new camera! anyone have experience with film?

[dxrocnxj]

i know this is a dslr forum but ive never used a film slr before :o
anyone with previous film slrs, this is for you.
i have just bought this baby for 50 bucks on ebay
the lens is fixed on, its a dental camera, but i figured for 50 bucks, why not!?

http://auctionsound.s3.amazonaws.com/clients/quikdrop/inventory/21460/1226091335.7641.jpg

and i was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what type or brand of film i should use.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Before anyone can answer that isn't their first question going to be what are you going to shoot with it?

I'm assuming not dental shots of the drummer:D

[K1W1]

It looks like it's fully manual so you are going to need a light meter to be able to set the correct aperture and shutter settings or else just use the old rule of thumb guestimates (but I can't remember them).

[dxrocnxj]

welll dpr, no im not. :)

i want to broaden some possibilities in my photography, along with learning some new things. i like to know something about everything or experience everything at least once so i figured since i just moved to florida a few months ago i dont really get out to concerts as much. its all school and my job for now. i think this might be a neat little learning experience for me.

i do plan on getting a light meter and figuring out one of those little guys as well

[erichlund]

Well, there's always Sunny 16.

Set the film speed in the shutter, then f16 for full sun, f11 for light overcast, f8 for overcast, and f5.6 for heavy overcast. Of course normal adjustments from there apply.

For instance, you set 1/125 for 100ASA, and f8 for an overcast day, but you want a shutter of 1/250 (to hand hold that big monster), so you set that and open up to f5.6.

Of course, none of that does any good. That's a mirror lens, so it likely has a fixed f8 or f6.3 aperture and a 500mm focal length.

[dxrocnxj]

i hear theres some sort of chemical differences in films like pro film and film from walgreens, and pro films arent able to developed at a target or walgreens?

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

There's a heap of deifferences in films like ISO sensitivity grain size, colour etc. Don't know any of them myself though or I'd be happy to oblige with some words of wisdom.

All I can offer is that I sure wouldn't be getting my carefully taken work processed by a target, walmart or the like. Bad experiences with my local Kmart (wallmart).

[AlexMonro]

I use film quite a bit (in my Nikon FM2 - on topic! :) ), mainly colour print film. There are 3 main types of film, colour print (negative), colour slide (transparency), and black and white (negative).

Colour print is easiest to get developed - most minilabs and "1-hour photo" shops only process this, using what's known as C41 process. It's available in speeds from ISO 100 to ISO 1600, the main makes are Kodak and Fuji. I mostly use Fuji Superia 200 and 400 - Fuji seems to produce better green & blue tones for landscapes, which are my main interest. Kodak films such as Portra or Ultramax Gold seem to produce better reds & browns, and are good for portraits. Colour print films have a fairly wide exposure lattitude - "dynamic range" - partly because adjustments can be made at the printing stage, so you have less worries about getting the exposure spot on.

Colour slide films usually need to be sent to specialist labs for processing. Most are E6 process, but Kodachrome has a special process which can now only be handled by one lab in the world. Kodak also do E6 process Ektachrome in speeds of ISO 100 & 200, as well as other professional versions. Fuji do various E6 films, such as Provia for portraits (ISO 100 & 400), Sensia (general purpose - ISO 100, 200 & 400), and Velvia (landscapes - ISO 50 & 100). With slide films, you usually can buy them with the processing included - you get a pre-paid envelope to drop in the mail.

Black and white films also mostly need a specialist lab, although they are easiest to do it yourself, if you've got the space to set up a darkroom. As well as Kodak & Fuji, another big manufacturer is Ilford. There are conventional types, such as Kodak Plus-X (ISO 125) and Tri-X (ISO 400), Fuji Neopan (ISO 100, 400 & 1600) and Ilford FP4 (ISO 125) & HP5 (ISO 400), and T-grain types, which give finer grain and higher contrast, such as Kodak T-Max (ISO 100, 400 & 3200) and Ilford Delta (ISO 100, 400 & 3200). There are also black & white negative films which can be developed in the standard C41 colour print process, so you can take them to your local minilab, such as Kodak BW400CN, Fuji Neopan 400CN, and Ilford XP2 Super - all ISO 400.

Most labs (and minilabs) will also scan your films and put the images on CD for a small additional charge so you can post process on your computer and do your own prints the same as with digital, but the standard scan resolution is usually quite low (~2 Mpixel), so if you want to crop or make big prints, you might want to pay more for a hi-res scan - ask what's available. To avoid too much grain, you might want to stick to slower speed (ISO 100 or 200) films for hi-res work.

To start with I'd suggest you use a cheap & cheerful colour print film, such as Fuji Superia 200 - or possibly some of the even cheaper anonymous or own brand films you find in some shops & supermarkets.

Happy film shooting! :)

[Rooz]

what made you buy it...just out of interest ?

[dxrocnxj]

alex, thanks for that; for the most part it definitely cleared a lot up for me.

and rooz; i was just aimlessly looking on ebay and thought to myself that i have never used film. i figured i should learn. and from what most people say its just as fun as digital. i doubt ill shoot film all the time but i think itd be good learning.

[ooverdrive]

Add any cheap pre ai glass to d40..still there will be a lot of learning and fun left.

[erichlund]

Add any cheap pre ai glass to d40..still there will be a lot of learning and fun left.

When you say pre AI, you have to be careful. A lot of non-AI glass cannot be used at all, and in fact, can damage the camera. However AI and AI-S lenses can be used, but, the photographer is pretty much on their own. The meter will not be of any assistance. That's, of course, true for any Nikon dSLR with only two digits in its numerical designation. Single digit and three digit Nikons can meter AI and AI-S lenses.

[tizeye]

i was just aimlessly looking on ebay and thought to myself that i have never used film. i figured i should learn. and from what most people say its just as fun as digital. i doubt ill shoot film all the time but i think itd be good learning.

I also had the "what made you buy it" question. If bored it seems as if there would be a lot more film cameras on ebay in the same price range that was not as specialized. With this camera, wondering if even complete. For dental, or other medical work, the cameras usually have a flash ring around the lens as offset twin flashes would be obtrusive. Given their purpose, flash would be absolutely required. It may make a decent macro camera though. Question if the lens was designed for scenics, portraits, etc.

Those old Yashica bodies were also sold as a consumer evtry level SLR camera. They used the old Pentax threaded screw-in lens which was considered kind of a standard in the day vs proprietary bayonette mounts. If you are lucky, it would have "match needle" metering like their consumer level cameras had. This would minimize the need for a separate handheld lightmeter. In the viewfinder look for either two pins that move when you adjust the shutter and aperture to "match up", or a single pin with a fixed + - that you match the single pin between.

Depending on the limitations, may want to re-ebay it and look for a more mainstream film camera. They are cheap - too cheap for me to ebay mine so I keep them around.

[SpecialK]

i was just aimlessly looking on ebay and thought to myself that i have never used film. i figured i should learn. and from what most people say its just as fun as digital. i doubt ill shoot film all the time but i think itd be good learning.

I could never shoot film again for fun. But that camera looks neat, although limited.

[dxrocnxj]

just letting everyone know the new camera arrived today, gonna try it out sometime this week while i have time.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/3046860823_1bcb2f7dd3.jpg

more photos of the new camera on the flickr.