If you taught beginning (film) photography?

Question

How many exposures would you recommend your beginning class to shoot for black and white if they could only use one roll?

12?
24?
36?
Roll your own?

Follow up question
What ISO would you want them to shoot?

Answer 1

When I bulk load I put 24 exposures into all of my film cans. It's just easier to go through 24 and load new film instead of wait until 36 exposures are all used up.



Though, I'm really loving Astia Premium 100 and 400 from Freestyle Photo. Rumor has it that the 100 is the same film as Kodak Plus-X and the 400 is Kodak Tri-X. I hope to develop a few sample rolls this weekend.



And at $2 per 36 exposure, you really can't beat it. It's even cheaper than 24 exposure B&W films!

Answer 2

In my B&W Photography class, we are using Tri-X. That has an ISO of 400. My instructor told us we can use 24 or 36 exposure rolls. I personally picked 36. The only thing that sucks about 36 is when I'm making my contact prints, I have just a few that don't fit.

Answer 3

If you can drop about 5000. dollars on a digital camera you can get pretty close to the crisp photos of an analogue. If you love photography go analogue for now. By the time you have a good grip on f stops and depth of field maybe the digital's will also. I love them both, but until a digital camera can give me what film can I'll keep my analogue handy. Learning photography takes time and yes film. More reason to study hard before opening that shutter. Remember it is the photographer's eye and talent that make a great photo. The camera can help or harm depending on how well you know your gear. I've helped digital owners at indoor events that did not have a clue what shutter speeds were good for. Read photography books until you start blurting out photo mumbo jumbo, then read some more. When you are ready young Jedi master the camera will find you.

Answer 4

When I taught a basic (emphasis on basic) darkroom class many years ago I always suggested 36 exposure rolls of Plus-X (ISO 125) or Tri-X (ISO 400). It takes just as long to process a 12 exposure roll as it does a 36 exposure roll so it made more sense to have them shoot long rolls.



Spooling your own film requires additional specialized equipment and, in my opinion, was never worth the trouble.

Answer 5

I'm assuming that you're going to be teaching students this so.. Teach them to roll their own. It's good practice, they will learn a lot, and they get to decide. Just give them a set # to roll, say at least 12, at most 36. ISO 400 is the norm, however, I'd recommend for film an ISO 200. It's less grainy, and usually sharper. Definitely if they're shooting outdoors. If they're shooting indoors, teach them to use strong light sources from both sides so there's no shadow. there's many techniques that you can teach. Just keep challenging their brain.

Answer 6

We use TMax 400 because of the exposure latitude. It is much easier for beginners to use. And we were instructed to get whichever number of exposures we wanted. 36 exposure was just more economical than 12 or 24 as it doesn't cost much more.



You might give your students the links to B&H and Adorama. Film is so much cheaper there than at local camera stores. I paid nearly $6 per roll for 24 exp locally (just so I could have a couple of rolls until my B&H order arrived) and only about $3.50 per 36 exp roll from B&H.

Answer 7

I have taught Intro to Photo and I had students use Tri-X 400, 36 exposures. They need all the bang they can get for the buck.



Developer: D-76



Paper: Ilford RC



Paper developer: Dektol



I used Tri-X as I wanted them to learn to produce good negatives - extra latitude does a beginner no favors.





Amber: Use the negative sleeves that hold 36 exposures (6x6 rows). Whoever came up with the 5x7 rows negative sleeves was a moron, imo. You always have 1 neg left over and no, it doesn't fit right on a 8x10 sheet.

Answer 8

I have, I have one student working for me that I am helping out with his photo class questions...

I had them use 36 exp. film. 400 speed. Why?

simple, the developing I had them doing half the time involved cutting the roll into 3 strips and making changes in the time on each strip to show how to make the images different. Yep, I am odd that way... and yes some would bulk roll shorter rolls to do the work.

Answer 9

Until they could roll the film on the reel for development, I would stick with 12. It would reduce the number of shots they would ruin. Once they got pass that hurdle, I might go with 24 if I wanted to try different ISO values on the same subject matter to get experience.

Answer 10

36 exposures (if the camera is 35mm format) 120 exposures (if the camera is Rolie or Mamiya). Speed should be 200 - it is neither too fast nor too slow. Just the right film for grain free paper prints

Answer 11

i still have a connection to where i studied, quite sure they do 24exps on tmax 100 - - - it could have changed