All my digital gear is sold.

elemental · Feb 8, 2009

Yesterday, a couple drove five hours (round trip) with their baby to answer a five week old Craiglist posting that happened to be mine. After talking with them for about an hour, they left with all of my digital camera gear (Pentax K100D, two lenses, SD cards, batteries, all sorts of trinkets). It was a great "get back into serious photography for a stay-at-home mom with a photo degree (this was the perosn I sold it to- none of these things describes me) from the 35mm days" package. I am now down to a Ricoh KR-5 Super II, a Pentax K1000, a Ricoh KR-10, some 50mm lenses, and a freezer full of APX400, Plus-X, Pro 160C, and Velvia 50F. It seems strange not owning anything digital anymore, but in a way it's freeing. Manual cameras really are a lot more fun- I'm not holding my breath for a compact manual-focus LCD-less manual exposure SLR, but I would definitely buy one.

I'm still contemplating my options for my new digital setup, which probably won't happen before this summer. I've put together a few shopping carts on KEH, and I'm pretty sure where I'm going. I haven't decided on lenses though. Probably a 28mm prime for "normal" shooting (none of my options are full-frame, and 42mm seems like a nice wide-normal focal length, plus there a plenty of great options at that 28mm, while the herd at 30mm or 35mm is much thinner and often pricier) and a 50mm for low light and portrait shooting (although a 55mm micro would also be a fun toy for about the same price but a stop and a half or more slower).

Decisions decisions.

dxqcanada · Feb 8, 2009

Nice to hear you have gone back.

Does Agfa still make their low speed B+W film? I think it was 25 ASA ... great film.

You sticking with Pentax DSLR's ?

elemental · Feb 8, 2009

dxqcanada said:
Nice to hear you have gone back.

Does Agfa still make their low speed B+W film? I think it was 25 ASA ... great film.

You sticking with Pentax DSLR's ?

Unfortunately, Agfa no longer makes film at all (although apparently Rollei has picked up some of their formulations). As for DSLRs, I will most likely pick up a Nikon next, probably a D200. It was controversial when I suggested it, and I'm sure it's still controversial now, but I am having a tough time finding a better body at the $600 (used) price point. I would love a D300 or something of that nature, it's just too much money.

usayit · Feb 9, 2009

Judging from your posts (photo degree too.. nice), have you considered going with a medium format camera? They sit at rock bottom prices. There is no need to spring for a Hassy as there are many other options; Bronica and Pentax. No doubt you understand the benefits of MF. In addition, I found that MF negatives scan wonderfully; significantly better than 35mm.

I found the 645 a good compromise.... Bigger negative but not so big that it is difficult to carry.

It is great way to keep one foot in film and another in digital.... at least for me, I found it fulfilling.

elemental · Feb 9, 2009

usayit said:
Judging from your posts (photo degree too.. nice), have you considered going with a medium format camera? They sit at rock bottom prices. There is no need to spring for a Hassy as there are many other options; Bronica and Pentax. No doubt you understand the benefits of MF. In addition, I found that MF negatives scan wonderfully; significantly better than 35mm.

I found the 645 a good compromise.... Bigger negative but not so big that it is difficult to carry.

It is great way to keep one foot in film and another in digital.... at least for me, I found it fulfilling.

Photo degree? No, no, that was the people who bought it. I am a (male) college student studying other subjects.

I have considered MF, but I think I would miss the convenience of digital (moving around a lot makes it difficult to find someone consistent to work with my film as well). I would like to try it one day though.

I am going to edit the original post to make it more clear.

AUZambo · Feb 10, 2009

Just curious, how many scam artists did you have respond to your craigslist posting? I listed my old A100 on there a couple of days ago and I've already received two scammy emails.

Katier · Feb 10, 2009

elemental said:
Unfortunately, Agfa no longer makes film at all (although apparently Rollei has picked up some of their formulations).

Fortunatly the 50ISO Ilford BW is very nice

elemental · Feb 10, 2009

AUZambo said:
Just curious, how many scam artists did you have respond to your craigslist posting? I listed my old A100 on there a couple of days ago and I've already received two scammy emails.

A lot. Probably more than twenty. The tough thing is that they almost always start by asking you if the item is available, which makes it difficult to differentiate them from people who are legitimate. As a result, I ended up responding to most of them, then getting the "Perfect! Just send it to Nigeria!" emails. With what passes for acceptable grammar these days, it's hard to tell a Nigerian scammer's broken email English from an American's broken email English. At first, I figured the guy who ended up buying it was a scammer.

I never had these issues when I sold a bike a little over a year ago. I guess a bike would be a little harder to ship overseas.

I think perseverance in the face of adversity is key.

blash · Feb 10, 2009

Nice. I don't own a lot of digital equipment being new to the hobby, but I'm thinking of selling my DX telephoto because I'm getting more into photography. I don't think I could completely part with my D80 though, it has it's uses - quick show-off of various lenses, very quick and easy import to the computer when quality is not an issue, etc. I do love my Nikon F100 though

AlexColeman · Feb 10, 2009

I have never shot a roll of film, talk about opposites.

Big_Flash · Feb 11, 2009

I was just wondering if you had your own dark room for the B+W film, or is it going to be mostly colour? Just wondering because I'm thinking about trying to create an improvised one, just for developing film.

Also I second medium format except that it's a bugger to load.

Katier · Feb 11, 2009

Big_Flash said:
I was just wondering if you had your own dark room for the B+W film, or is it going to be mostly colour? Just wondering because I'm thinking about trying to create an improvised one, just for developing film.

Also I second medium format except that it's a bugger to load.

Medium Format is fun and dead easy to load. Easier than 35mm probably.

As for developing film. To do film all you need is a changing bag as once you have loaded the development tank it's light tight so you don't need to actually process the film in darkness.

That said bathrooms are popular temporary dark rooms. Just black out the window and you are ready.

the apug website is excellent for film info.

usayit · Feb 11, 2009

Big_Flash said:
I was just wondering if you had your own dark room for the B+W film, or is it going to be mostly colour? Just wondering because I'm thinking about trying to create an improvised one, just for developing film.

Also I second medium format except that it's a bugger to load.

* You don't need a darkroom to develop film. For B&W it is pretty darn easy.
* MF is only slightly more difficult to load than 35mm and it depends on the camera. It is just a matter of practice. For Pentax 645, I have 7 inserts that are preloaded with film prior which makes loading the next roll even quicker than loading the next 35mm cartridge. i will admit, the Pentax 67 which loads 120/220 rolls similar to that of a 35mm SLR is a pain in the butt.

Captain IK · Feb 11, 2009

I used to develop and print all my own film...B&W and colour...in a fruit cellar!
Much more fun than sitting at a computer working on digital images.
Worked great!

Big_Flash · Feb 11, 2009

My only experience with medium format was an ancient Bronica (may have been an ETRS) and I remember having to load it in the dark, but seeing as it was three years ago now I may be a little confused.

I seem to have hijacked this topic, my apologies.