Analog film photography and cameras

Have a wee click around on this. http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/

I'm not familiar with Zenits but I think TTL means it has a meter so you should be able to transfer the principles from the site across to your camera. Or just stick a cheap roll through it and see what you get. :)

Also can I still take a roll of film into boots or somewhere or do I need to go somewhere special? What sort of price for developing them?

That website is perfect as well

you can, or jessops, snappy snaps, asda etc... but if you have a rummage through the thread there is a bit of discussion about it too.
not sure how up-to-date the Film Processing thread is these days http://www.lfgss.com/thread60966.html

if you're in London a cheap place recommended by a few on here is Eye Culture on fashion st, east end.

Wheres the cheapest place to get film? Im going on holiday on wednesday so preferably 1-2 days delivery or offline?

Also is it worth paying the extra for ISO 400 rather than 200?

The pound store usually has cheap colour film 200iso...

Last time I was in Boots they were doing 3 for 2. Think it worked out 4 quid for a roll of Kodak 36exp. This was about a month ago.

Ive just got hold of an old camera I found in our house (a Zenit TTL) and id really like to get to grips with using it. Im a complete novice, so does anyone have a good guide for a newbie starting out in terms of all these things like exposure, f number etc?

The link wools posted is good.

I'd borrow a digital SLR camera if I were you,
have fun with it, and take pictures until you get an idea how things work.
It will save a lot of time, and money.
If you understand the basics, buy film and go out with your Zenith.

The link wools posted is good.

I'd borrow a digital SLR camera if I were you,
have fun with it, and take pictures until you get an idea how things work.
It will save a lot of time, and money.
If you understand the basics, buy film and go out with your Zenith.

I learned on a very basic SLR (Olympus OM1) and I found that having such basic controls actually made learning easier.

yeah, I agree. get some cheap film, start snapping. keep an eye on the light meter (put some fresh batteries in, check the contacts and clean if necessary), don't use Auto anything (don't think Zenit has auto settings anyway). ideally keep a notebook and make notes of what settings you use - f-stop and shutter speed, the rest will be obvious from the photo. look at the negs too they will give you a better idea of exposure than the prints, since cheap dev+print is digital minilab = automatic image adjustment.

wrong thread I know, but for learning photography a digital SLR is much better. Instant results, you can snap hundreds of frames of the same thing to figure out what dial does what

but if there is only one dial (shutter speed) and two rings (aperture, focus) then isn't that a good way of learning the basics? I accept it's slow to see the results and laborious (especially if you are making notes), but on a digital, the first thing is to learn what to turn off and what not to adjust. I guess it depends on what the aim is, but if you are aiming to learn how to use an old soviet SLR, then don't the extra menus, dials, auto-ISO select etc just confuse matters?

I have a Canon F1 (film) and a Fuji x100 (digi) both have manual controls, one camera compliments the other

It costs too much in film to learn with a film camera, best to practice with the Fuji, I use my film camera for sports photography because I cannot afford to buy modern telephoto lens 300mm +

but if there is only one dial (shutter speed) and two rings (aperture, focus) then isn't that a good way of learning the basics? I accept it's slow to see the results and laborious (especially if you are making notes), but on a digital, the first thing is to learn what to turn off and what not to adjust. I guess it depends on what the aim is, but if you are aiming to learn how to use an old soviet SLR, then don't the extra menus, dials, auto-ISO select etc just confuse matters?

Fair point, but just put it in full manual, select iso, and then fire away.

I agree with you though, modern cameras are so complicated that it's easy to get tangled up in focus points etc rather than the settings that matter

anyone recommend a place to get colour film developed in SE?

Fair point, but just put it in full manual.

+1

Fair point, but just put it in full manual, select iso, and then fire away.

I agree with you though, modern cameras are so complicated that it's easy to get tangled up in focus points etc rather than the settings that matter

Mate of mine has had a canon 550D or 600D or something for about 2 years, never takes it out of Full auto, rendering it a massive waste of money. Doesn't even print photos.

I'd agree with those above saying to go with film.
Removes the temptation to get lazy or rely on automation, which for my sins I do. Heavily.

Learning on my dad's old Pentax K1000 was mint, though.

The point is merely that the guy has apparently no experience whatsoever;
to learn the very basics like correct exposure, depth of field, etc. it is clever to use
a digital camera, because it really saves a lot of time, and a lot of money.

So im about to head to Morocco, as its middle of summer and sahara should I go for an Sunny 22 sort of rule, or will sunny 16 be fine? Also as I understand it typically a decrease of one stop in shutter speed and increase of one stop in aperture will even out?

depends on your iso and max shutter speed.

Different people prefer different methods for learning.

I learn by doing, and have a head for numbers, so yeah I can shoot a roll of film, set it aside and 3-6months later when I get around to developing it I can generally remember what camera/lens/setting it was taken with, and then learn from that.
However a lot of people can't wait/remember that long so more instant/quicker results are useful.

^ handheld battery powered Cds meters' are cheap as hell, <£5 for a basic/cheap/old one, £30 for a half decent new one from ebay

My favourite shot of late, Mju II, old Fuji Reala 100.
http://imdabestmayne.tumblr.com/post/28912008231/i-met-death-today-we-are-playing-chess

modern negative film is far too forgiving to teach you anything.
you can shoot it many stops below and especially above the
"correct" exposure and it will just shift in colour response a bit.
add to that the development and compensation at the lab and
you essentially have as much "control" as with a point and shoot in
auto mode.

here is an example picture to demonstrate what I mean:
http://www.fototime.com/B1379B2FE749C83/orig.jpg

it almost doesn't matter what you expose at as long as its not severely under.

hmm, I think it shows quite clearly that correct exposure is important! (+/-1)
auto compensation/adjustment in printing is a problem for learning what's what, which is why you should assess the negs too.