Photography is film

Erwin Puts:

“Most people assume that digital photography (a huge misnomer) is simply photography by other means than the use of film and chemicals. ... This attitude is not only widespread it is the conventional wisdom worldwide. Being universally accepted does not make it true.”

“The essence of film-based photography is not only the fact that the mechanism of capturing an image and fixing it in a silver halide grain structure creates a final picture that can hardly be altered. The fundamental issue here is the fact that the laws of physics create the image, in particular by the characteristics of light rays and the interaction between photons and silver halide grains. Photography is writing with light, and fixing the shadows.”

“Photography is not only intimately linked to the use of film, but in fact depends for its very existence on film.”

“The scene we want to photograph exists and is real: the scene emits electromagnetic energy that is collected by the lens and is transmitted as wave fronts that are captured on a recording medium consisting of silver halide grain clumps. Image formation then is physical and the image recorded by wave fronts in the emulsion layer is molded and fixed in the structure and distribution of the grain clumps.”

“Film has a more human texture, an emotional weight that can be seen ... Celluloid imagery is real and it shines through the grain of the film, the subtle colour space and the depth of the image. It is this sense of reality that is the defining characteristic of silver halide photography.”

Bruce Weber, 2013:

“When I take photographs I still use film. ... I'm just from a different time.”

Peter Lindbergh, 2016:

“Digital photography looks heartless and terrible.”

Arthur Elgort, 2021:

“Now magazines are terrible. If you look at Vogue now, it's terrible. ... Everything is wrong.”

• Island Polymer Industries, Germany
• Daicel Corporation, Japan

• Leica rangefinder cameras (135, 35mm film)
  • MP
  • M-A
  • M6
    • Leica M lenses (also vintage Leica and Leitz lenses)
    • Zeiss ZM lenses (made by Cosina in Japan)
    • Voigtländer VM lenses (made by Cosina in Japan)
    • Rayqual L-M adapter to use vintage Leitz, Canon, and Nikkor screw/thread mount lenses on Leica M-series cameras
• Linhof and Alpa technical cameras (120, 6x7cm and 6x9cm film) and the excellent Linhof Super Rollex rollfilm backs to fit them are still made, but the lenses with Copal mechanical shutters will have to be obtained secondhand nowadays

• Leica rangefinder cameras (135, 35mm film)
• Rolleiflex 2.8 and 3.5 twin lens reflex cameras (120, 6x6cm film)
• Hasselblad 500 series single lens reflex cameras (120, 6x6cm film)
• Anything you like that is in good condition

• Gossen
  • Digipro F2 (AA 1.5V Alkaline battery)
  • Sixtomat F2 (AA 1.5V Alkaline battery)

• Heliopan (they use brass filter rings and also offer a nice range of brass step-up rings; the filter range is pretty limited nowadays, they seem to be discontinuing most types)
• Tiffen (they use aluminum filter rings; one of the largest filter ranges still available; can make some sizes not in the standard offering; most of the filters are uncoated)
  • Sky 1A: Good general filter. Some color correction for color transparency film without much warming. No exposure compensation necessary.
  • 812: Warming filter unique to Tiffen. Can be nice with color transparency film.
  • 81A, 81B: Warming filters with different color tone than the 812. Might be preferred sometimes with color transparency film.
  • 85B: Filter to correct tungsten-balanced film to daylight.
  • 80A: Filter to correct daylight-balanced film to tungsten/incandescent lighting.

• Berlebach (unfinished wood by special request)
• Ries (natural finished wood by special request)
• Linhof (wood and aluminum)
• Foba (aluminum)
• Slik (aluminum; look for the made in Japan models)
• Wimberley (aluminum; gimbal head and Arca-Swiss type quick-release clamp)

• Linhof
• Silvestri
• Nikon
  • AR-3 (if you can find it)

• Silvestri
  • 5054 4x (45mm field of view)
  • 5056 6x (35mm field of view)
  • 5058 8x (45mm field of view)
• Peak
  • 1990-4 Anastigmat 4x (58mm field of view)
  • 1990-7 Anastigmat 7x (41mm field of view)
  • 2038 Achromatic 4x (45x45mm field of view)

• GTI
  • GL transparency viewers
    • with GTI Graphiclite 100, 5000 Kelvin fluorescent lamps
• JUST Normlicht
  • Classic Line transparency viewers
    • with JUST daylight 5000 proGraphic, 5000 Kelvin fluorescent lamps
  • Smart Light 5000 transparency viewers
    • with JUST daylight 5000 proGraphic, 5000 Kelvin fluorescent lamps
• Kaiser
  • Prolite Scan SC transparency viewers
    • with Dulux, 5000 (5400?) Kelvin fluorescent lamps
• Logan
  • Tru-View 810 transparency viewer
    • with 5000 Kelvin fluorescent lamp
    • most affordable model; not sure if replacement lamps are available

• Reflecta (135, 35mm film)
  • CS2 slide mounts
• Kaiser (135, 35mm film)
  • C.A.M-System-CS slide mounts (these are the Reflecta CS2)
• Archivtechnik Kunze (120, 6x4.5cm, 6x6cm, 6x7cm)
  • JOURNAL FIX 645
  • JOURNAL FIX 66
  • JOURNAL FIX 67

• Braun (135, 35mm film)
  • NOVAMAT E130

• Selvyt
  • SR Type, cotton
  • PR Type, cotton
    • The small premium cloths are also nice for cleaning lenses and filters

• Fotoimpex (probably made by someone else)
• Hama
• Kaiser (it is possible these are made by Hama)
• KLUG-CONSERVATION
• MACO (Hans O. Mahn)
• CTS Conservation
• Kenro (made in Germany now instead of England)

• KLUG-CONSERVATION, Germany
• CTS Conservation, Italy
• Conservation by Design, England
• Conservation Resources, England
• G. Ryder, England
• Preservation Equipment Ltd, England
• Gaylord Archival, United States
• Hollinger Metal Edge, United States
• Talas, United States
• University Products, United States

• JOBO
• Kaiser
• Hewes (stainless steel processing reels/spirals and spiral film loaders)
• Nova Darkroom / The Imaging Warehouse
• Paterson

• ADOX
• JOBO
• Moersch
• Bellini Foto

• Foma (also multigrade/variant filters for multigrade/variable contrast paper)
• Ilford (also multigrade/variant filters for multigrade/variable contrast paper)
• Slavich
• Fujifilm (color)
  • Color compensating (CC) filters for making color prints on B&W enlarger:
  • Kodak Wratten gelatin filters (not sure what base material is used)
  • Silvestri polyester filters (similar thickness to Kodak Wratten, ~0.1 mm)
  • Arista RA-4 Color Filters (from Freestyle Photo), (least expensive)
  • Optiflex optical resin filters (~0.4 mm thick), (are these still available?)
  • Thicker ~1.5-1.6 mm, but might still work:
  • Cokin optical resin filters (possibly still available as special order)
  • Silvestri optical resin filters (might be made by Formatt Hitech UK)

• Dunco ** (are these still available?)
• Kaiser **
• Kienzle *** (custom-made possible)

• Perhaps also make your own masking frame with a custom-cut mat board frame hinged on a solid mat board

• Too bad we no longer have Meopta and Durst. Meopta still make optical products, but no longer anything for the darkroom like their old enlargers and enlarging lenses. Durst now only make products for stupid digital inkjet printing.

• Rodenstock
  • Rogonar-S (good)
  • Rodagon (better)
  • Apo-Rodagon-N (best)
• Rodenstock, special use
  • Rodagon-WA (larger angle of view, for section enlargements, large prints, etc.)
  • Apo-Rodagon-D (close-up, scales around 1:1, transparency duplication, etc.)

• Kaiser
• Paterson
• RH Designs
• DLG Electronics (CatLABS for USA models)

• Hanhart
  • 112.0401-00 1/10 sec. crown stopper
  • 122.0401-00 1/10 sec. addition timer
  • 112.0101-00 1/5 sec. crown stopper
  • 122.0101-00 1/5 sec. addition timer
  • 115.0104-0S Robust 100 1/5 sec. crown stopper
  • 125.0104-0S Robust 200 1/5 sec. addition timer

• The "Robust" models, which add chrome-plated brass buttons and mineral glass crystal, are the models that Hanhart suggests are "especially suitable for use in... photographic laboratories". But I think the standard models with ABS plastic buttons and acrylic (aka Plexiglas) crystal would probably also be okay, as long as you are careful not to get the laboratory chemicals on them. And I like that in the standard models, 1/10 sec. is available.

• Colenta (roller transport film processors, print processors)
• Polielettronica (silver halide printers, LaserLab 50x115, LaserLab 76x125)
• Noritsu (silver halide minilab printers, QSS-3904G, QSS-3901G)
• Fujifilm (silver halide minilab printers, Frontier LP9700)

• Labs looking to offer the highest quality might consider the old-school circa 1990s photomultiplier tube (PMT) drum scanners from Linotype-Hell and Heidelberg, the ChromaGraph, Primescan, and Tango models. These will have to be obtained secondhand and require a significant amount of accompanying hardware, old software, and operater knowledge and skill. Photomultiplier tubes with incandescent/halogen lamps are the oldest scanning type and still the best.