My wife wants a non digital SLR for Christmas / enlarger question, need help

da0867 · Dec 1, 2009

Hi,

Brand new to this forum here. My wife is looking to get back into the hobby of photography and has been hinting that she wants a non digital SLR camera for Christmas. She wants to set up a darkroom and everything that goes along with it. I have a few questions...

1- The obvious one... which camera should I get her? I've done a little hunting and I've seen several brands out there. One that popped out at me was Pentax. And I noticed they are sold different ways. Some only come with the body and you have to buy the lens separately. I don't even know where to begin. All I know for sure is that she doesn't want a digital yet.

2- On my local craigslist, there is a Omega B66 enlarger for sale for $65. Should I go after this for her?

Thanks for all any any help you all can provide.

- Robert

mdruziak · Dec 1, 2009

How about a Nikon FM 10 kit:

Nikon | FM10 35mm SLR Camera with 35-70mm Lens | 1689 | B&H

Buckster · Dec 1, 2009

da0867 said:
Hi,

Brand new to this forum here. My wife is looking to get back into the hobby of photography and has been hinting that she wants a non digital SLR camera for Christmas. She wants to set up a darkroom and everything that goes along with it. I have a few questions...

1- The obvious one... which camera should I get her? I've done a little hunting and I've seen several brands out there. One that popped out at me was Pentax. And I noticed they are sold different ways. Some only come with the body and you have to buy the lens separately. I don't even know where to begin. All I know for sure is that she doesn't want a digital yet.

2- On my local craigslist, there is a Omega B66 enlarger for sale for $65. Should I go after this for her?

Thanks for all any any help you all can provide.

- Robert

Considering what she's asking to get into, going as far as wanting to set up a home darkroom, I'm surprised she hasn't been explicit in what she wants for gear, at least when it comes to a camera.

Is this out of the blue, or does she have some experience with film cameras and developing from before and wants to get back into it?

What kinds of photos does she shoot or plan to shoot? Portraits, landscapes, still life, ...?

Is she planning to shoot and develop both color and black & white?

Does she want to shoot and process 35mm, medium format or larger?

Is she only interested in making the prints herself, or does she want to do the film processing as well?

Me, I'd sit down with her and go over her plans, wants, needs and desires in a lot more detail first, and probably let her pick out what she wants, especially if I had no working knowledge of any of it myself.

Yeah, it might ruin the surprise if she has no idea you're actually planning to give her this as a gift, but it will avoid a possible huge disappointment as well. At least say, "IF I were to get you a film camera and dark room equipment, what kind?" Then you can muddle the issue by asking for confirmation of clothing sizes and styles, favorite colors and perfumes and so on, make a big list of other possible gifts she's interested in, and leave her still unsure of what she's getting.

Edited to add:

Buying a camera usually means a lot more; It's buying into a whole system, like forming a partnership or getting engaged - it's a commitment. It can be broken later, but it's not done without some pain in the process.

The camera itself is usually just the tip of an ice burg that involves lenses and other peripheral gear which, over time, can become quite a larger investment in time, money and energy than one might first think it is. That's why it's important to try to get the right fit between the photographer and their gear from the start.

ann · Dec 1, 2009

:thumbup:

T-town photographer · Dec 1, 2009

I would look for a Nikon FM series camera. The nice thing about nikon is the fact that if she upgrades to a digital she can still use the older nikon lenes. She will have to do manual metering but the lenses will function just like they do on a manual focus slr.

Just my thoughts.

Michael

da0867 · Dec 1, 2009

She's probably going to be more into landscape / nature shots than portraits. She took some photography classes in high school and learned how to develop and use an enlarger and she wants to get back into it.

The other day I kind of got a hint that she'd rather me stay away from picking her out a camera. She was looking at some retro cameras on UrbanOutfitters.com. Like the Holga ones. I might end up going that route, especially considering the budget I'm on. To throw down $300 for a Nikon FM series much be a little out of my range for right now.

djacobox372 · Dec 1, 2009

A nikon FE or FE2 is a great camera and can be had for less then $100 on the auction site.

A yashica mat 124 is also very inexpensive and a great medium format camera... MUCH better then a holga. Something like this: Yashica Mat-124 Camera TRL w/original Leather HardCase - eBay (item 230405363655 end time Dec-05-09 09:18:06 PST)

You may want to consider a hybrid darkroom, where you forgo the enlarger in place of a quality film scanner and computer. But if you have space, enlargers are a dime a dozen these days, just watch craigslist.

ann · Dec 1, 2009

if your wife wants to work with a holga then you need to look for an enlarger that will handle that size negative. Be on the look out for a Beseler 23C as it will handle up to a 6x9 negative.