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Position:Home>Visual Arts> Do you need a special camera for black & white film?Question: Do you need a special camera for black & white film!? I recently shot a bunch of pictures using a roll of black and white film and my 35mm camera!. When I went to pick up the developed photos, they told me that the roll was blank!. Needless to say I was very upset since I had spent 3 hours walking around and planning these shots!. What happened to my pictures!? Do I need some special camera or something!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: No special camera needed!. It is possible the the film was not loaded properly, and the feeder sprocket did not engage the sprocket hold in the film!. If this is what happened, then every time you tried to andvance the film, the film did not feed and stayed in the cartridge!. I make sure that I've advanced the film for plenty of length to make sure it is properly loaded!. I don't mind "wasting" a few inches of film and losing a couple of frames, as long as I can be assured that the whole roll will not be wasted!. I can only hope you didn't do the obvious cliche' mistake of leaving the lens cap on!. In terms of focus, exposure, and so on, as long as you chose the proper settings for the film's ISO number, you would take the pics the same way you would for color!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Try taking a class in photography at your local community college!. There you will learn how to compose, expose, develop and print your images !.!.!. once you have accomplished that, this question and much, much more will be answered for you!. And yes unless the film was loaded properly and actually went through the camera and then was developed with the proper developer, you will get a blank roll of film To see which it is, look on the "blank" film !.!. if there are edge numbers on it, then the film did not go through your camera!. If it does, but they are very dim or not even on the film, the problem was at the lab!. In today's world there is a special black and white film that is designed to be processed in C-41 colour developer!. That film can be developed by any photolab with no extra handling!. If you are using actual black and white film, then it usually has to be processed by a pro or custom lab or has to be sent to a black and while lab!. From your question, it is clear than you are not very experienced with using a fully adjustable camera, nor the kinds of film available for them!. Take the camera into your local camera store and have them show you how to load the film and how to check and make sure film is going through the camera after you have loaded it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com You don't need a special camera but you can't have B&W film developed at the one hour photo place!. If you are using Tri X or Tmax film by Kodak or any other true b&w film you will need to send it out to a lab that can process it!. If you want to be able to develop b&w film at the one hour lab look for film that uses C-41 processing!. Kodak and Ilford both make this kind of film and is readily available at Wal-mart and other stores!.Www@QuestionHome@Com NO you don't need a special camera, but depending on what time of film you shot that might have been the problem!.!.!. There is black & white film that can be processed in a color processor (like at wal-mart, etc) and then there is black and white film that has to be processed using black & white chemicals, that you should take to an actual camera shop and not a place like wal mart to get developed!. When I took my b&w photo class we used professional black and white film and developed it ourselves!.Www@QuestionHome@Com You don't need a special camera!. The film wasn't wound on the takeup spool properly!. Make sure to follow the loading instructions carefully!. If your camera is a manual-wind, watch to see that the rewind knob is turning as you advance the film!. VWww@QuestionHome@Com I shoot both black and white and colour in my 35mm SLR, no problem!. Maybe the lab didn't handle black and white and didn't know how to process it!. I know that around where I live, not all labs can or will handle black and white simply because it is not cost-efficient for them!. It is not cost-efficient because they have such little demand for it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |