I went insane today!

[cigrainger]

Today I purchased:

Pentax Spotmatic w/ Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
Pentax ME-F w/ SMC-Pentax M 50mm f/1.7 (lens being sold, as I already have one!)
SMC-Pentax M 40mm f/2.8 "Pancake"
SMC-Pentax M 135mm f/3.5
and a Kata Sensitivity V Photo Backpack so I can take it all with me, all the time.

It was time to delve into the classic film world, and I sold a guitar. It didn't hurt that I got good deals on all of the above!

So... anybody want to recommend any film?

 

[Don Simon]

Sounds to me like you went very sane you may have collectivitis now; there is no known cure.

 

[panocho]

Nice purchase! congratulations.

it's nice seeing people still interested in nice film cameras. and ready to take advantage of the ridiculous prices they are selling.

by the way, I see you went straight ahead to include all that in your signature

That shows you're really happy with it. Enjoy it!

 

[cigrainger]

Sounds to me like you went very sane you may have collectivitis now; there is no known cure.

This is kind of like "GAS" for guitar stuff. ("Gear Acquisition Syndrome")

The cure must be out there somewhere. But I don't know if I want to find it!

 

[cigrainger]

Nice purchase! congratulations.

it's nice seeing people still interested in nice film cameras. and ready to take advantage of the ridiculous prices they are selling.

by the way, I see you went straight ahead to include all that in your signature

That shows you're really happy with it. Enjoy it!

Thanks . I agree, ridiculous prices for bulletproof, nuclear-proof cameras that, even though they're 30-40 years old, will outlast my K100D if I take care of them.

It doesn't hurt that besides the M42, I can use these lenses on my K100D (and even that would work with the M42-KA adaptor)! 135mm f/3.5 becomes approx 200mm f/3.5, and I'm quite fine with that!

I am very excited about this stuff. I'm going to Mexico City and the pyramids near there for a few days in just over a month, so perfect timing. :mrgreen:

 

[tempra]

So... anybody want to recommend any film?

35mm is good :mrgreen:

 

[cigrainger]

:x You mean I can't use large format?

 

[panocho]

yes, you can.

cut the film into pieces and manage to place them in the back. you might get some great results. and you could even re-arrange the large format by shooting it piece by piece

 

[selmerdave]

Nice choice on the 135/3.5, I have the "K" of this lens and I really like it. Pentax is great stuff.

Dave

 

[Mike_E]

Do you shoot slide film? If so then Fuji Velva for sure in Mexico for still life and landscapes with saturated colors.

Fuji Reala for everything else in color except at night when you want to be unobtrusive then I'd go with Superia 800 and wouldn't worry too much about pushing it 1 or even 1 1/2 stops (ISO 2400 at $3 a roll isn't too bad). Reala and Superia are both color balanced for daylight and tungsten.

For B&W I like Kodak T MAX and Fuji Neopan both.

mike

 

[selmerdave]

Reala and Superia are both color balanced for daylight and tungsten.

I think that would apply to any print film, although technically I think the color balancing comes in the printing process although I could be wrong on that?

Dave

 

[Don Simon]

I don't know about that... I haven't used consumer colour print film for any indoor stuff with domestic tungsten lighting for ages because of the horrible yellow cast. Surely that's what an 80A filter is for?

 

[cigrainger]

I am planning on avoiding bringing my digital for fear of theft, so I will be shooting with my Spotmatic and ME-F. I plan on bringing a tripod, and using both at the pyramids and volcanoes with some Velvia 50 (will get some on eBay). The ME-F has a max 4 second shutter speed, so I plan on using that the most with the tripod with a minimum aperture to try to get rid of some people (or make surreal "ghost people") through long exposure and get the deepest DOF possible.

Would you guys recommend Velvia for sunsets? Mexico City's smog is actually supposed to diffract the light and create surreal beautiful golden sunsets.

I'll use Provia for other stuff, possibly getting some portraiture of locals in smaller areas I visit. I'd like the highest contrast possible for that, so I guess I shouldn't use a fill flash during the day? Is Provia good for a very contrasty, stark, detailed look, or can I create that in the darkroom (still not sure if I'm going to process the color myself, I will with b/w)?

I'll probably use a lot of b/w too. Probably with a red filter at the pyramids to try to create surreal dramatic skies in that unbelievably impressive place, possibly some Ilford Delta 100 there. I'll probably shoot some Delta 3200 and Tri-X in my ME-F with the 40mm pancake lens for "street" work. It will be small enough to be relatively inconspicuous (not as much as a rangefinder, but I don't have one), a good focal length for street photography, and I like a grainy look with the 3200 and the Tri-X is just classic from my understanding.

I also got an IR filter, so expect some IR of the volcanoes and pyramids.

I will post a full-length photodoc of my visit somewhere, so keep an eye out. But I won't be going until May 29 and won't be back until early June so it will be a while. Good chance to experiment with some films and work in the darkroom to gear up.

 

[Mike_E]

No, I wasn't kidding about the Fuji Superia being balanced for daylight or tungsten. It works very well in either venue and as a 'consumer' film is a real bargain.

Here is a review http://www.shutterbug.net/techniques/film_processing/0701sb_speed/

mike

 

[Don Simon]

Interesting, I'll have to give it a try. Superia has actually been my main colour film for general-purpose photography (or was, before the dSLR mostly took over for colour work) but I never used it with regular household lighting... previously I used Kodak and the colour cast with domestic lighting was really atrocious, and that experience completely put me off ever using colour film with that kind of lighting. I do generally prefer Fuji but didn't realise the technology was that much better.