though, I still want to buy one some day). I’m thinking an X100VI might be a good option?
So, what do I do? Keep shooting color? Keep developing, processing, scanning my own negatives? Go digital? Something in between?
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