Digital camera - can anyone advise?

[Velorum]

The Russians were always great at producing low price cameras, like Zorki rangefinders, Zenit SLRs and of course the Lubitel TLRs.

I had a Zorki 4K until a few years ago. Some called it a poor mans Leica but I was a poor student and could never afford a Leica, so it did the job at a fraction of the price.

In the late 70's I bought a Zorki 1 rangefinder. It didn't come with instructions and with no internet to refer to it took me a while to figure out how to load the film properly and use it. Fortunately the guy I bought it from told me not to adjust the shutter speed unless it was cocked first otherwise there was a high risk of breaking the mechanism. It was a neat looking little thing and I used a hand held light meter to figure out exposure settings. I never got good results though - and quickly lost interest in it. Perhaps it needed servicing or I should have persisted longer?

In he 90's you could pick these up for £10 or less. A quick look at eBay shows that they are now going for between £45 and £70.

[chard101]

I have to say you made me chuckle, purchasing something very different from what you intended! I do like your reasoning though, fair play to you.

I got back into Film photography a few years back, having taken a 15 year break from it. Well actually I also got myself the Panasonic GX7 and GX8 for digital photos which I enjoy using but there is something definitely special about film. Personally, I find that the way I approach taking a picture is completely different, film makes me take a lot of care and attention with the composure and technical aspects, digital very much less so. I still have my 35mm Pentax P30n although I now use 120 roll medium format film, for quality reasons. I have a Moskva 5, Bessa Model 1 and a Mamia 7ii. I think I paid £8 for the Bessa from a market stall, they thought it was broken because they did not know how to cock it. You can get some great light meter apps for your phone plus I find film quite forgiving if you get the F stop wrong.

I've been developing film in my bathroom with the lights on using a very old Rondinax 60.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGmr8bfb7M

You don't have to stick to B&W either, you can also develop colour at home too, using the above kit. It is more tricky than B&W as it is more sensitive to temperature changes but I was pleased with my first results when I tried it. I put the development tank in a sink of hot water to keep the temp more stable. I used the kit below and also I can say the customer service from these guys was 1st rate, when I had an issue with one of the packs (which in the end was of my own causing). My daughter seems interested in this so once we are moved into our new house I hope to teach her the ways of pre-digital photography. There is something quite magical about seeing a film role emerging from the development tank with lots of little pictures on it.

http://www.firstcall-photographic.co...softpack/p5157

I backed this Kickstarter project a few months ago as these folks are making a modern equivalent of the Rondinax which interchangeable modules for 120 and 135 film processing. I don't see the product being available to buy until around October though.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...4?ref=activity

Hope you have lots of fun playing and if you want any further hints about developing film etc just PM me.


[QUOTE=Velorum;4436747]Well, this thread has been really helpful - but not in the way I was expecting.

I will carry on using my 'phone for digital photos and indulge myself with a 35mm film camera

Just bought a newly serviced OM1 with a 50mm F1.4 lens

Thanks all

/QUOTE]

[chard101]

I'm not going to lie, there is something ramantic about it for me however that it not the only reason I like film. I shoot digital more often because it is more practical however when I shoot film I find it foces me to think completely differently about my subject, which is a good thing.

In my minds eye I liken it to the difference between hunting with a scope mounted on a machine gun vs a proper hunting rifle.

If you have worked day in / day out with film I totally see where you are coming from, film is just a hoby for me.

Just thought I would post a polar view
I'm a photographer by trade and the first half of my career was spent using 10x8, 5x4 and 6x6 (never 35m as it's shit quality) transparency and polaroids shooting for clients, we would have to test batches of film and often add .5 or so of cyan/magent/green to get the colour just right, on big car shoots we would hedge our bets and decide if the set could be changed or do we wait the hour and a half for the film back from the lab? Hours and hours were wasted waiting or having to reshoot because something wasn't quite right.

I laugh at how the hipster kids romanticise film now, if they had to use it day in - day out to produce work for clients they might have a different opinion.

I don't miss film at all apart from perhaps a large format black and white neg processed in hc-110 and printed on a cold cathode head enlarger on Agfa record rapid (I remember when they discontinued that paper) but now inker papers can mimic that print experience almost perfectly but without the faff.

I sold all my linhof, Schneider, rodenstock, hassleblad gear and spent it on watches, fine wine and holidays.

[Velorum]

Just thought I would post a polar view
I'm a photographer by trade and the first half of my career was spent using 10x8, 5x4 and 6x6 (never 35m as it's shit quality) transparency and polaroids shooting for clients, we would have to test batches of film and often add .5 or so of cyan/magent/green to get the colour just right, on big car shoots we would hedge our bets and decide if the set could be changed or do we wait the hour and a half for the film back from the lab? Hours and hours were wasted waiting or having to reshoot because something wasn't quite right.

I laugh at how the hipster kids romanticise film now, if they had to use it day in - day out to produce work for clients they might have a different opinion.

I don't miss film at all apart from perhaps a large format black and white neg processed in hc-110 and printed on a cold cathode head enlarger on Agfa record rapid (I remember when they discontinued that paper) but now inker papers can mimic that print experience almost perfectly but without the faff.

I sold all my linhof, Schneider, rodenstock, hassleblad gear and spent it on watches, fine wine and holidays.

I see where your coming from.

It feels to me like things are very different when you do them for a living as opposed to an interest or hobby.

I love painting, sketching and on occasion working with ceramics. Ive loved drawing and art from a very young age. In the mid 90's I decided to try and supplement my meagre income as a Social Worker by selling paintings. I rented some space in an antiques come craft centre and produced mainly acrylics on canvas or board ready framed. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they sold quite well. With the more popular sellers I produced more of the same and at one point had a bit of a production line going. I even took a few commissions, one chap in Henley wanted a large piece doing to go in his hall as I recall.

The downside of this was that after about 18 months it all became something of a routine chore and I began to lose interest in painting. I no longer rushed home form work to get on with a particular piece nor indeed stayed up most of the night fuelled by beer, wine and brandy lost within a particularly absorbing abstract. I actively began to dislike it all and lose interest. I shut up shop and didn't pick up a paint brush for another ten years.

We're all different of course but mixing a creative hobby with work just isn't for me.

[Velorum]

Thanks Chard

Great links there sir! Really useful.

I will look into the light meter apps - sounds good.

Can you recommend a reasonably priced and easy to use compact hand held light meter?

[Belligero]

Thanks Chard

Great links there sir! Really useful.

I will look into the light meter apps - sounds good.

Can you recommend a reasonably priced and easy to use compact hand held light meter?

Try some of the metering apps first; I find that their functionality are sophistication are much superior to a traditional light meter, plus you get a preview image and histogram using the resulting exposure settings.

[derek_faker]

Thanks Chard

Great links there sir! Really useful.

I will look into the light meter apps - sounds good.

Can you recommend a reasonably priced and easy to use compact hand held light meter?

I use a Sekonic L-308B but I've also got an old Weston Euro-Master.
I started using film again in 2012 and I'm fortunate enough to own a number of Agfa Rondinax developing tanks. During the winter months, I often push Kodak Tri-X to ISO 1600 and stand develop it for two hours in a Paterson tank.


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[Velorum]

Interesting.

How does the old Euro Master perform?

I think that I might have had something like this back in the 70's but I honestly cant remember the make. It must have had a selenium cell as it didn't need batteries.

[derek_faker]

The Euro Master is accurate but it takes longer to take a reading from it compared with my Sekonic. It's still a very nice toy though.


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[UKMike]

Worth mentioning that many film processors will also scan your images directly onto CD/DVD to give you the best of both worlds.

One of the major problems with digital media is that as technology changes, the legacy data may become irretrievable. In 100 years when someone finds your old floppy disks they may have problems finding something to play them on! Not a problem for family snaps maybe but a concern for historians and archivists everywhere.

[Velorum]

Picked up an as new boxed Gossen Bisex 2 for £10

Selenium so no batteries required

I know nothing about these - it seems very easy to use though and the readings look a good match for ones from the OM1's meter

[derek_faker]

Picked up an as new boxed Gossen Bisex 2 for £10

Selenium so no batteries required

I know nothing about these - it seems very easy to use though and the readings look a good match for ones from the OM1's meter

I never realised that you could buy "bisexual" exposure meters!
Anyway, that's a really good price and there's nothing wrong with selenium meters so long as they have been properly stored in a case, because long term exposure to light affects their sensitivity to light.


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[Webwatchmaker]

Well, this thread has been really helpful - but not in the way I was expecting.

I will carry on using my 'phone for digital photos and indulge myself with a 35mm film camera

Just bought a newly serviced OM1 with a 50mm F1.4 lens

Thanks all

I have many 35mm cameras. Nikon, Canon, Pentax. Many more. I need to clear them out !

Brendan(webwatchmaker)

[Velorum]

I never realised that you could buy "bisexual" exposure meters!
Anyway, that's a really good price and there's nothing wrong with selenium meters so long as they have been properly stored in a case, because long term exposure to light affects their sensitivity to light.


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Oops!

I hope that I haven't exposed myself

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