Camera Labs

On a roll with weird questions of late

Been looking more and more into trying my hand at shooting film (mostly B&W). Why you may ask? Well:

- Never quite understood film, and I hate not understanding something.
- Always wanted to know how to develop film on my own.
- When I was younger, I had a hand-me-down Kodak film camera, but could never afford to buy, much less develop film...so I used to walk around taking pictures even though the camera never had a single roll of film in it (pretty nuts), actually, I don't even know if the camera was working at all! Funny thing is, I used to get people to pose and stuff .

Anyways, what's a good film minolta body? One that is affordable (the Maxxum 9 looks sweet, but costs as much as an A700 ) and will work with the Minolta AF lenses. I don't mind MD, its just that I have a couple of Minolta lenses already, so I wouldn't need to buy anymore. I also think the Zeiss Ikon (curious about rangefinders as well) looks really nice, but those things are ridiculously expensive.

I don't find film to have any particularly exceptional aesthetic value over digital...I just want to learn more!

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I wish there was a way to randomly cycle through click-able thumbnails of my most recent images :'(

http://www.laroygreen.com (under construction)

I'm with you on that. I have been wanting to buy a film body for some time to experiment in photography. Change my style, and combine whatever new style I learn with my current photography. I just can't find one that I'd actually use...

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Maxxum 7 might work:

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/products/co ... index.html

- Bjorn -

_________________
Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

The maxxum 7 is right up there, but I've been thinking I wanted something that is different from my SLR ... so, I want to try film, and I want to try a rangefinder, why not get a film rangefinder (I think you would like it too Bjorn)?

Apparently, you can get one pretty cheap made by Contax. Its called the Bessa R3M and is apparently very comparable to the top flight Leica's, sans the build quality. But from what I've read, the glass is as good as any Leica lens (the bessa can also mount Leica lenses straight out the box) at a fraction of the cost.

You can check this link: http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtBR2.htm for details.

Also, Bob Andersson posted some links on his thread here http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17785 that I highly recommend watching (it even inspired me to go shooting this morning around 5, and I've posted some pics there as well.).

If you want to know more about developing black and white film at home. You can search on Youtube. There are several videos that cover the subject in detail.

_________________
I wish there was a way to randomly cycle through click-able thumbnails of my most recent images :'(

http://www.laroygreen.com (under construction)

I'd love a range finder, a Leica M if possible... But that's wildly expensive, even the really old ones. And with my DSLR set-up far from complete, I'd rather invest in that at the moment.

I had seen those vimeo clips you just linked to myself earlier, even before reading Bob's post. Very interesting indeed...

I wouldn't develop the film myself, I'd probably get the negatives scanned and go digital from there.

- Bjorn -

_________________
Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Know what you mean...but will your kit ever be complete? I know mine wont ever be!

You can get a Bessa for 500.00 new. Which isn't terrible bad, and based on reviews, its an excellent stand in for a Leica. The 50mm is also really good, really fast, and costs about 1000.00, which isn't bad for such a nice piece of glass.

_________________
I wish there was a way to randomly cycle through click-able thumbnails of my most recent images :'(

http://www.laroygreen.com (under construction)

The first camera I ever took pictures with, was my fathers rangefinder. No it wasn't a leica (we're not that rich), but a yashica electro 35 GS. It's a rangefinder with a fixed 45/1.7 lens, which makes outstanding pictures.
If you want to know more about the yashica cameras. This is a excelent site:
http://www.yashica-guy.com/

These cameras are build like bricks, My fathers camera is now almost 40 years old and still working, and in a great condition. I recently replaced the light sealing in the camera (very easy job), and am planning to put a role of film in it next week or so. On eBay you can find these cameras really cheap. I've seen some of them sell below $10. But normally they go for around 30 - 100 (depending on model, quality and extra's)

But if you really want to change lenses, the Cosina / Voigtlander Bessa cameras are the way to go I think. They recently made a very good 50/1.1 lens which cost $1000.
These is a good forum for rangefinder info:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/modules.php?name=Jig

cheers

Thanks for the links. That does look like a good deal. Still loving the Bessa though. This is probably a very long term goal, maybe sometime next year, or even later than that...depends.

Bessa Reveiw http://www.shutterbug.com/equipmentreviews/35mm_cameras/0406voigtlander/

_________________
I wish there was a way to randomly cycle through click-able thumbnails of my most recent images :'(

http://www.laroygreen.com (under construction)