film slr cameras?

Question

i take photography in school and im intrested in purchasing my own film slr camera. i dont have much money, and i definitly want film. does anyone know of a good camera that is affordable?

Answer 1

Welcome to the world of photography. I remember my first SLR. I paid fifteen dollars for it at a garage sale. You are in a much better position than I was. With the digital revolution, there are literally tens of thousands of Canon FTb's and F1's and old Nikon's out there gathering dust. You are going to want a camera with excellent optics and full manual control. Nothing automatic. You will judge the light of every situation. Consult a light meter. (Usually through the viewfinder of your SLR). You will determine the right shutter speed for the subject, and the effect you want to create. You will determine the depth of field you want and set the F-stop accordingly. By the time you press the shutter release, you will have attended to a great deal of detail in the print already.

To get your dream camera outfit, mow lawns for a few weeks to accumulate $100, then put a little ad in your local newspaper. Say you are looking for a Canon F1 with a 50mm 1.4 lens, a 28mm wide angle, and a 100-200mm zoom, and you have a hundred dollars to spend. See what happens. I bet you get a ton of responses. Good luck.

By the way, a few pointers: Buy your film in bulk. You can buy a hundred feet of Kodak Tri-X film (400ASA) and roll your own canisters for less than a buck a roll. Use a good used Peterson enlarger grain magnifier to get a crisp focus on your prints. Get a good used Peterson developing tank that holds at least two reels. Use the white plastic Peterson reels that ratchet the film onto the reel. Make sure they are dry before you turn out the darkroom lights. Develop your film at 71-72 degrees Farenheit (above the recommended 68 degrees), and keep it in at least thirty seconds longer than recommended to really pep up the contrast. Always use fresh developer. Always. Get into a one-shot system and throw it away after you are done. This will always ensure the best negatives. Ansel Adams and Fred Archer developed a whole system around these variables called the "Zone System." Learn about it. Use PC coated paper. Spend days going out and hunting photos. Those days are among my most prized memories. Have fun. And don't forget to go digital and learn Photoshop. It is way cool to create great color images and never spend a minute in the darkroom. The best link that I know of for learning all Adobe products, including Photoshop, is provided below. I've also included a link to the wikipedia article about the zone system.

Answer 2

There are a lot of film slrs ranging from the ones today that are made of plastic to the ones of yesteryear that are made of better materials. I would suggest that you look at such cameras at the Olympus OM 1, 2, 4, the Canon A1 or AE1, and corresponding Pentax and Nikon models. I have both the Canons above and I have the OM1s (four of them) and the OM2, one of them. I have had Pentax SV, which is the camera that came out prior to the Spotmatic (if it is branded Honeywell, it is the HV and Spotmatic) and they were incredible. I don't like the Canons because they have to have a battery in them. I don't know about the Nikons. The OM1 &2s don't have to have a battery in them. All of the ones above are strong and will last, as is testified to by the fact that all of my Olympus and Canon cameras were made long ago - the OM1 in 67, the OM2 in the late 70s, the A1 in the late 70s and the AE1 about 80.

Now as for the man who said that teaching with film was absurd, the reason that most of the questions appearing on this venue are asked is because there has been virtually no camera training, it is all OJT. What you learn in film photography with cameras that work on manual are the relationships between light, film speed, f stops and shutter speeds. If you learn to develope your film, and print the pictures, you can learn things about contrasts, colors, and all of the stuff that now comes on Adobe. The thing you get with film that you cannot get with digital is a lack of pixilation if you blow them up very much. With film, you do not get the color aberrations that you always get with digital and you don't get dust on your sensor that ruins your pictures. In other words, you don't have to adjust your picture to compensate for the problems taht no one has cured on digital with color or "digital noise."

I have 7 film cameras, even 9 if you consider the point and shoots that I have, and my wife has a small digital. I taught black and white photography for three years with film cameras in my university and I was not a professor, but a student teaching college class level courses for credit at the university. I may be wrong, but I think I know at least a little bit about it.

Answer 3

You will never regret getting a Nikon N80; you will want to keep this camera for years to come; it has features for you to grow with but you will not outgrow this camera anytime soon.

You can get a very good Nikon N80 with a fairly good lens (your choice) at www.keh.com and you will want to keep this camera for a very long time afterward. It has auto-focus but can also be used with manual focus, it has manual setting mode ("M" mode where you set the aperture and the shutter speed; fully automatic mode "P" mode) where you press the shutter button halfway down and it sets the aperture and shutter speed for you automatically, or you can use it in either Shutter Priority (you select the shutter, and the camera selects the correct aperture for you) or Aperture Priority (you select the desired aperture and the camera selects the correct shutter speed for you). It also has three metering modes (traditional center weighted, Matrix metering, and Spot metering). It sets the ISO of the film for you automatically and will advance the film as you take a photo and rewind the film into the cannister when you take the last photo. It has on-damand grid lines to help you mainain a level horizon when you do landscapes, cityscapes and seascapes. The camera is the best camera for learning (favorite among beginners taking courses) and is also considered the Poor Man's Pro-Level camera because it mimics the pro-level Nikon F100. You can't go wrong with this camera.

I strongly recommend that you get the Instructions Manual and Thom Hogan's book on the N80. You will be surprised how great this camera is...

If you're really on a tight budget and you REALLY want a very vesatile zoom lens, I will recommend that you get the Nikkor AF 35-105mm f/3.5-5.6D Macro lens (make sure it is the Macro version; there are two and you want the one that IS macro). This lens can be used as a wide angle lens, a regular lens, a portrait lens, a short telephoto lens and as a macro lens. OR you can just get the Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D lens which is a very good lens for detailed portraits and great for low light situations. IF you can find your way in getting both of these lenses, you will have the advantage over all other students (regular shooting as well as low-light shooting).

The actual lens that I have is the newer Nikkor AF 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6D lens. If I had known about the more affordable Nikkor AF 35-105mm lens, I would have bought it and saved a few dollars in the process.

I suggest that you go to www.keh.com and be ready to buy once you see what you want because the lenses and cameras do not stay on the shelves very long. If you do NOT see what you want, go back in a day or two and look around again... but be ready to buy as soon as you see what you want.

Another good source to check is www.bhphotovideo.com in NYC.

What you learn while using film is PHOTOGRAPHY, not about a system of storing or enhacing or manipulating images; you will learn about lenses and their uses, how to handle cameras and compose, how to set proper settings for a well exposed image, ISO settings, depth of field, composition, use of natural and artificial lighting, etc. ALL of these things will carry over into digital IF, or when, you decide to make the move. Learning film photography first will enable you to learn a lot more, believe me. Best of luck and best wishes.

Answer 4

If you want a new camera, buy a Nikon N55 or a Canon Rebel 2000. Both are cheap and excellent.

If you are looking for a second hand camera, buy a Canon EOS 500/EOS 5000 or a very good Nikon N (F outside the USA) serie. May be a N50, N4004, N6006, N8008 or N70.

If you are looking for a cheap, but nice camera, buy a Zenit 12XP!

Leica is the most expensive brand in the world. Forget it, even if used.

Answer 5

Learning photography in my opinion really starts with film. Though it's really getting to be more expensive than digital (if you factor in film and developing costs), it will be a good foundation. Digital is, after all, based on film.

Good thing nowdays, film SLRs are getting cheaper, and if you do your own developing, it's going to be not so costly (and easy, if you're doing black and whites). Try getting a medium format instead of a 35 mm. It will make it worth it if you plan to blow up your pictures to big prints--something common digital SLRs find hard to rival in quality. Try Mamiya, Hasselblad, etc. Or maybe Leica, Honestly, Nikon and Canon were great, but were never really bigshots in film, in my opinion. Mass-market-wise, they were popular, but quality-wise, it's still medium format. Also, don't forget lenses--you can buy just a cheap body, and really go all out on getting one or two great lenses.

Plus, if you decide to switch to digital, you can just opt to buy a digital back in the future. Just slap it on your camera and you can shoot film-less.

Answer 6

In my OPINION, film photography is not a waste of time. It is art and teaches you to see and seize the moment in time. Before you can become a good photographer in any media, you must learn the basics.

Insofar as the camera is concerned, go to your local camera store (not a big box store, someone who deals in used equipment) and ask. A knowledgeable store owner will give better advice than a general web site. My favorite was (and still is) a Nikon, but Leica or Yashica are also good.

Good luck with your project

Answer 7

Hey I'm happy to hear you are doing photography in school, you'll find it most interesting and challenging. The best place to buy a used camera so you can practice your skills is the pawn shop or check the classified ads in the newspapers.The canon AE-1 is a good starting camera for you or a pentax K-1000.they are sturdy and reliable have manual as well as well as program modes (the AE-1) anyway.

Answer 8

You can probably get a classic Leica SLR either on eBay or by going to a real camera store that has a camera exchange.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

In my opinion, film photography in schools is a waste of taxpayers' money and should be no more than a half hour history lesson.

To answer Bob S, yes it is a waste of time. Digital far exceeds film and the basics are exposure etc. Don't need film to learn the basics.