A Mystery Roll of Film

Posted by Ken Mullinix · 4d ago · 70 views

I bought a Nikon FM2N from KEH and it had a roll of film inside. There are photos of this concert in Dallas, landscapes, cats, and a portrait of a woman. Maybe we'll never know, or maybe they'll visit the site and recognize this image :)

2 likes

Liking takes a free account — and you don’t have to shoot film to have one. Already a member?

Camera: Nikon FM2N
Film: Ilford XP2 Super
Format: 35mm
Subject: Documentary
Posted from: Massachusetts

Developed at home Black & white

Developer: Rodinal · 1:50
Time: 13 min

Comments (8)

PahaPlager 4d ago

Heh…so there is magic in them mystery rolls.

PahaPlager 3d ago

Ok remind what XP2 is again and how did you scan this in? I gotta say, my 35mm scans on my Epson V700 suck. Very unsatisfactory pretty much always.

Ken Mullinix photographer 3d ago

Ilford XP2 is a fine grain iso 400 b&w film made for c-41 processing. I just used Rodinal. Scanned with the Epson v850. Are you using a film holder with the V700 or just on the glass?

PahaPlager 3d ago

Both actually to no good effect. Your scan is far superior. I now remember this film when Ilford introduced it with much hoopla back in the ‘80’s. I tried it then but the substrate was quite unwieldy as I recall. I recently saw a comparison between the native Epson software and Silverfast and the difference was remarkable. I’d best step up and get it I s’pose. Photography seems to always find a way to help one bleed off excess cash. Good to see some things haven’t changed over the years :-)

Ken Mullinix photographer 3d ago

It sure does. Sometimes even non-disposable income. I'm using Silverfast. I bought a wet-mount frame and have been using that without liquid. Also, I flatten the negative with a piece of anti-newton ring glass. The glass frame gives me the height to use the better camera without the inconveniences of the 35mm frame holder. Biggest issue is dust, not so much with color though, the IR dust remover in Silverfast is really good.

PahaPlager 2d ago

@Ken Mullinix Ah…so many questions. Is using the liquid as messy and tiresome as it seems? If you didn’t use the liquid on this 35mm scan then I’d say you’re there already. That is one superior scan; more than I would ever need. So, Silverfast it is then…sigh.

Ken Mullinix photographer 2d ago

@PahaPlager The fluid gives me a headache. Even one or two scans and I start feeling bad. There's no ventilation in the room so I just don't use it. I never really found that it made much of a difference. I darkroom print my best photos anyway, so I'm ok with some newton rings in my digital scans. Usually not much of an issue. You should be able to get decent scans even without Silverfast, and the photos you're posting to the site look great.

PahaPlager 2d ago

That was the other thing-the smell is foul according to the reviewer. This great intel-helps a lot. doug

Create a free account to ask the photographer about this shot, or log in.

Members don’t have to be photographers.

More from Ken Mullinix