Help getting started with film.

I'd hate to cause confusion by throwing another 35mm into the mix, but .....

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Sexy babe on the left is a Pentax SP500 Spotmatic, and it's presently my favourite carry around 35mm camera. She looks good for a 42 year old doesn't she? She cost my £15 at a car booty and works ace. On the right, my Pentax ME Super, a very small and popular 34 year-ish old 35mm SLR.To be honest, I've had more than my share old age related problems with the ME Supers though, and I'm off them a bit at the moment.
 
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excalibur2 said:
Well instead of a gamble on the bay I have a OM10 complete with manual adapter and I am sure others have one too, but under the rules, all gear has to go on classifieds which could lead to all of a sudden many Om10's for sale :rolleyes:
The A1 is a lovely versatile camera and yes the Canon cough can be a problem but you can fix it yourself if you are not ham fisted.....well I did my AV1 and A1 and they sound sweet.
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I am intersted in the OM10 if you're wiling to part with it. Funny enough I just posted in the wanted section here if you want to talk on there about pricing and such ;)
 
XA2inmypocket said:
I'd hate to cause confusion by throwing another 35mm into the mix, but .....

15123336330_90d1a2ce75_z.jpg


Sexy babe on the left is a Pentax SP500 Spotmatic, and it's presently my favourite carry around 35mm camera. She looks good for a 42 year old doesn't she? She cost my £15 at a car booty and works ace. On the right, my Pentax ME Super, a very small and popular 34 year-ish old 35mm SLR.To be honest, I've had more than my share old age related problems with the ME Supers though, and I'm off them a bit at the moment.
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To many to choice from with everyone posting suggestions.!
 
abdoujaparov said:
I wouldn't worry too much about all the options we're giving you. You'll have one of everything eventually . . .
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:D So true.

Alex - I'd just go with the OM10 to get you started and then see which way the wind blows for you, at your leisure.
 
Tyler138 said:
I am intersted in the OM10 if you're wiling to part with it. Funny enough I just posted in the wanted section here if you want to talk on there about pricing and such ;)
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Well I'm first up with a price....dunno the rules to say whether I can repeat it here. Also you'll also need a 28mm lens and have added a Vivitar 28mm f2.8 (Komine ver) well I don't have rubbish lenses in my collection and it give very good results, anyway it's there for a cheap price if interested.
Forgot: You can boast that the 50mm is the "made in Japan" ver..... these sort of things are important if you want to keep up with the Jones's where every detail is important. :rolleyes:
 
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As this nice discussion works its way to its end, may I as a newbie to film and enjoying using a Canon AV-1, ask a question: what IS Canon Cough, ie symptoms, prognosis, possible cure etc
 
Brianfitz said:
As this nice discussion works its way to its end, may I as a newbie to film and enjoying using a Canon AV-1, ask a question: what IS Canon Cough, ie symptoms, prognosis, possible cure etc
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More importantly, is it contagious and can my Nikons catch it?:)
 
Brianfitz said:
As this nice discussion works its way to its end, may I as a newbie to film and enjoying using a Canon AV-1, ask a question: what IS Canon Cough, ie symptoms, prognosis, possible cure etc
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It's the mirror damping mechanism that has dried out of lubricant, just a spot of very fine oil cures it but the tricky bit is to get the oil to the actual part and usually involves a slightly bent needle with a drop of oil on it. There are three methods to get to it:- from the top with the cover off, through the lens mount or after the base plate is taken off........google it and there are plenty of diagrams on how to do it, and if stuck I would have something on my computer somewhere e.g. a link.
You can't leave the cough and hope it goes away as on my A1 the mirror was very slow in working and would have seized up eventually.
BTW the top cover of the Av1 is very easy to take off, but the A1 would be more complicated.
 
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excalibur2 said:
Well I'm first up with a price....dunno the rules to say whether I can repeat it here. Also you'll also need a 28mm lens and have added a Vivitar 28mm f2.8 (Komine ver) well I don't have rubbish lenses in my collection and it give very good results, anyway it's there for a cheap price if interested.
Forgot: You can boast that the 50mm is the "made in Japan" ver..... these sort of things are important if you want to keep up with the Jones's where every detail is important. :rolleyes:
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replied back in the wanted thread :)
 
Altogether now... POUNDLAND!

Agfa Vista 200 (400 if you can get it), it'll be tucked under the recordable CDs in little red boxes, if they have any. Not a great film but good for more than learning on. If you want back and white, try XP2 from Boots on a BOGOHP basis, it's based on the same chemistry as colour film (C41) and is easier to get processed at Boots, Asda, Snappy Snaps etc. After a bit you'll maybe want to move onto "real" silver-based black and white, like Kodak Tri-X, Fuji Acros 100, you'll either have to process it yourself or send it away.
 
Tyler138 said:
Ok, so I have a camera sorted thanks to Brian, how about film.? Where are the best places to buy this.?
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For starters it has to be Agfa Vista from Poundland erm for £1, then find an Asda superstore and get it dev and scanned to a CD for £3.
 
Wow, would never of guessed poundland, will head into to town soon and grab some then.

Thanks for all the help guys, will be sure to get some photos posted up when i get out shooting with it.!
 
Breaking 35mm into types.
  1. C41 - colour negative. Although as Chris pointed out, there are a few C-41 b/w negatives about such as XP2 that have to be C41 processed.
  2. E6 - colour transparency slide film
  3. True b/w negative.

C41 is tricky to process at home, because of the high temperature required for processing. However, it can be done at home, there are a variety of chemistry kits available, but probably best to leave to professional photo labs at least until you've processed b/w. Personally, I've done it, but I don't like C41 - too tricky with temperature tolerances - but others love it. Poundland film, and indeed many of the 35mm films that you'll see locally on shelves, will be colour negative C41. So, best bet is to take it off to a Photo lab. They'll run it through a light proof processing machine full of hot chemicals. Depending on the Photo lab, you may have a choice of a) developed film only (in which case you'd have to scan it yourself with a film scanner), b) developed film with prints, or c) developed film with prints and / or CD.

E6 - they have to reverse the image positive, and mount them in slides. You'd need a slide projector or viewer.

True b/w negative. Photo lab machines cannot normally handle them. I use to use a local independent photo lab who would hand processed them for me, until I started home developing myself.

I like Chris's suggestion of a line of progression. Start with Poundland C41 colour (it's actually a very good film), get it processed at a photo lab. If you enjoy it, then great. If you want to try b/w, try a C41 B/W like XP2 first, and take it to the photo lab. If you are still enjoying it, then consider buying a decent film scanner as an investment - at least if you like to share your photographs online or digitally. Mine cost £120 new. By now you've started to invest. You'll very likely want to start home developing - at least b/w film. To just develop film, you don't have to have a dark room - although it can be fidgety, some of us use film changing bags to move the film into a light proof developing tank. Developing b/w film at home is surprisingly easy, and much cheaper once you have some basic gear and chemistry.
 
XA2inmypocket said:
I like Chris's suggestion of a line of progression. Start with Poundland C41 colour (it's actually a very good film), get it processed at a photo lab. If you enjoy it, then great. If you want to try b/w, try a C41 B/W like XP2 first, and take it to the photo lab. If you are still enjoying it, then consider buying a decent film scanner as an investment - at least if you like to share your photographs online or digitally. Mine cost £120 new. By now you've started to invest. You'll very likely want to start home developing - at least b/w film. To just develop film, you don't have to have a dark room - although it can be fidgety, some of us use film changing bags to move the film into a light proof developing tank. Developing b/w film at home is surprisingly easy, and much cheaper once you have some basic gear and chemistry.
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Thats more or less how I started! I started with C-41 (albeit 120 not 135) and had them processed and scanned at a store. After a few rolls I bought a film scanner that was able to do 135 and 120, and then it was store processed and home scanned. In the last week I've just bought a B&W development kit and have now started developing b&w film in 120 and 135.

It's a great way to do it. If you get a cheapo camera to start with there's very little cost involved at the beginning. Then when you're happy and still want to go further with film you can spend a little more on a scanner, then again on a dev kit. If you decide it's not for you then all you've wasted is twenty quid on a camera, and chances are you can sell that on again for little to no loss.
 
I've given Alex a polarizer so that should be something to play with as well.......AAMOI the 49mm thread on the common Zuikos are the same as many Pentax screw lenses.
 
My second roll of FP4 developed better but the negs look softer than I expected. I made a few scans and was disappointed to see so many tears on them but have invested in a squeezing tool which will help next time. I would like to upload my best picture but am put off by its 113 Megs. How can I easily compress it for possible uploading, do I use Photoshop or is there an easier way?
 
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Brianfitz said:
My second roll of FP4 developed better but the negs look softer than I expected. I made a few scans and was disappointed to see so many tears on them but have invested in a squeezing tool which will help next time.
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Tears as in drying streaks or tears as in rips? I'm assuming streaks from drying? The problem of homonyms and the written word...


Brianfitz said:
I would like to upload my best picture but am put off by its 113 Megs. How can I easily compress it for possible uploading, do I use Photoshop or is there an easier way?
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What are you using to scan your negatives? An Epson flatbed? 113mb is very big for a black and white image. Keep in mind that using the higher resolution settings of many of these scanners often just makes the file bigger, but doesn't actually result in any additional detail. For many of these scanners, 2400dpi is even pushing it. I usually scan my 120 format negatives around 1400dpi.

With regard to resizing, I use the export function in Lightroom, which allows you to resize the photo. I'm guessing Photoshop has the same feature, but I haven't used it in quite some time.
 
IIRC correctly there are some free programs that will resize if you're skink.
 
And saving it as a JPEG will certainly help! You'll need max 1024 pixels on the long side to put up here, AFAIK.
 
Am getting on far better now. No residues on film after drying and don't have to deal with adult-proof bottles any more as changed to ID-11. Would like to make contact sheets. Finding my scanner ( plustek) hard work. An upload on here is my major goal.
 
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