Analog film photography and cameras

This thread inspired me to take my mum's OM1 off the shelf. Film is Boots slide 10 year expired that I found in a drawer, and Ilford HP5

Olympus OM-1 is the best camera ever (oh, I am soooooo biased), and that image, does it an honour. Excellent.

oh, I didn't realised the camera helped Barchan to get the shot he wanted, boy he must be that shit.

I am glad that it worked at all. When I took the top off to replace the prism, a tiny piece of bamboo fell out of the exposure meter. Japanese technology!
The light seals were replaced with some black wool and the shutter button sticks if it's pressed down all the way... I haven't experience of any other SLRs except a Zenit, but I think they're lovely cameras.

Thought this thread might be a decent place to come for advise! Apologies in advance for the rambling.

I'm off on a bit of an adventure next year, and I want some sort of 35mm camera to take with me. I'll be taking a dSLR and a cheap-but-nice Russian TLR too. I don't want to rely on the TLR too much as 120 is expensive and not many people seem to develop it any more.

I'm after a 35mm to get round some of the cost issues of 120, and hopefully to be a bit more discreet than the dSLR - can sometimes ruin the moment if I have to go rummaging in my bag to pull out a big, noisy camera.

First camera I ever used was my dad's Pentax K1000 which I absolutely adored, that may be an option now if I can sweet talk him into letting me take it. The other option I've been thinking about is a cheap rangefinder.

Just wondering if anyone on here is using a rangefinder? Can you impart any wisdom regarding what they're like to use? Do they take a lot of getting used to? Is there a popular choice that costs around £100?? - no leica money here :(

Would be awesome if anyone has any advice to share :)

Mat

the olympus xa is popular for good reason - it's very compact and discreet, while also being capable of taking high quality pictures.

the rangefinder in general is a really easy and fast way of focussing, you should get used to it quickly. the viewfinders tend to be nice and bright and they are good in low light, but are no good for anything close-up...

canonets make great cameras, and well below your budget generally. another one that gets mentioned a fair bit on here is the yashica electro, i've never used one but i'm sure others can vouch for them.

Should be plenty of cameras to fit the bill and tons that'll be under budget.

As has been recommended, the likes of an XA/Canonet/Electro will mean it's cheap, small and robust.

I have been using a couple of Ricoh compacts recently, an R10 and an R1, the r1 is the more solidly built, has a 24mm panoramic option where a secondary lens comes in to play along with curtains that block off part of the frame to give you the panoramic shape, these can be disabled and you end up with a really small good quality camera that has 32mm and 24mm options.

Zone camera are also great, limited focusing, but once you get the idea distance in your head, it's pretty quick and easy (0.8 metre, 1.5, 3.0 and infinity).

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/56408860@N02/6182794068/][/url]

Love this.

[Andy]

Thought this thread might be a decent place to come for advise! Apologies in advance for the rambling.

Here's some food for thought.

I love my XA's they just slide in your shirt pocket. Don't forget the XA3, same as the XA2 but film speed up to 1600 iso. It also has a DX and a 1.5 backlight setting. I disabled the DX reader with a small piece of electrical insulation tape so I can change film speed, if necessary, throughout the roll.

I'd probably grab an electro for that price range. Maybe even change the light seals yourself and you'll have a camera that will last you years.

Otherwise try as people have said and go for one of the XA cameras. I've got the XA2 myself (zone focusing) and the thing is brilliant. Just I prefer manual cameras.

If your adventure involves any kind of travel, I'd ditch the TLR and SLR ideas. Too much stuff to lug. Liberate yourself with a small rangefinder. My choice would be an XA but I've found them too unreliable for travel: the electromagnetic shutter button can fail at any time. I'd take my Bessa L with 25mm or my Lumix GF1 (wrong thread though).

Wow thanks for the advice everyone!

I think I'm leaning towards the XA and/or Electro based on what you've all said. I'm quite fond of low light shooting so the Electro might be nice for the faster lens, though I like the fact that the XA just looks like an old point-and-shoot on the surface.

Having had a quick browse on ebay I think it could be possible to do both if I'm feeling greedy, though I'll have less money for film left over.

I'm relocating to Melbourne via Singapore, then doing (hopefully) shitloads of trips around Aus from there. I could probably do without the TLR, but definitely not the dSLR despite the fact that it's old and heavy and kills my shoulder.

Cheers folks
Mat

I have a Yashica Lynx 14. I know nothing about optics but it's cracking in low light. Bit of a brick shithouse though.

Another +1 for the XA.

^amazing lenses but sweet lord in heaven they weigh a ton! I think SonIamDisappoint possibly used one on a neckstrap to develop his physique.

Ah, nice one tyeness, well if you've got a "base" from which to make excursions, fill your boots and take the lot. Have you considered 5x4? ;-)

Haha god I think 5x4 is a bit beyond me really, but you never know.

Currently browsing ebay, am I right in guessing that only the XA is a rangefinder, and that the XA2 and XA3 are zone-focus??

i have a nice linhof technikardan which is ideal for large format travel photography.
£1700 and it's yours. you will need some lenses to go with it though.

Pocket change!

I found a Cosina CT20 SLR at a charity shop. Only £4 with 50mm f1.8 Cosinon lens, and has aperture-priority mode which is useful for casual shooting/taking a camera out on rides. It's also very small and light (about half the weight of my Zenit-E). The lens isn't very sharp and there are a few light leaks that need taping up, but otherwise I'm happy.

I managed to find an even worse scanner than last time... I've got dozens of sleeves of negatives to scan properly when I start back at university.

Good work lae.

They're really nice! Just got a message from the lab to say the 5 rolls of 120 I dropped off at the start of the week are ready. Don't actually think I can wait till tomorrow morning so might duck out of the office later on to pick them up :)

^ So how'd they turn out?

Kodak BW400CN

I love Nos.1 & 4. I'd buy a print of No.4.

#2 is great!

I'm pretty happy with how the 120 turned out, gonna try and get em scanned in at some point over the weekend!

Broke the latch on the door of my F100 :(

Anybody know a good repairer of Nikon kit?