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

Not until you've had too much whisky in Scotland :D How did you get on with the camera you purchased during the Cornwall meet? I can't even remember what it was lol

It was some form of giant linhoff 6 X 9 job with 3 lenses and loads of other kit..... I doubled my money when I sold it ;):D
 
Bored at work thinking I'd like an autofocus film SLR, preferably Canon so I can use all of my existing lenses. Had a quick scout around, fell down an eBay hole and have emerged with a late-90s Canon EOS 50 body for the princely sum of 20 quid. The seller says it's in good condition, it looked ok on the pics. Should be here on Monday and I have a roll of Portra 160 in the fridge that I might use to test it out next week.
 
As long as it works OK then you should get some good results with that and it's got to be worth £20 in full working order. Perhaps try it with your least favourite lens first though, just in case! ;) Don't forget to check the batteries though, the last film SLR I bought off eBay didn't switch on but I found this was due to one of the two batteries being installed the wrong way round! Once you know it works OK I'd be inclined to buy a fresh set of batteries for it and use those, as lithium batteries tend to give very little (or no!) warning before they give up, and that often happens part way through a film.

If for whatever reason you don't get on with the EOS 50, perhaps take a look at the EOS 30 that succeeded it, probably one of the best EOS film cameras that Canon ever made, particularly for the price. (y)
 
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As long as it works OK then you should get some good results with that and it's got to be worth £20 in full working order. Perhaps try it with your least favourite lens first though, just in case! ;) Don't forget to check the batteries though, the last film SLR I bought off eBay didn't switch on but I found this was due to one of the two batteries being installed the wrong way round! Once you know it works OK I'd be inclined to buy a fresh set of batteries for it and use those, as lithium batteries tend to give very little (or no!) warning before they give up, and that often happens part way through a film.

If for whatever reason you don't get on with the EOS 50, perhaps take a look at the EOS 30 that succeeded it, probably one of the best EOS film cameras that Canon ever made, particularly for the price. (y)

They seem to be going for around £80-£100 which is more than I can spare at the moment (getting married next month), but for £20 it's hard to say no. If I don't like it I'll just stick it back on eBay for what I paid for it. I've got a 50mm f1.8 which should be the perfect match for it. I might just order a spare battery for it anyway, they seem to be pretty cheap and it's always handy to have one around.
 
Sounds like a plan. I have the 40mm pancake lens that I use on the EOS 30 and it makes for such a nice light and compact set-up, so the 50 with a 50 (!) shouldn't be much different... plus you'll have the silver and black retro look too! :D Best of luck and I'll look forward to seeing some photos from it, all the very best with your wedding too.

Oh, and if you decide to try the eye controlled focus (ECF) then make sure you read a copy of the instruction manual first, clear the previous settings and take your time setting it up. When calibrating it try to relax but not take your eye of the subject you've chosen to focus on even for a split second. When using it there's no need to stare and strain your eye, but keep looking at the focus point until you've pressed the shutter button half way and it locks on to that point. If calibrated right, fully working and it suits you, I think ECF is one of the best camera inventions ever. If ECF doesn't work for you then you can always turn it off and use the camera 'normally'; after all, what do you want for £20! Hope this is useful. (y)
 
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Sounds like a plan. I have the 40mm pancake lens that I use on the EOS 30 and it makes for such a nice light and compact set-up, so the 50 with a 50 (!) shouldn't be much different... plus you'll have the silver and black retro look too! :D Best of luck and I'll look forward to seeing some photos from it, all the very best with your wedding too.

Oh, and if you decide to try the eye controlled focus (ECF) then make sure you read a copy of the instruction manual first, clear the previous settings and take your time setting it up. When calibrating it try to relax but not take your eye of the subject you've chosen to focus on even for a split second. When using it there's no need to stare and strain your eye, but keep looking at the focus point until you've pressed the shutter button half way and it locks on to that point. If calibrated right, fully working and it suits you, I think ECF is one of the best camera inventions ever. If ECF doesn't work for you then you can always turn it off and use the camera 'normally'; after all, what do you want for £20! Hope this is useful. (y)

Thank you, I plan to take it on honeymoon to Mexico with me so hopefully I'll have some decent images to show from it in a few weeks. I don't think the one I've bought has eye AF. Were there two versions of the camera, one with it and one without? The body I've bought doesn't say Eye AF on the front so I'm not sure if it has it. It would be cool if it did but as you say for £20 I can't go wrong really
 
Thank you, I plan to take it on honeymoon to Mexico with me so hopefully I'll have some decent images to show from it in a few weeks. I don't think the one I've bought has eye AF. Were there two versions of the camera, one with it and one without? The body I've bought doesn't say Eye AF on the front so I'm not sure if it has it. It would be cool if it did but as you say for £20 I can't go wrong really
Just looked it up and it seems there were 2 UK variants, one with and one without ECF, but as you say it's got to be worth £20.
 
Just looked it up and it seems there were 2 UK variants, one with and one without ECF, but as you say it's got to be worth £20.

Any idea how much they were new? Just out of interest I've tried google but can't seem to find anything
 
Any idea how much they were new? Just out of interest I've tried google but can't seem to find anything
I don't have any old magazines from the time it was launched, but I do have one from the time of the launch of its replacement (the EOS 30 - an old copy of AP bought for a review of it!). In Sept 2000 dealers seemed to be selling the 50e for £299 (cheapest I could find for body only) and upwards, so I imagine the plain EOS 50 without ECF would have probably been somewhere around the £300 to £350 mark shortly after it was launched? I couldn't find a plain 50 advertised anywhere in that 2000 magazine, so it was probably a less popular model than the 50e, particularly by the end of the product run. Anyway, has it arrived yet? If so, don't forget to post a photo of it. (y)
 
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I don't have any old magazines from the time it was launched, but I do have one from the time of the launch of its replacement (the EOS 30 - an old copy of AP bought for a review of it!). In Sept 2000 dealers seemed to be selling the 50e for £299 (cheapest I could find for body only) and upwards, so I imagine the plain EOS 50 without ECF would have probably been somewhere around the £300 to £350 mark shortly after it was launched? I couldn't find a plain 50 advertised anywhere in that 2000 magazine, so it was probably a less popular model than the 50e, particularly by the end of the product run. Anyway, has it arrived yet? If so, don't forget to post a photo of it. (y)

Ah ok so quite a decent camera for the time then! My eBay app says it should arrive between Saturday and Monday, no sign of it yet but I'll get a photo of it on here as soon as it arrives. I did start out with film, I had an EOS300 back in the early / mid-2000s but sold it when I moved to digital in 2008. I wish I'd kept that body now as I sold it for peanuts.
 
Yes, the EOS 50 was a 'mid range' enthusiast type camera that sat between the more basic intro models and the likes of the semi-pro type EOS 5 and EOS-3.
 
Really want an Agfa Isolette iii with solinar lens.

The problem is knowing the bellows are sound and shutter speeds are accurate.
 
Really want an Agfa Isolette iii with solinar lens.

The problem is knowing the bellows are sound and shutter speeds are accurate.

Or assume they won't be and get the cheapest one you can and get Miles or somebody to sort the bellows and give it a CLA? I have no idea how much they cost or how much the repairs cost so that may be a really daft idea :)
 
Really want an Agfa Isolette iii with solinar lens.

The problem is knowing the bellows are sound and shutter speeds are accurate.

I thought you already had one:thinking:…...or did you sell it?

Or assume they won't be and get the cheapest one you can and get Miles or somebody to sort the bellows and give it a CLA? I have no idea how much they cost or how much the repairs cost so that may be a really daft idea :)

That's actually not such a daft idea;)
 
I think it is worth considering Suze.

It would certainly cost more but at least I'd know it was good.

I'll look out for a good 'un over the winter and perhaps take that option in the spring if nothing turns up.

OR

@pentaxpete could sell me his :)
 
Thanks Suz - bookmarked.

One problem...

That Ensign 820 Special is calling to me.

NO
NO
NO
Maybe

I have the same problem. The 820 is a bit spesh anyway and the Special is especially spesh.:D
 
Despite having made a vow (only to myself) not to buy any more 35mm cameras, I say an Olympus OM10 for £29 a couple of weeks ago in Fotosnaps of Wallsend. I managed to drag myself away from the shop without buying anything but somehow gave in to an urge to buy it yesterday.

Took it for a spin today, very nice to use, but haven't processed the results yet. It came with a 50mm f1.8 lens; I already had an OM adaptor for my Tamron Adaptall lenses so I can also use a Tamron 28mm, 28-50 zoom, 35-70 zoom, 135, and 200 lenses.
 
Image quality of the Fuji GW617 or the Xpan for a fraction of the money in something that is less cumbersome. I'd settle for reasonable image quality rather than jaw dropping. I suspect I'll end up trying panorama on the digital to scratch this itch... Edit: just tried the Sony. Ick. Clatter clatter clatter clatter.

The impossible is probably what I'm looking for :)
I've only just seen this so apologies for dragging it back to the fore but how about a Bronica etrs(i) or SQ-A(i) with panoramic 35mm film back? The backs aren't cheap but they're a damn site cheaper than an xpan and the lenses are top notch. Both can be fitted with AE prisms making them even more convenient to shoot with.
 
While I'm in here I probably out to confess. I've been obsessing over a 35mm SLR with automatic exposure as most of my cameras are entirely manual. Having begun by obsessing over the Olympus OM2n that escalated rather drastically to the Minolta Dynax 9. I'm now obsessing over Minolta AF lenses whilst I wait for the postman to bring me my new toy. [emoji28]
 
Dynax 9 is a belter :)

The Minolta 50mm 1.7 is a classic and always worth buying.
 
Dynax 9 is a belter :)

The Minolta 50mm 1.7 is a classic and always worth buying.
I sold off all of my manual focus Minolta gear because I was struggling to focus with it. I've kind of regretted it though. I had the MD 50mm f1.7 and the MC 1.4, as good as the 1.7 was I miss the 1.4 more.

That's one reason that I decided to bite the bullet and get the Dynax 9, the other reason being that it was the camera that I lusted over when I first got interested in photography. It and the Dynax 7 seemed to be the odd ones out compared to other manufacturers and they didn't half look impressive in the glossy adverts in Amateur Photographer magazine.
 
I did mean the AF version of the 50mm.

I had a dynax 7 but the aperture system failed. Common issue :(
 
I've only just seen this so apologies for dragging it back to the fore but how about a Bronica etrs(i) or SQ-A(i) with panoramic 35mm film back? The backs aren't cheap but they're a damn site cheaper than an xpan and the lenses are top notch. Both can be fitted with AE prisms making them even more convenient to shoot with.
Funnily enough, I've just run a film through the panoramic (135W) back for my Bronny SQ as I sort out what kit I'm going to take on the Onich trip. It ran in my mind that there was a spacing issue with the back, but the film has just been hung up to dry and the spacing looks absolutely fine. Not so sure about the content and processing mind, but I'll scan a few tomorrow and post an example to show the ratio.
 
I did mean the AF version of the 50mm.

I had a dynax 7 but the aperture system failed. Common issue :(
I know that you meant the AF version [emoji846] from what I've read online I think that the manual focus lenses share the same optics as the AF versions. I certainly hope so as I had a few really nice photos from that old 1.4 MC and hope to do so again when I've found an AF lens.

I did consider the 7 but I had read a few cautionary tales about reliability and the bigger, brighter viewfinder of the 9 appealed to me.
 
woops wrong thread :exit:

the new Fuji MF camera

How did you get past our high tech security sytem ( alias @Andysnap :p)

Normally you have to show at least 6 pieces of ID and be completely stripped:wideyed: ( of all digi gear:p) before entering this forum and even then you would be closely monitered by Andy's muppets vigilant security staff ( ie US! ) :police:

Be warned…….:D
 
How did you get past our high tech security sytem ( alias @Andysnap :p)

Normally you have to show at least 6 pieces of ID and be completely stripped:wideyed: ( of all digi gear:p) before entering this forum and even then you would be closely monitered by Andy's muppets vigilant security staff ( ie US! ) :police:

Be warned…….:D

Yes, absolutely, quite right too.

He's not wrong though. :exit:
 
So would I, except I've now got you to explain it :D

:jaffa::jaffa::jaffa:
 
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