Starting from the ground up...Gonna need some help....

[Jeffdebo]

I've always been fascinated by photography, but found it a bit overwhelming when I first wanted to get into the hobby. The new DSLR's are quite elaborate. So, I figured I'd start from the basics with a manual 35mm and learn instead of getting a fancy DSLR and just using the AUTO setting. So, for Christmas, my wife bought me a slightly used Nikon FM-10. It came with the stock 35-70mm f3.5-4.8 Manual Focus lens.

Off I went to the local camera shop to pick up some things that I figured I'd be needing.

I bought:
100-300mm f5.6 Manual Focus lens (bought it used. All of the other lenses were out of my budget)
Flash - FITCO BLITZ 900t-ZOOM - Shoumount 90 Degree Adjustable Flash (used)
KODAK color 400 print film
Lens Hoods
Cable Shutter Releas
eCloths
Bags
Couple Straps
Light Travel Tripod

So here are a few of my questions:

How is my setup so far? Can you think of anything I'm missing to get started?

I've been out and taken two rolls of film so far. The first was on a rainy day so it was mostly spent inside and the second was outside yesterday. The outside shots came out much better. Focusing was a bit difficult to figure out using the guides inside the viewfinder. Any good tips to help focus?

Is there a difference whether I purchase Black and White Film, or purchase color film and just use the software to change it to B&W?

Are there any filters you would recommend for a newbie to get started?

Thanks in advance for any advice and help you all give. I plan on learning a lot from this site and appreciate everything.

 

[ann]

What are your goals?

How do you know the outside prints are better?

what is an ecloth

I would suggest you just start with one type of film and start taking photos with one lens. Color or black and white probably doesn't make much difference as I am going to assume the lab is developing and printing for you and with auto one hour photo places the black and white is not going be neutral in grey scale.

If your going to scan the negatives use color and then software to convert to black and white.

Depending on subject matter, filters can be necessary,especially if you know your going to be converting to black and white. For instance, landscape work is going to require the use of filters to separate greyscale values . I.E. blue skies, green grass, are basically a similar shade of grey in black and white terms.

as to your list.

lens hoods are critical IMHO
cable release is helpful for tripod shots and long exposures

Bags?
Straps?
A light tripod, hmmmmmmmmm, not necessarily the best thing , hope it was used as some of your other equipment was. Tripods are those things that newcomes tend to spend less on and then end up buying more than once.

Take lots of photos, have fun and remember you need to make mistakes to learn.

I don't rmember what the viewing screen looks like in that camera so can't help with the focus issues. Is it split screen ? then you would just turn the focus ring until there is no longer a split image.

 

[Fred Berg]

A hand-held light meter would be my main recommendation to add to your equipment.

As for the focus you can see through the lens and so can decide fairly easily where to put the main focus in your shot; or you could consider hyperfocal focussing if you're using a prime lens with DOF scale. Take a meter reading according to the iso of the film and decide what shutter speed you want and then place the infinity symbol next to the selected aperture number on the right of the DOF scale. So suppose your meter gives you an EV reading of between 13 and 15 and you have a 200 film in the camera, then f 11 or 16 with 1/125 would probably be okay.For example, set the shutter to 1/125, set the aperture to f16 and place the infinity symbol next to the 16 marker on the right of the DOF scale. Now everything fom the distance shown next to the 16 marker on the left of the DOF scale to infinity will be sharp. On my prime 50mm lens that is everything from 1.6 metres to infinity, but this is different from lens to lens.

 

[djacobox372]

If $$ is tight you're probably better off spending what you have on more film then more equipment; however, I would recommend you purchase a fast prime--something like a 50mm f1.8 series e, which can be had for around $30 on ebay.

 

[maris]

Get a developing tank, some film reels, and the appropriate chemistry. If you do your own processing you are in charge of what you get. If you get others to make your pictures for you then you are always hostage to their guesswork about what to do with what you shot.

 

[dxqcanada]

Focusing with microprism/split groundscreen ... takes some getting used to.

A brighter lens (like the 50mm f/1.8 already suggested) will make the image on the groundscreen brighter and thus easier to focus with.T

There are certain properties about the silver grains in B&W film that are shown with Color film ... there are Plug-ins for editing software that can mimic these visual properties.

Other than a Polarizing Filter ... I would not recommend filters ... for casual usage of Color film photography.

 

[Jeffdebo]

Thanks All!

Ann: My primary goals are landscape shooting and daytime and nightime sky shooting. I do like animals, but figure I should start with things that don't move as much! I had two rolls of films developed onto a CD and looked at the pics. Also "ecloth" was just a typo...i picked up a bunch of little cloths to clean the lenses. What do you recommend to clean inside the camera if it gets dusty?

Fred Berg: How much do they run? Any "cost effective" suggestions?

djacobox37s: Any film type recommendations? 200, 400, 800? Also, I will definitely pick up that lens if i can find it.

maris: I'm sure I'll get into developing later on, but I honestly am more interested in having the photos digitized to put them on a website and also eventually to print larger images for my home.

dxqcanada: So just a polarizing filter for all of my lenses to start, and that's it?

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

 

[dxqcanada]

Blower brush. You really don't want to start cleaning the inside (mirror box) with anything more.

I always preferred either <= 100 ISO or 1600+ ISO ... though I see that 400/800 tends to be very common now.

You do not need any color compensation filters ... possibly color filters with B&W.
A PL is very useful.

Some examples for Fixed Focal length Nikon lenses: Nikon Manual Focus Fixed Focal Length Lenses - KEH.com

 

[Jeffdebo]

Thanks Dxq

Any good website recommendations for film? Buying it locally doesn't offer much of a selections..

I assume PL stands for polarized lens? Will I see a significant difference in my pics?

Thanks for the Lens Link!

 

[dxqcanada]

Can't tell you much about buying film in Jersey.

Yes, PL is a Polarizing filter ... and you do not need a circular one.
Yes you will see a visual difference: polarizing filter - Google Search

 

[Jeffdebo]

Great Thanks!

So, how do i post pics on this site? I keep getting to the point where they are uploaded, but it doesn't attach them for some reason?

 

[mjhoward]

use img tags

 

[dxqcanada]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...forum-functions-pictoral-guide-using-tpf.html

 

[Josh66]

Any good website recommendations for film?

Freestyle Photographic Supplies - Traditional Black & White Film, Paper, Chemicals, Holgas and ULF

Film, Tapes & Media - B&H Photo Video

 

[dxqcanada]

... and IF you do get into B&W film, do try out some Efke Infrared 820 film with an IR filter.
efke 820 infrared - Google Search