Help - B & W photos in Paris
 

I am trying to make this years trip to Paris as "different" as possible. Thanks to this Forum I have lots of great ideas.

One thing I am considering is taking black and white pictures only.....sort of a bit of nostalgia. The problem is that I haven't taken serious B&W pictues in about 25 years!!! Can anyone offer advice on readily avilable film types and suggestions for use?

Seafox

seafox, Paris seems made for B&W pictures.

I was playing around with my photo software on the computer and was able to turn some color pictures into pretty good B&W ones. They look as if they were taken in a whole different era.

Good luck with your project.

Hi seafox,

After carrying my 4 1/2 lb SLR around for 35 years, I switched to a digital camera.

The camera weighs 14 oz, with batteries.

I took 1089 pix in 3 weeks. I have saved about half of them. The savings in film processing costs almost paid for the camera.

You can take color, B&W or sepia. You can convert color to the other formats. You don't have to worry about what film to use.

I usually take 1 or 2 rolls of B&W on most trips. You can find kodak B&W in any camera shop or even large drug stores with camera departments.

Kodak has a newer film out, it's black and white but can be developed by color processors (which can be cheaper according to my photo guy) I can't remember the exact name but it had "chrome" somewhere in it, sorry for not being more helpful.

The color processed Kodak B&W would be like Ilford(can't remember the numbers).
It is a Tgrained film (hence very fine grained) and has the added attraction that you can change the ASA in the midst of the roll to accomodate whatever lighting you have. This would be a good thing in Paris. Agree about the digital possibilities.

I think the Ilford film is Ilford XP2. I used XP1 years ago and loved it.

You don't mention your camera type - I assume 35mm. The Kodak b&w which can be processed as color is 400CN. It has a range where you can specify clean b&w, sepia or ranges in between. 3200 speed gives you a grainy, edgy look. Check the Kodak website for a complete explanation of all fims. The 400CN may need to be processed at a professional lab. I guess your choice depends on what you will ultimately want to do with your shots and what type of enlargement you'll be wanting. This is not an issue if all you'll want is an 8x10.

Thanks Txrangerterry - I went to the Kodak site and feel pretty comfortable with the 400CN - thanks again (and yes it is a 35mm)

I will also be taking my digital as a color back up - thanks folks