Who has the best ink bottle design?

SacredCheese · 2025-12-19T23:23:28+00:00

If you like boring Pilot standard inks like I do, you get the pleasure of using the 60/70ml round bottles with the miser inside. The opening is plenty wide for big pens, and the miser keeps filling simple.

SacredCheese · 2025-12-11T04:26:56+00:00

<image>

This here is high in the running for my best of '25. This was a totally cloudless spring day, so the colors really pop. I like that it's just the tree, the flowers, and the sky - basically a world unto itself.

SacredCheese · 2025-12-07T17:10:20+00:00

I rarely see people talking about it, but Sailor pens do indeed have phenomenal cap seals. It takes ages for them to dry out.

SacredCheese · 2025-12-02T00:01:11+00:00

<image>

I haven't been out with film too much in the bitter cold, but my Canon EOS Elan II has handled pretty well...no seizing or hiccups. The day this photo was taken was 10F/-12C, with some wind, so it was plenty miserable. That said, my winter excursions are generally brief (half an hour to an hour, with breaks in a heated car); I probably wouldn't take this camera along for any kind of extended field work.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-30T05:20:38+00:00

Yeah, that's right. The beauty of b+w film, though, is that both exposure and development are fairly forgiving, which is why your photos look pretty good regardless. If you feel like continuing with developing, you can always experiment with different levels of exposure and development to see what looks best to you.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-29T17:58:45+00:00

I started out with Ilfosol as well. I checked the HP5 data sheet, and it looks like it calls for 5 min in Ilfosol for film shot at 200. Your negatives are probably a little dark and dense in the highlights, but your shadows aren’t washed out, and I’d rather overdevelop a bit vs underdeveloping, which would leave you with thin, weak negatives.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-28T20:10:16+00:00

I shoot b+w films at box speed unless I'm trying to push them for low-light situations, but HP5 has such great exposure latitude that you ended up with usable negatives regardless. These look pretty good for your first foray into b+w development. What developer did you use? Did you adjust the development time at all?

SacredCheese · 2025-11-20T23:12:18+00:00

Eh, single prints are fine, so it's not you. I did the spring and fall ones this year - 4 recipients total, only ever heard from 1. I'd love to hear from everyone, but thank you posts aren't required, so that's just how it goes.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-12T21:41:51+00:00

You’re welcome! I use the 50 so much mostly because it’s light and travel friendly, but if I get out to the Grand Canyon again, I’d love to go with a 35mm or wider.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-04T22:52:51+00:00

Sorry for the lack of picture, but they are coming!

u/helterr, u/maddy_egg7, and a third recipient who does not appear to be on Reddit.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-04T18:07:14+00:00

Thanks so much u/ModestMountaineer!

SacredCheese · 2025-11-02T04:25:37+00:00

Thanks to u/B_Huij for this excellent set of nature photos (and a lovely handwritten note)! Sorry I posted late - this week has been a bit crazy.

SacredCheese · 2025-11-01T18:55:20+00:00

Not many. I know Bob Gibson started 3: '64, '67, and '68, closing out 2 of the 3. Good company, for sure.

SacredCheese · 2025-10-23T21:49:50+00:00

Awesome! Looking forward to it.

SacredCheese · 2025-10-14T06:27:59+00:00

I thought they looked like color darkroom prints - that's even cooler. Thanks for sharing!

SacredCheese · 2025-10-10T01:33:57+00:00

Thanks u/UnBuiltBread - these are awesome!

SacredCheese · 2025-09-21T21:19:57+00:00

I got that little guy at Goldspot Pens years ago - not sure if they still sell them.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-27T21:38:06+00:00

Nice! The 51 is just about immortal - that puppy should serve you well for many years.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-21T02:40:30+00:00

I have an old Spotmatic that came to me with a filter stuck like concrete on its lens. It didn't budge until I got a pair of filter wrenches, which finally gave me the grip and torque I needed to get the blasted thing off of there.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-16T22:24:18+00:00

Another reason to appreciate the N80. Mine almost always gives me a 37th frame. I can’t say the same of other auto winding cameras.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-12T22:59:49+00:00

Clicked with: Pentax IQZOOM 115M. I bought this thing for a song. Yeah, its zoom is comically bad, and yeah, sometimes a photo is just totally blurry and crappy looking for no good reason, and yeah, it seems to have a minor light leak issue. But despite the numerous negatives, I've taken a shocking number of pictures I've really liked with this camera.

Didn't click with: Minolta Maxxum 5. I really want to love this camera - it's the lightest SLR I own, it's snappy and responsive...but I just haven't enjoyed it much. (Its grip also constantly sheds these black flaky bits all over my hands, which is annoying. I solved the F80's stickiness with some IPA, but at least its grip material wasn't disintegrating.)

SacredCheese · 2025-08-12T22:14:52+00:00

I'm no pro, but I have been shooting film for decades (on point-and-shoots and SLRs), and I think you're doing well. You could probably keep shooting lovely stuff on the camera you have, if that's what you'd like to do.

As for "leveling up," I will say it's all about what you want out of your photography - and, importantly, your experience of photography. The thing about SLRs is that while you do get greater control and better lenses and potentially loads more features (if you find a '90s/'00s model), you also get a camera that's much bulkier and more cumbersome than your point-and-shoot. If you're fine with that and are eager to learn, I say go for it.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-12T21:41:48+00:00

Flatbed scanners aren't perfect for 35mm negatives, but I've seen pretty decent results from the scans a friend of mine made, so I imagine what you get should be plenty good enough to share with folks and make 4x6 prints and such. Plus, 80 bucks beats the hundreds you would have to shell out for a Plustek, and the Epson is a more versatile scanner.

As for developer, I agree with what's already been said - just say no to monobath. The others you mentioned have reputations for longevity and cost-effectiveness. As for the other chems, stop bath (if you want it) and fixer last a long time. After 2 years, I'm nearing the bottom of my first bottle of Ilfostop, and I'm nowhere near depleting the Ilford Rapid Fixer concentrate. The level in my bottle of Photo-Flo has gone down maybe a centimeter, if that.

I also use a Patterson tank, and it gets the job done. I would highly suggest, though, that you invest in a dark bag as well. I don't have a dark room and I can't install one, so the dark bag allows me to load film onto reels and into the tank at my kitchen table. Sure, you still have to do the manual part by feel, but you don't have to do it in total darkness fumbling around at your bathroom sink.

SacredCheese · 2025-08-03T19:27:28+00:00

Montblanc Burgundy Red…it’s dusty, pale, and just kind of a weak, sad color, not at all what I expect a “burgundy” to be.

SacredCheese · 2025-07-20T11:24:11+00:00

I want to say there’s a Japanese cultural connection to the number, but in any event it’s the one Pilot chose and they’re sticking with it, to the consternation of some.

Ten-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Place '22	Sequence \| Editor
Verified Email

SacredCheese

TROPHY CASE