Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]OK, here's my situation. I think I might want to start playing around with black and white available light photography. I'm looking at indoor family type stuff. I would be using the M6TTL and 35 summicron, 50 summilux, and 90 skinny tele-elmarit. I call myself a beginner in the subject line of this message. I'm really not. I started with B&W when I was 15 -- a good 30 plus years ago. Back then I did my own darkroom work. Now, circumstances change and I don't have time for processing and printing. So, I will be taking my exposed film in to a local pro lab. I may as well be a beginner though because there have been new films and papers introduced during the past thirty years. I used to use Plus-X and Tri-X exposed at their recommended speeds, and developed in D-76 at the recommended time and temperature. This did fine. (And by the way, I was also using a rangefinder camera! I had a Retina Automatic III with Schneider Xenar 45/2.8. Still have it in fact and might even take a roll or two with it.) Now, there is T Max. My questions are: 1. Should I shoot t-max or tri-x? What about the color film black and white type stuff? 2. Using the M6TTL meter, and the lenses above, if I set the film speed at 400 and meter an average brightness level in the frame will the exposure be on target? 3. I figure I'll get the lab to make a contact sheet and then pick the pictures I want to enlarge. Any suggestions or special instructions I should include for processing or printing? Any other hints from the *many* fine photographers on this list? You guys should know that your web pages have inspired me to try this type of photography again. I'm not very good, but perhaps I can get some decent family pictures from my little project. Any help would be appreciated.