Need a 35mm or medium format camera, have a few choices in mind, please sound off

[gsgary]

Choices, choices.

So I found a guy with a pristine C33 with prism and two lens sets (waiting to hear back what lenses they are). He wants $250.

I also found a Yashica Mat 124G in near mint condition for $150 total. It includes WLF.

I DON'T KNOW!!!

I have also got the 135mm and its good

 

[cgw]

It looks awkward. Well guess that one is out, shame it looks to be in great condition.

btw - how much would you expect to pay for processing and scanning (tiff) of 120 film?

People like the service here:

Film Developing at The Darkroom | Develop Film by Mail for $10

The Mamiya TLR seller obviously didn't get much beyond "Mamiya." No clue about the focal lengths--plainly older lenses--or condition(e.g., shutter timing, fungus, haze, etc.). Likely picked up cheap and hoping for a quick buck. I usually pass on stuff like this. Keep hunting. Tried eBay yet?

 

[limr]

Color is cheaper than b&w for developing. I can't remember the exact price for color 120...I pay about $3 for a roll of 35mm color and $6 for B&W 120, so I think color 120 comes in less than $5 for sure. This is tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) so I don't know how that would compare to wherever you live or where you're planning to get the film developed. For scanning, I have no idea. I scan my own. If you eventually want your own scanner, decent ones can be had for $150-200, and then they can go up to $700-800 for high-end flatbeds and four digits for drum scanners. If you're doing enough film, you might end up spending less money by buying a scanner than getting them done at the lab.

 

[unpopular]

^^ you can get older scanners for far less. I would NOT recommend buying a scanner built after about 2005 for more than $500 when you can get very high end scanners from the later 1990s and early 2000s for not much more when scanner technology more or less peaked out. You can find desktop drum scanners on ebay regularly for under $1000, but there is a significant learning curve involved.

Creo-Scitex scanners, such as the Jazz, are one good flatbed option. Unfortunately they're quite large and heavy, and would need to be freighted or picked up. That said, these once $15,000 scanners can frequently found on ebay for well under $500, and I doubt very much that any $200 plastic fantastic from Epson would come close. Perhaps not in your immediate future, but something to consider.

If you can find one cheap, the Minolta Multipro were my favorite mid-end film scanners. But they're pretty overpriced on the used market and it's not difficult to find a similar vintage Flextight for around the same price. I wouldn't pay more than $1000 for a Multipro, and even that I think is too much.

 

[limr]

^^ you can get older scanners for far less. I would NOT recommend buying a scanner built after about 2005 for more than $500 when you can get very high end scanners from the later 1990s and early 2000s for not much more when scanner technology more or less peaked out. You can find desktop drum scanners on ebay regularly for under $1000, but there is a significant learning curve involved.

Creo-Scitex scanners, such as the Jazz, are one good flatbed option. Unfortunately they're quite large and heavy, and would need to be freighted or picked up. That said, these once $15,000 scanners can frequently found on ebay for well under $500, and I doubt very much that any $200 plastic fantastic from Epson would come close. Perhaps not in your immediate future, but something to consider.

If you can find one cheap, the Minolta Multipro were my favorite mid-end film scanners. But they're pretty overpriced on the used market and it's not difficult to find a similar vintage Flextight for around the same price. I wouldn't pay more than $1000 for a Multipro, and even that I think is too much.

Good to know. The scanner my bf and I share is adequate at the moment for our needs, but eventually we'll probably want to replace it. Actually, we almost had to about a week ago when lightning struck about 20 ft from the house and we thought the scanner was one of the casualties, but it was apparently just faking, or just needed a minute to realize that it was still functional.

 

[unpopular]

If you go the drum scanner route, be aware that quite frequently they're missing the drum. I have no idea where the drums all went... you wouldn't think that would be the kind of thing that you'd misplace.

 

[amolitor]

But I don't want to scan a drum, I want to scan my FILM.

 

[limr]

But I don't want to scan a drum, I want to scan my FILM.

*snort*

 

[dsiglin]

Thanks for the heads up on scanners, a lot to think about. I have a tendency to jump the gun and buy a lot of stuff I never end up using. I'm a tech-head. To me this is just a hobby so far but if I can end up selling some photos and actually having a semi-professional hobby I will probably buy my own scanner. If I can find a place to put it, heh.

 

[unpopular]

^^^ Three minutes left of the ChromaGraph 3010 - your chance to own a $200,000 scanner for 500 bucks plus U-Haul.

 

[Mike_E]

Well, I missed the drum scanner. -I'd rather have an Imacon anyway.

At any rate, film cameras are all about the lenses. Screw the film, you can put any type film in any type camera So the field is level after all.

But, even though someone might like a different lens by and large a Zeiss or a Schneider lens will trump whatever some camera manufacturer will stick on the front of a camera.

Film or digital, Glass rules!

 

[dsiglin]

I didn't understand this until I got some amazing glass. My Helios 44m-7 is one reason I understand that now. It's a knock of a pre-wwii CZ Biotar. What a lens.

Ok so you say film doesn't matter but obviously how various films render flesh tones, blues, greens, etc matters. What is a 35mm film you would recommend. I get my Olympus in a few days.

 

[Mike_E]

I didn't understand this until I got some amazing glass. My Helios 44m-7 is one reason I understand that now. It's a knock of a pre-wwii CZ Biotar. What a lens.

Ok so you say film doesn't matter but obviously how various films render flesh tones, blues, greens, etc matters. What is a 35mm film you would recommend. I get my Olympus in a few days.

Dsiglin, the film doesn't matter, get what you want- the camera is going to do what it does.

The easy answer is to get Ektar 100 for landscapes, tmax for B&W (tmy2 if it's dark), some form of 160 for portraits
and superia for everyday snaps.

 

[cgw]

Well, I missed the drum scanner. -I'd rather have an Imacon anyway.

At any rate, film cameras are all about the lenses. Screw the film, you can put any type film in any type camera So the field is level after all.

But, even though someone might like a different lens by and large a Zeiss or a Schneider lens will trump whatever some camera manufacturer will stick on the front of a camera.

Film or digital, Glass rules!

All those poor deluded souls who've foolishly bought Nikon and Canon lenses for decades...

 

[dsiglin]

So got the Olympus and have been merrily shooting away. I love the engineered artistry of this camera. It's beautiful and functional. The mirror bounce is still something I'm getting used to (compared to my mirrorless Nex5n). I've also got a Konica Auto S2 rangefinder on the way. I've never used a rangefinder before but I'm thinking I'm going to like it.

As far as film goes, I'm researching good places to get my film developed and scanned. I'm on the east coast of the US so if you have any suggestions I'll be glad to hear them. I'm reading through a lot of threads on this forum and will no doubt find answers.