# 35Mm Film



## tom

I am thinking of returning to 35 mm , however I gave my canon kit away a few years ago. So what do folks think I the best kit at cheap prices ie SLR or range finder


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## johnboy24

I don't think I would go back to 35mm film due to the cost of processing, however the other day I powered up my old Praktica BX20 (rangefinder) and Nikon F401 (SLR) camera's and spent the day by the coast.

I found the SLR easier to use mainly I think due to the ease of focussing. It was a bright sunny day (freezing cold) with a sharp wind blowing lots of cloud around.

I am still looking for somewhere that has "reasonable" processing charges.

This article may help.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/rangefinder-vs-slr.htm


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## tom

The bx20 is an slr and yes processing is an issue but the results IMHO are much better than most digitalis


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## bill love

I got an OLYMPUS OM-4 35mm which I used to think was the dogs' . My be tempted into selling it 

cheers

b


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## tom

Might be tempted to buy with prime lenes

Tom


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## tom

Was thinking That a bessa would be good but om bodies are as cheap as chips


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## LJD

Sold My Bessa R2 back to my friends shop. It is a excellent body with the most amazing viewfinder .Better than the Leica . Very very well built. Â£200-220 will buy you one with 6 months guarantee . But my eyes found it too hard to focus . I was losing too many shots

Film slows you down...On a good day with digital i would take hundreds of pics . On 35mm i might take 10 ! its the speed and the cost . For that reason digital wins hands down.. when you see badly focused shots etc and you think, that just cost you Â£12 a time . It all adds up. Once you have digital the costs dont amount with use etc

OM1 are dirt cheap! bought a great one at a camera fair with a 50mm for Â£40. I love it !


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## tom

Good glass seems to be the key ie you can use Leica om and canon glass with a Sony nex digital which seems worth looking at.

Tom


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## mach 0.0013137

LJD said:


> Film slows you down...On a good day with digital i would take hundreds of pics . On 35mm i might take 10 ! its the speed and the cost . For that reason digital wins hands down.. when you see badly focused shots etc and you think, that just cost you Â£12 a time . It all adds up. Once you have digital the costs dont amount with use etc


But this ignores the fact that you will most likely have to change your digital camera more often then a 35mm, the Canon G3 I bought in 2003 for a not inconsiderable sum no longer works & anyway was overtaken by new `improved` models 

Whereas this 80 year old is still capable of taking photos & will probably be still able to do so when it reaches it`s century :notworthy:

*Leica II (modified Standard) circa 1929*










Mind you, I`d still rather use a digital, they are so much more convenient to use


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## LJD

tom said:


> Good glass seems to be the key ie you can use Leica om and canon glass with a Sony nex digital which seems worth looking at.
> 
> Tom


Many of the Rich Chinese students my friends shop sells to use these set ups

with seriously stunning results !


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## LJD

Or try a EPSON RD1

i have yet to see better pics from a digital camera . Its a funky thing thats takes a bit of working out.And it gets noisy ! but hell......the colours are the best ever .Its a camera i would sell everything for if it could shoot at 6000 iso !!


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## chris l

I use film, (mostly Chinese B&W), in my film cameras, just for the pleasure of using them. And the quality of the images...

Then I scan the negs or transparencies, which I've processed at home at minimal cost...

My Rolleiflexes give 250MB scans! And as for the 5x4s..... BIG!


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## johnboy24

tom said:


> The bx20 is an slr and yes processing is an issue but the results IMHO are much better than most digitalis


My mistake however I still think the Nikon is easier to focus.


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## tom

johnboy24 said:


> tom said:
> 
> 
> 
> The bx20 is an slr and yes processing is an issue but the results IMHO are much better than most digitalis
> 
> 
> 
> My mistake however I still think the Nikon is easier to focus.
Click to expand...

Yes the box was good but viewfinder is dark


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## tom

Somewhat left of field panasonicGF1with range finder scope on hotshot with leica glass !!

Could this be the best of both worlds?

Tom


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## tom

By the way my kit at the moment is: canon 40D, Panasonic LX2

Film: rioch GRv , Contax T2


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## andyclient

I've kept all my 35mm stuff , mainly because it wasn't worth parting with for the money its now worth .

Being Nikon though means all my 35mm lenses do fit my Nikon Dslr albeit with manual focus

Would be nice to load up some film and have another go with it


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## LJD

tom said:


> By the way my kit at the moment is: canon 40D, Panasonic LX2
> 
> Film: rioch GRv , Contax T2


The GR series are cracking cameras (Even when the display stops working on the top!)

the lens is quality


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## LJD

A great place in London for S/H gear with excellent guarantee and a good reputation is "Aperture" .They have a new shop selling Leica gear just off Oxford street and their original shop in Holborn (British Museum) selling 35mm and Digital

friendly place


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## dobra

Just judged a Digital Image competition at our camera club - projected via a BenQ, and although the piccies were excellent in some cases, the quality was no where near a 6x6 Fuji transparency. I have about thirty film cameras,but one Pentax slr has gone kaputt, but the lenses live on. Must have a search of Wightbay for a replacement.

Interesting thread this. My usual slr with film in it is a Canon EOS30, which I bought new. Also a Minox for quick grab sohts.

Mike


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## dobra

Another one gone. Southsea Hampshire. Good repairman.

Mike


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## LJD

Aperture have a great guy doing repairs and i think Axco in finchley are still running ?


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## JPaling

i have a cannon Eos 5, with a couple of lenses, i also develop my own film but not in to picture's i develop the actual film and scan it in using a digital devivce i plug in to my laptop i love my film picture's sometimes my digital one's look horrible


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## henlex1967

Hi all, i must admit my old compact 35mm camera could take postcard perfect pictures every time, where as my digital still seems a bit hit and miss even with everything in auto. I dont think i would go back though, you can take thousands of photos in digital until you get it right. That old Leica is delicious! cheers


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## JPaling

henlex1967 said:


> Hi all, i must admit my old compact 35mm camera could take postcard perfect pictures every time, where as my digital still seems a bit hit and miss even with everything in auto. I dont think i would go back though, you can take thousands of photos in digital until you get it right. That old Leica is delicious! cheers


thats how i feel about it, when i do use my film camera im perfectly fine using poundland film because i develop my own so i can use a roll trying to get the perfect picture and i dont really mind. but i do have a digital camera i use it for thing;s i sell and i take picture's of the things i take picture of with my film camera just incase


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## mach 0.0013137

henlex1967 said:


> That old Leica is delicious! cheers


Thanks, I`ve got a trunk full of old film cameras from the days before I started collecting in watches


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## Steve66

Like Tom I have just returned to 35mm. Digital is great for that important shot but I now find it too clinical and characterless for fun days out.

I have recently purchased a 1970's Nikon F2as and I have just taken my first ever Black & White shots. I am so happy with the results that I have bought more Black and White film to use for when the weather improves.




























Sorry, but digital was never this much fun and the results never overwhelmed me ?


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## RTM Boy

I must say I wish digital never happened - I used to have such fun with film; different films, colour/B&W, different papers and ultimately not knowing quite what you've got until its developed and printed. I embraced digital, but it's not the same.

If I went back to 35mm I'd try to find a Contax in good condition, maybe an RXII or Aria with a couple of prime lenses...a 35mm distagon and 85mm planar. Heaven.


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## dobra

My EOS 30 is sitting in its bag with film in and next to it a Minox. Pure joy, but waiting for a bit brighter light. Have advertised on local Wightbay for a Canon EOS 50E or EOS 30 as the former has expired. It's amazing how folk can't read, a chap phoned and offered me a mint Pentax MZ - but that's not made by Canon - is it???

Mike


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## LJD

RTM Boy said:


> I must say I wish digital never happened - I used to have such fun with film; different films, colour/B&W, different papers and ultimately not knowing quite what you've got until its developed and printed. I embraced digital, but it's not the same.
> 
> If I went back to 35mm I'd try to find a Contax in good condition, maybe an RXII or Aria with a couple of prime lenses...a 35mm distagon and 85mm planar. Heaven.


worth buying soon....Contax stuff is going up in value . My friends shop is seeing a big demand for the lenses . The best lens i have ever used was a Distagon


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## Darren Bullock

I'd be tempted to go for medium format, some of the cameras go cheap on eBay, I picked up a yashica tlr for Â£30


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## pkryder

This makes some pretty interesting and informative reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_versus_film_photography


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## dobra

Keeping to the theme of cars..


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## chris l

Darren Bullock said:


> I'd be tempted to go for medium format, some of the cameras go cheap on eBay, I picked up a yashica tlr for Â£30


Make sure that you get the later Yashicas, with the Yashinon lense. This is a four element Tessar copy and quite a good lens.

The earlier Yashikor is a 3 element and although good for Black and White, need a uv filter for colour use..

Also try and get a camera with a 2.8 top, viewing, lens; much brighter!


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## Barryboy

Depending on the cash you've got to spare, the Mamiya 645 can be had quite affordably. With the thumb winder and viewing prism it handles very well. I'm not sure what films are still available in 120 size but I would imagine that FP4 and HP5 (my personal favourites when I did my A level) are still out there. Although at what price I don't know....

Rob


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## chris l

Some of the Chinese B&W films are very good; I paid about 50p a roll for 100 films, posted!

They're a bit like an late FP3 or an older Agfa B&W; and respond well to ID11/D76.

Which is nice.


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## Edb1984

GO RUSSIAN!

Cheap as chips and the glass is cheap too - (some dodgy glass out there but some good stuff too!)

My recommendation

Zenit 11 with 50mm - Get on ebay for about Â£10 including postage, Â£20 for a re-flocked serviced one.

Its fully manual, no battery's, with built in light-meter and lovely crisp photos. - CCCP made so its heavy as hell and you could run it over with a tank and it would work fine!

Super easy to use and very reliable!

And for film? - buy in bulk cheap - i use school suppliers and buy no brand B&W 36 exposure film usually that costs about Â£1.50 a roll then i develop negatives at home (A LOT easier and cheaper than you think!) you dont need a dark room just a dark bag and a developing tank + chemicals, all the kit with chemicals to develop a few hundred pic's = Â£50 then i scan them in with a canon canoscan 8800F (an expensive yet top of the range home scanner Â£150)

Here are some examples of what is achievable when you develop and scan yourself. (zenit 11 camera with kit lens)

(these are just sample shots i took quick to test some Kodak film i got cheap off the bay and the only stuff i have on Flickr ATM)



Woods 1 by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr



egg pots in snow by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr


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## Edb1984

To add to this, if you have a DSLR you can buy the adaptors and fit your manual film lenses to your new camera

it creates some Great effects and the aperture depth achievable is astounding with medium format lenses due to the conversion ratio's

This one taken with a Zodiak 30mm Medium Format Fisheye (No effects or tweaks added just processed from scan to jpeg)



IMG_0722 by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr

(a photo of it on the camera!) - a bit of a beast



Untitled by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr

Or here is a Arsat-c-80mm Medium format photo example (No effects or tweaks added just processed from scan to jpeg)

This one is a good example of the lovely "buttery blur" you can get in the backgroungs



IMG_0484 by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr

The lens itself



IMG_0621 by Ð­Ð"Ð'APÐ" Ð'Ð­Ð˜Ð›Ð˜, on Flickr


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