Going 'Retro' with film?

[colintinto]

Hi All,

I've been playing with my Canon 300D for a few months now, having moved on from an old Canon Powershot, and an older Olympus digital before that, so I've been digital for 5 years.

I've recently inherited a Minolta 7000 and various lenses from my Grandfather. My first idea was to sell all the kit on eBay and use the money to buy something new for my Canon, but firstly there is a bit of sentimental value there, and secondly it looks like I'd be lucky get much more than £100 for the lot, so I don't think it's worth the effort.

And now that I understand SLRs a bit better, I've started to think that maybe I should get some film and play with the Minolta! Maybe some slide film, or B&W, just something different.

Has anyone gone this route? And how hard is it, going from the instant gratification of histograms, previews, and on screen in minutes, to having to finish the roll, send it off for processing, and then finding out you've over/underexposed them all???

Colin

 

[santino]

it is different, requires a bit of experience but all I can say is shoot, shoot and shoot and you'll get good results. just be patient! good luck

 

[terri]

We have a member here, ksmattfish, who started out in photography shooting digital. Somehow he transitioned over to film and ended up being quite the film geek, right down to using classic cameras from the 1950's (Rolleiflex and the like) and moving to large format.

Point is, it's not at all unheard of, and if you're the type who wants to really delve into photography, wants to look into the guts of a camera, maybe even learn B&W film processing and print developing - it's actually a natural progression.

Sure, if you're used to instant gratification, waiting for those rolls teaches patience. But consider this: if you get set up at home to develop B&W film, it's quite possible to shoot a roll during the day, come home and develop it up (30-40 minute process from setup to clean up) dry the negatives, and view them either on a light table or scan into the PC - all in the same day. Not quite instant, and a bit more labor intensive, but for some folks the control of the process is half the charm.

And once you get the hang of your camera, those exposure errors you might fear become much fewer and far between - that's when you might really feel control as a photographer.

And slide film is not expensive, so if you're still wanting color, it's a great choice.

Have fun!

 

[SLOShooter]

Take both camera's with you. Use the digital to get close to the exposure that your looking for then switch over to the film camera and shoot!

 

[DocFrankenstein]

I was thinking the same thing three weeks ago.

My photographer career never seen film... a few digital PS, Canon S1 IS and 300D with a couple pro lenses. What more could I want? I was in the happy land of instant feedback and histograms... educating myself slowly on the subject of photography and pondering what my next lens should be... Reading reviews on different equipment.

After handling a few cameras and getting familiar with the market, a number of flaws in the consumer Canon AF system become evident:

The viewfinder is dim in consumer bodies, bad coverage and bad magnification. The mirror reflects only 40% of light.
Manual focus is bad, because of lack of focusing aids.

The AF system is not accurate enough. When I want to focus on the iris, it focuses on the eyelashes... front/backfocus problems.

AF lenses are ridiculously expensive... I have a complete Canon FD system for less than a single AF prime would cost me.

I do not need a lot of shots. 36 exposures, carefully composed is a lot. Film is cheap. Even pro zooms often have worse quality then MF multicoated primes from the 80s...

Film handles overexposure much better than digital.

So, for now I shoot both film and digital. I'm dissatisfied with rebel, and want a digital body... which is full frame, has fully coated mirror, decent viewfinder with a split circle and a 3 channel histogram... not just luminosity bs. All that for say... 300 bucks. And 6-10 mp would be enough. To save some battery power, I'd have a hybrid shutter.

Film is fun. It's fun to hide behind the black/white film. It distorts reality and takes your subjects out of this world. That's why I like it so much.

Hope you can bear my writing skills

 

[ksmattfish]

...ksmattfish, who started out in photography shooting digital. Somehow he transitioned over to film and ended up being quite the film geek, right down to using classic cameras from the 1950's (Rolleiflex and the like) and moving to large format.

But when I started out in digital no one was even thinking about a film vs digital debate. Digital plain and simple sucked! What I got out of that camera (a Kodak DC-50?) was instant, but I don't know about gratification.

Colintinto: You might as well try it out. Like you said, there is more sentimental value in the equipment than anyone will ever pay you. Even if you don't use it often, keep it.