Steve Smith
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I what way is it time consuming? I'm sure I use the same range of shutter speeds as you digital users!
Steve.
Whats with all the questions about Shutter Actuations?
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I what way is it time consuming? I'm sure I use the same range of shutter speeds as you digital users!
Steve.
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I think Tracer means the development time... more of a lengthy process than putting the memory card in the PC.
As to the original question - if you are buying second hand then you have to base your decisions on something. Age / actuations / scuffs / scratches... it's all about how much it's been used and how well it's been looked after. You have to take peoples word on a lot of things - at least number of actuations is quantifiable compared to a statement like "light use".
As to the original question - if you are buying second hand then you have to base your decisions on something. Age / actuations / scuffs / scratches... it's all about how much it's been used and how well it's been looked after. You have to take peoples word on a lot of things - at least number of actuations is quantifiable compared to a statement like "light use".
Steve Smith
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Been reading this thread and it all makes sence
I started a thread asking about actuations and how to find out, as it was more a curiosity killed the cat moment, my camera is second hand and seeing as its my first I was just curious as i did not ask the seller.
I was not bothered how many it has taken, as being my first camera i will more than likely up grade in a year or so anyways. But maybe the next camera i buy i will be a little more concerned as it will be alot more expensive, so i will be looking for a new camera thats not done professional work (meaning 1000's of pics week in week out), it does not matter how well its been looked after, the insides have stilll done all the work and they are the things that will break, not the good looking case.
spike
I started a thread asking about actuations and how to find out, as it was more a curiosity killed the cat moment, my camera is second hand and seeing as its my first I was just curious as i did not ask the seller.
I was not bothered how many it has taken, as being my first camera i will more than likely up grade in a year or so anyways. But maybe the next camera i buy i will be a little more concerned as it will be alot more expensive, so i will be looking for a new camera thats not done professional work (meaning 1000's of pics week in week out), it does not matter how well its been looked after, the insides have stilll done all the work and they are the things that will break, not the good looking case.
spike
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Spike, it is also far more likely that a pro will have his gear serviced as they are his bread and butter, so I still do not think it is that clear cut.
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Well that's optional isn't it... you can at least view your shots in a matter of minutes and decide which are worth doing more work on.
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surely though it has to be the same as the car theory though.
Take a pros camera, gets used week in week out 100 of thousands of pics taken in say two years, ok its serviced when ever a cam needs servicing (sorry donot know how often a cam would get serviced) and it gets parts that are worn replaced.
Now go back to the car theory, I taxi driver uses his car every day and gets it serviced every 3000 miles and regularly checks it over, its his bread and butter too. no the car is only 2 years old and imaculate in condition and the engine sounds sweet, would you buy it??? probably not because even though it looks good been regularly serviced and sounds ok the rest of the car has done the same milage, gearbox ball joints suspension, the list goes on, now it has to be the same with a cam, does it not
Ok you have the theory of a nearly new cam thats hardly been used but has had a bit of a rough life, but surly the condition would tell you that.
It is not clear cut like you said but i for one will always go the good condition low milage anyday.
Spike
Take a pros camera, gets used week in week out 100 of thousands of pics taken in say two years, ok its serviced when ever a cam needs servicing (sorry donot know how often a cam would get serviced) and it gets parts that are worn replaced.
Now go back to the car theory, I taxi driver uses his car every day and gets it serviced every 3000 miles and regularly checks it over, its his bread and butter too. no the car is only 2 years old and imaculate in condition and the engine sounds sweet, would you buy it??? probably not because even though it looks good been regularly serviced and sounds ok the rest of the car has done the same milage, gearbox ball joints suspension, the list goes on, now it has to be the same with a cam, does it not
Ok you have the theory of a nearly new cam thats hardly been used but has had a bit of a rough life, but surly the condition would tell you that.
It is not clear cut like you said but i for one will always go the good condition low milage anyday.
Spike
LOL - but I am talking about processing. Developing the film was quite quick, say five minutes to load into the tank, ten minutes to mix the chemicals at the correct temperature, then perhaps 7 mins dev, 5 min fix and an hour or so to wash. Hang up and allow to dry overnight.
But then it took me the best part of the morning to clear out and black out the bathroom and set up the enlarger and all the trays, chemicals, masking frame, etc. On a good day I might manage 10 good prints in a session before I had to dive out for some fresh air. Paper prints had to be washed for hours before drying overnight in a special blotting book under a pile of books to keep them flat.
I never attempted colour printing -- in any case I generally preferred slides, which I bought process paid and sent away. They usually came back in a week but occasionally not at all.
Nothing today quite matches the magic of watching the image gradually emerge, in the dim red light of the safelight, but I have no regrets about finally going digital!
Steve Smith
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That's fair enough. I have no regrets about ditching digital and going back to film.
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As you say not clear cut, as to the car theory I would buy an ex lease high milage car over a low milage car everytime within reason when I say low milage I mean a car that has only done shopping trips and school runs , as I posted in another thread earlier today
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absolutly true, tis a good thing that we are not all the same.
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For me spending over £250 on a used camera is alot of money.
I certainly wouldnt buy a car thats done alot of milage so its the same principle with my camera,the more its been used the less life there is in it before it's going to start costing in repairs
I certainly wouldnt buy a car thats done alot of milage so its the same principle with my camera,the more its been used the less life there is in it before it's going to start costing in repairs
I think what he was getting at was that with film cameras we generally shoot less frames, as the expense and time involved in processing/printing/scanning was more of a factor than with digital capture...
I shoot way more frames on a job now than I ever did with film...Whether that was because I took more care or whether I'm just now lazier and rattle off loads extra as insurance, I couldn't say...
With film I'd shoot maybe two or three rolls of film on a reasonably-sized job - 72-108 frames, max...
Now on a boggo mug-shot portrait, I'll shoot 20-30 frames and on a studio shoot anywhere from 500 to 1,000 frames...
Processing 1,000 frames of digital images just means picking the 10-20 ones I'm going to use, working on them and filing the rest on a hard-drive - with film it meant a whole lot more work...
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A higher shutter count may also affect the second hand price, it's not uncommon for buyers to ask how many actuations are on a camera before buying, just like you'd check out the mileage on a used car, it's a rough guide to the useage a cameras had.
Take a used 5D2, you see one advertised, check the "mileage" and find it's got 120.000 actuations, now that camera hasn't been around too long, thats a lot of use, it also means the shutter fairly lightly to fail in the not too distant future, on the other hand you find one with 2000 actuations, which would you buy?
Yes we shouldn't get anal about it, but it is handy to know.
Take a used 5D2, you see one advertised, check the "mileage" and find it's got 120.000 actuations, now that camera hasn't been around too long, thats a lot of use, it also means the shutter fairly lightly to fail in the not too distant future, on the other hand you find one with 2000 actuations, which would you buy?
Yes we shouldn't get anal about it, but it is handy to know.