new but exciting!

[valeria pandolfini]

hi! I just got myself a hasselblad 503CX with 80 F2.8 CF T*(B60) and wohoo im excited!
a few questions,
I want to shoot in black and white and probably try out infrared too
what's the best filter /film for this? (im super new so this question might sound a bit dum- but do i need b/w film if i have a b/w filter? what do u guys recommend? same question regarding infrared?

Thanks in advance

 

[Photog500]

Try a yellow filter to give your black & white prints a little punch.

 

[wbulte]

For a stronger effect: orange filter, or, even stronger, a red filter.

For B&W IR it really depends on the film you are using. I am not too sure there is still a lot (if anything) on the market in IR 120 film.

The last IR rolfilm I used was Maco 820, which worked ok with a deep-red filter (29B off the top of my head). The Maco was not nearly as sensitive as the Kodak films.

All the true IR film is basically gone, also in 135mm by the way. Kodak High Speed Infrared was the real IR film, which worked with the visibly opaque (black to the eye) Wratten 87.

Hmm.. hope I remembered the filter numbers correctly.

I have gone the digital way for IR, much easier, and lots & lots & lots cheaper. IR film was always expensive :-( It needed be kept deep-frozen and even then it degraded in sensitivity.

For really fascinating pictures in false-colour: Ektachrome Infrared was ***FUN***. I still have some 135 slides taken on EIR. Things like a brown grasshopper sitting on a bright red leaf. All green to unaided the eye of course.

Check this for some background on my digicam hacking.

For everything and more on IR photography check out WJ's website here.
Just try to ignore the font colors, or wear dark sunglasses..

Wilko

 

[Olof B]

There is a Efke IR820.

I can't tell how it's working as my roll is still in my refrigerator...

Fotoimpex in Berlin have it.
http://fotoimpex.de/FILME/page49/page49.html


--Olof

 

[sperera]

Try T-Max 400 film and Fuji Acros 100...then there's Tri-X

 

[gradasso]

Valeria (from Italy?), the answer would request a long photography treating!
Which kind of pictures are you going to take? Do you think to D&P yourself?
Anyway an always right method is to choose a couple of films: one of 100-125 ISO and one of 400 ISO, to alternate them according to situations and to learn knowing them thoroughly. It is useless to go on changing films in hope to find "the best of all": the best film is the one you know.
Having said this, I recommend Kodak Plus-X (not too easy to find in 120 size) or Ilford FP4 for the first sensitivity range and old good unbeatable Kodak Tri-X (beautiful grain!) for the higher one. The best would be of course developing them personally: if so, I can eventually suggest some good developer.
And I add that shooting in B&W is the right way to appreciate and enjoy the quality of 6x6 photography.
How about filters? with modern emulsions I would restrict their use to increasing contrast, particularly in landscape pictures, so the most useful is probably the orange one. A red one gives an higher dramatic effect, but IMHO it is often used to mask a lack of inspiration (not always of course!). It can be useful, anyway, to mitigate skin defects in female portraits; for the same reason a green filter will give a "rough" effect appreciable in male portraits (its usefulness in landscapes is smaller that one can believe).
I cannot help you for IR photography, because of my total inexperience.
And believe to me: shooting with your Hasselblad will be reallyexciting!
Cordially Ale

 

[gradasso]

Some further adding to my message, concerning the range of film speed.
100 ISO films (fine grain, high sharpness, medium-high contrast) are recommended for landscapes, architectures, reproduction of objects, every kind of pictures requesting definition of details.
400 ISO films (medium but quite acceptable grain - we are speaking of 6x6 negs -, medium-low contrast) find their application in sport, street scenes, portraits requesting softness of tones.
But rules - particularly in photography - are made for being broken: so the impact of a landscape picture can often be improved from a higher but sharp grain, likewise you can draw out a "strong" masculine character in a portrait by rendering the evidence of every little wrinkle and hair of beard. Remember, the secret for beautiful shots is only one: try, try and even try!
A further advice: purchase an exposure meter (a good one does not mean an expensive one)!

Cordially Ale