Using the film cameras

Film Cameras

On Tuesday 26th September, we were told we were going to experiment with film cameras and had to pair up with someone. I paired up with Chloe D. We were told we had 24 slides which meant we took 12 pictures each. Once we had obtained our cameras we were taught how to insert the film into the camera, which was the next step. Once our film was ready in the film camera we were aloud to go out and experiment with the camera and take some photos. On this particular day Freshers Fair was taking place at college, this gave us a great opportunity to experiment with our film cameras. We took a series of images of Freshers Fair, for example candy floss, ice cream van and a live band made great opportunities for us to capture the day. 

Developing the film:

The next step was to develop the film, which is were we went into the dark room and took the film out of the camera. This had to be done in pitch black so the film wouldn't be ruined. If light was exposed to the film it would of ruined the film and not developed our images. In the dark room we had to cut of the lip of the film and load the film onto the spiral. The next step was to place the spiral into the tank body; where the liquid seal lid would stop light exposing to the film. When the funnel top is onto the tank you should hear a small 'click' which tells you the lid is securely fitted. This is important because if the lid wasn't fitted properly the film would be over exposed and ruined. During the dark room me and Chloe were in a small booth threading the film onto the spiral, we struggled to do this so we asked Stephan to help us complete this task. 

Inside the developing tank.

Outside the developing tank

After threading the film onto the spiral we then poured water which was at 20c, to then add one part of x-Tol developer. For one 35mm film it needed a total of 300ml mixed solution. And for two 35mm film, or one 120 films needs 600ml solution.
One 35mm film: 150ml X- Tol + 150ml water = 300ml.
Two 35mm film: 300 X-Tol + 300ml water = 600ml.

After we poured the chemicals into the developing tank we started timing as soon as the developer was poured into the tank. Me and Chloe timed our film for 11 minutes. During the 11 minutes, every 30 seconds we had to shake the tank making sure all chemicals were mixed onto the film. After mixing for 30 seconds we added stop and fix chemicals into the tank and left the tank still for the stop and mix to develop the film. 15 seconds before dev time is up we poured the developer into the waste tank. The next step was to take the film out of the tank and rinse and dry the film. Me and Chloe removed the lid from the tank, took out the spiral and removed the centre of the film from it. We then had to Immerse spiral Wetting Agent bath for a few minutes. The film is very delicate at this point we carefully removed the film from the spiral and hang it in the dryer for 10-15 minutes to dry. Once the film strip was dry we then cut the film into strips of 6 frames and placed the film into a sleeve with our names on.

Experimenting with the film cameras has taught me new skills and I feel confident to produce more film strips for next time. Something me and Chloe may have to work on is when we was in the darkroom we struggled to place the film onto the strip. The first time we got the film stuck and it came loose halfway through spinning it onto the spiral, we had to ask for help by Stephan who came and fixed our problem and helped us place the film onto the spiral correctly.