So what film camera/bit of kit have you been obsessing about today?

I was obsessing about doing a Porsche 911 evolution experience then I worked out how many extra rolls of film it would cost so I went off the idea...
 
Currently looking at lenses for my zorki 4k.... I have a 50mm but want a few more
 
ariel7515 said:
There are a few M39 screw lenses out there... which ones do you have in mind?
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I have the possibility of a 1950s 135mm. Canon f3.5 IIRC
I have already got hold of a view finder turret covering 135/80/35mm (I think those were the sizes)
 
From what other people have said (I don't own a 135mm lens for my rangefinders) the 135mm lens might be difficult to focus accurately with the zorki because of the short base length of the rangefinder. I guess it depends if you would get much use out of a 135mm lens. I find it to be a bit of an awkward focal length to work with and prefer something shorter for portraits and longer if I want a telephoto (when using an SLR).
 
The Leica R7. Wondering whether it is a better choice than the R4 or R5...
 
Sir SR said:
It's just arrived off the boat......in time to avoid the road tax hike from tomorrow!!
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Yes, but if you tax it today you'll pay from the start of March (and for 30 days you've not used it!), or is it different these days now it's gone electronic?
 
Fuji 27mm lens for my XT1 or Fuji X70... wanting a carry around daily camera. XT1 is spare body to XT2 so is gathering dust but will be bigger than the X70... decisions decision decisions...

Spooks
 
cambsno said:
I really miss my M6. Had two M2's previously, both in good nick, the second was pretty much as god as you could expect from a 60 year old camera. Enjoyed both and great to use but had a hankering for an M6 - as I shoot my kids a fair bit it was a bit of a pain to faff with a meter. The M6 was a dream. Picked up a great sumicron at a decent price too and it was a great combo. I sold as I didn't use it as much as I should and wanted the money for other stuff, but if i was to go back i would get an M6 like a shot.
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Hey, Just seen this.

I do get the appeal of a built in meter but having shot without one for a little while, you can soon get used to it. Often I just err on the side of overexposure. With a good film like HP5 or TriX, it can be pretty forgiving.
Saying that, I do use a meter when unsure - either handheld or attached (Voigtlander VCII).

Had looked at M6's recently and they don't seem to be dropping much. They seem to hold money well - as do any other Leica's
 
Sunny 16 seems to work ok. I printed out a chart and stuck it on the rolleiflex. Works fine with Portra. I'm not sure whether Ektar would be quite so tolerant. Set to 1/250 instead of 1/500 though for 400 speed film as that is an awkward speed to get at on the Automat.
 
srichards said:
Sunny 16 seems to work ok. I printed out a chart and stuck it on the rolleiflex. Works fine with Portra. I'm not sure whether Ektar would be quite so tolerant. Set to 1/250 instead of 1/500 though for 400 speed film as that is an awkward speed to get at on the Automat.
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Yeah it's handy to have something with you as reference. I did find that the less I worried about it, the happier I was. I stick to Portra or Tri-X/HP5 usually and often overexpose by shooting at half box speed and metering for shadows. Been pretty happy with the results.
 
Ruffmeister said:
Yeah it's handy to have something with you as reference. I did find that the less I worried about it, the happier I was. I stick to Portra or Tri-X/HP5 usually and often overexpose by shooting at half box speed and metering for shadows. Been pretty happy with the results.
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Shooting at half box speed AND metering for shadows? Both at once?
 
droj said:
Shooting at half box speed AND metering for shadows? Both at once?
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Yes. I wouldn't say that was unheard of. I guess it depends on the film but I haven't found any issues with the results using said film mentioned.

I'd worked with UK Film Lab using this method and was never told that my images were heavily overexposed.
 
droj said:
Shooting at half box speed AND metering for shadows? Both at once?
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I do something like this... normally not quite twice box speed, but 1/3 or 2/3 stop over, and meter for shadows. I suspect having centre-weighted metering helps me not going over too much...
 
skysh4rk said:
Heck, I often meter for the shadows and overexpose by two stops.
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:plus1: .....shadows metering plus O/E of a stop if not two

It only causes an occasional problem if I forget what camera I'm using and meter in a similar manner with digi shots:confused:
 
srichards said:
The Leica R7. Wondering whether it is a better choice than the R4 or R5...
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If you lived near Edinburgh, you could have borrowed mine for a trial. :)

It's pretty heavy but feels solid and well screwed together.
 
desf said:
If you lived near Edinburgh, you could have borrowed mine for a trial. :)

It's pretty heavy but feels solid and well screwed together.
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Thanks. It looked a better bet than the earlier ones so I took a punt on a non ebay auction purchase. :banana:It had the summicron R 50mm that I was after with it. I've been looking on Ffordes for a while and non of the R lenses were what I wanted at all.

As time goes on the stack of digital kit is being replaced with film kit :)
 
Currently thinking of solargraphs with a can pinhole camera (got everything ready apart from a red light!) 10 cans ready [emoji3]
And using harman direct positive paper (5x4) in my large format camera for something different (and possiblity of caffinol being used to)
 
A Canon T90... goodness knows why, I have an A1 and an EOS-3, so I have the 35mm manual focus, multi-mode, and auto-everything with machine gun type motor-drive options covered, so I don't know why I'm even thinking of a T90! All the size and weight disadvantages of a later auto-focus 35mm camera, with the encumbrance of manual focus! With any luck I won't be able to find a nice one at a good price and the feeling will pass! :rolleyes:
 
Mr Badger said:
A Canon T90... goodness knows why, I have an A1 and an EOS-3, so I have the 35mm manual focus, multi-mode, and auto-everything with machine gun type motor-drive options covered, so I don't know why I'm even thinking of a T90! All the size and weight disadvantages of a later auto-focus 35mm camera, with the encumbrance of manual focus! With any luck I won't be able to find a nice one at a good price and the feeling will pass! :rolleyes:
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You gotta get the matching flashgun 300 TL to go with it, and with both you'll enjoy your time in the small room trying to get thru' the instruction manuals. :eek:
 
excalibur2 said:
You gotta get the matching flashgun 300 TL to go with it, and with both you'll enjoy your time in the small room trying to get thru' the instruction manuals. :eek:
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I know what you mean, I used to own two of them in the 90s (complete with paperback instruction book!), 300TL flash, interchangeable focusing screens and a selection of FD lenses from 24mm to a 600mm mirror. In the end I bit the bullet, sold the lot, and switched to auto-focus via a second hand EOS 600 (just to make sure they'd got this new-fangled autofocus sorted!).

That's how I came to buy the EOS 3 (you should see the instruction book for that thing!), which ultimately only had a couple of dozen films put through it as the dawn of digital took over! Glad I kept the E3 though, it must be one of the best cameras Canon ever made, I still love that eye-controlled 45 point focus system, I'd love to see that feature make a come-back. :)
 
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I've now decided I don't like manual focus SLRs so the OM Olympusssessss and the R7 are for the high jump. I am Tigger. Tiggers did think they liked MF SLRs but it turned out they were lazy and preferred AF ones.

I love my dynax but I think I want a Nikon equivalent ish. Maybe with a fast 35mm prime instead of my usual 50mm.... are there any 35mm f2 lens that would go with a nikon 2000s vintage slr that wouldn't be silly money ie under £200 the lot? Or would my usual 50mm f1.7 come in for that with a nikon AF body? It can't be too heavy. Or shiny tat colour. Black only. The R7 is too heavy and that's much of the reason I'm getting rid. It's heavier than the Fuji 120 P & S beast for a start.

I would get another dynax but the 7 has the aperture control issue that kills them and I think the 5 also does. I haven't seen another 9 for sale in donkeys. I'd think the old Nikon Pro bodies will be like cock roaches for longevity too.
 
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srichards said:
I've now decided I don't like manual focus SLRs so the OM Olympusssessss and the R7 are for the high jump. I am Tigger. Tiggers did think they liked MF SLRs but it turned out they were lazy and preferred AF ones.
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I've been meaning to scratch the OM itch for a long time - from what I've read, the OM-2 sounds like it could be the ideal camera for me (I am a big fan of the Nikon FE2, and they seem to have many parallels). Then I remind myself about the Spotmatic F with the 50mm f/1.4 that still hasn't received any love, despite me buying it eons ago...
 
srichards said:
I've now decided I don't like manual focus SLRs so the OM Olympusssessss and the R7 are for the high jump. I am Tigger. Tiggers did think they liked MF SLRs but it turned out they were lazy and preferred AF ones.

I love my dynax but I think I want a Nikon equivalent ish. Maybe with a fast 35mm prime instead of my usual 50mm.... are there any 35mm f2 lens that would go with a nikon 2000s vintage slr that wouldn't be silly money ie under £200 the lot? Or would my usual 500 f1.7 come in for that with a nikon AF body? It can't be too heavy. Or shiny tat colour. Black only. The R7 is too heavy and that's much of the reason I'm getting rid. It's heavier than the Fuji 120 P & S beast for a start.

I would get another dynax but the 7 has the aperture control issue that kills them and I think the 5 also does. I haven't seen another 9 for sale in donkeys. I'd think the old Nikon Pro bodies will be like cock roaches for longevity too.
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Nikon F80 and F90x might be still going cheap, dunno about the 35mm f2 as I have two zooms with my F90x and they are quite good and fast for AF. F90x body only with batteries is 860g
A very light AF camera that seems to do everything and goes for peanuts is the Canon EOS 300..I picked the body up for £2 and later a zoom for £1 at the bootie.
Canon lenses are usually cheaper than Nikon and IMO would be hard pressed to see the difference (if any) in the image.
 
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srichards said:
I love my dynax but I think I want a Nikon equivalent ish. Maybe with a fast 35mm prime instead of my usual 50mm.... are there any 35mm f2 lens that would go with a nikon 2000s vintage slr that wouldn't be silly money ie under £200 the lot? Or would my usual 50mm f1.7 come in for that with a nikon AF body? It can't be too heavy. Or shiny tat colour. Black only. The R7 is too heavy and that's much of the reason I'm getting rid. It's heavier than the Fuji 120 P & S beast for a start.
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You might consider:

F100 - Semi-pro body, the best 'not too heavy' option, but also the most expensive; the body alone can still go for >£200, though you can find Japanese dealers selling them more cheaply on ebay, and they turn up from time for a decent price at UK dealers like Aperture.

F80 - Like a baby F100 for the amateur market, lighter and quieter, but viewfinder and AF not as good. Very cheap today, probably under £60.

F90 (aka N90) or the upgraded F90x (N90s) - older generation body, the predecessor of the F100, with much less sophisticated AF. Unlike the F100 and F80, there's no way of controlling the aperture from the body, so you need lenses with their own aperture rings. About the same price as the F80.

Watch out for sticky grips / degrading plastic on all the AF Nikons.

Nikon has made a couple of different 35mm AF lenses. Ignore the 35mm DX f/1.8, which only covers DX crop sensors. The current 35mm G AF-S f/1.8 FX is very good, but probably out of your budget (and has no aperture ring for the F90). There's an older and smaller 35mm f/2 (AF or AF-D) with aperture ring, but that might still push your budget (£180 on ebay right now). You should have no problem finding a cheap 50 f/1.8 AF-D (maybe £80 - even new, they are only £109). The latest AF-S version is a bit more expensive, and is a 'G' lens without an aperture ring (so fine for the F100 and F80, but not the F90).
 
Other thought is to get an auto exposure body which is much lighter than the r7 which takes the same summicron r lens.

Would any of the voigtlander bessa bodies fit this? R7 is about 900g and feels more. It's not much more than the dynax but somehow it feels twice the weight.
 
Blimey Suz... sorry, Tigger, you'll be going back to digital at this rate! :LOL: If you want one of the ultimate AF 35mm SLR film cameras, without going into the realm of 'full professional (and potentially well used) heavyweights', there's the Canon EOS-3 (as worn by me at the Smallwood meet-up). It's not the lightest camera I've ever carried, but it is full auto everything (if you want it to be) and it still works with the latest Canon EF lenses (not the EFS ones though), including the EF 24-105 IS L Mk1, which gives great bang for buck second hand. There's no sign of the plastic decomposing on my EOS-3 either! Oh, and before you ask, mine's not for sale!
 
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srichards said:
Other thought is to get an auto exposure body which is much lighter than the r7 which takes the same summicron r lens.

Would any of the voigtlander bessa bodies fit this? R7 is about 900g and feels more. It's not much more than the dynax but somehow it feels twice the weight.
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No, they are compatible with Leica M or Leica screwmount, not R. You could buy an adapter, but it won't be rangefinder-coupled. You could buy an adapter for some lighter SLR, but it doesn't seem worth the bother to save a few grams and lose open aperture metering, etc. (it won't be auto anything).
 
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I've been puzzling over the meter in my new eBay purchase, an Exakta RTL1000. It seems to go from "extremely under" to "extremely over" in one click of the aperture ring - might this be because I've got the wrong kind of battery in it? I stuck a generic 1.5v button cell in there, but I remember reading somewhere that the slightly more expensive silver button cells give a smoother voltage? Would this possibly be the cause?
 
mothdust said:
I've been puzzling over the meter in my new eBay purchase, an Exakta RTL1000. It seems to go from "extremely under" to "extremely over" in one click of the aperture ring - might this be because I've got the wrong kind of battery in it? I stuck a generic 1.5v button cell in there, but I remember reading somewhere that the slightly more expensive silver button cells give a smoother voltage? Would this possibly be the cause?
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I'm not sure that it's the cause of your problem, but silver oxide cells maintain a constant voltage throughout their lifespan, and then suddenly fail altogether, whereas alkaline batteries gradually lose voltage before failing. Based on this, a silver oxide cell is the better choice for a light meter as it will be consistent throughout it's life. Even if it's the wrong voltage for the camera (e.g. 1.5v instead of 1.35v), at least you can compensate consistently for it's effect on the meter reading.
 
FishyFish said:
I'm not sure that it's the cause of your problem, but silver oxide cells maintain a constant voltage throughout their lifespan, and then suddenly fail altogether, whereas alkaline batteries gradually lose voltage before failing. Based on this, a silver oxide cell is the better choice for a light meter as it will be consistent throughout it's life. Even if it's the wrong voltage for the camera (e.g. 1.5v instead of 1.35v), at least you can compensate consistently for it's effect on the meter reading.
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Ahaaaaa, my lack of electronics knowledge betrays me! Thanks for the explanation. I'll do a few more tests in different light situations, see what the problem might be. Then give up and use the meter on my phone!
 
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