Toronto Photography Meetup Group

well i got 2 film cameras
Pentax MX and Olympus om1 that have being sitting in my closet untouched for 4 months now,
when i bought these two cameras people with DSLRs told me I'm wasting my money on "useless piece of metal" or "its not fee-sable to shoot film"

so today met up with a friend for a coffee and was showing him the camera took with me a brand new roll of Ilford fp4 B&W
I'm new to photography so i figured spend few weeks reading books on proper setting and exposures so I don't waste the film on useless shots. while he was on the laptop typing away remembered the light meter built in,couldn't hold back said to hell with it, put the roll of film in and on the way to the car started snapping pictures trying to keep the rule of thirds in mind, Honestly never felt such rush with the first picture i took on the street using a film camera, these cameras may be old but have such a feel that i can't describe. I'm happy that i invested in these two cameras doubt id sell them.

anyone shoots film? please feel free to post your first time experience with it along with pictures or advice if you wish.
ill post mine once i get them developed.
cheers.
Stryder

You're in the right place.... There is quite a number of folks here who are dedicated film shooters. I shoot 4x5 and 35mm from time to time. I sold my medium format system that I was using. Welcome!

35mm, 6x6, 6x7, and now 4x5 here.

Do what you want to do...You are going to have a few head scratchers with film but that's part of the fun.

I don't like digital compression and tonal range for my price range but still like digital.

I shoot some 35mm, mostly ilford b&w. What's nice about film is that it forces you to slow down and think about what you're doing....since it's costing you money. It could be argued that your digital shooting will improve as a result of your shooting film. As for advise...some film speeds can look better (or at least different) if metered at a different speed, then pushed or pulled. Play around with it.

I advise people learn the basics shooting digital. It just takes SOO LONG to learn shooting film and there is no feedback. Knowing what you messed up and when is a big deal. Learning back in the days of film, simple things like "this room is too dark to take handheld shots" and "I am steady enough to hold the camera at 1/30 with a 50mm lens" take you MONTHS to learn in film (the way most people shoot), but probably only minutes in digital. Especially when you start getting into off-camera light. Using a TTL flash in film is always a bit of a guess because you have little input into exactly how much exposure things are getting. You have to THINK LIKE THE FLASH METER, which only comes with a pretty wide range of experience and many hundreds (or thousands) of blown shots.

I think lots of better shooters can really learn something from going back to film now and then because it does make you have to think about the composition instead of just "chimping" at the the LCD screen to see if you messed up. It makes you THINK LIKE THE CAMERA and THINK LIKE THE FLASH METER, and those are super important when being creative, but when you are learning, they are an impediment.

Just my opinion, there is a place for both.

^^ +1 learning with "do, observe and repeat" of digital is far in away quicker. Learning basics starting with film just doesn't make any sense these days. But no harm you can still experiment in parallel with film while you are learning the basics with digital.

I have a couple of Nikons (1 I bought in 1979), plus a couple of medium format cameras. I don't do digital, unless it is the point and shoot for work.

Early experiences with film includes helping dad develop and print his black and white in the 60's.

The earliest shot I took that impressed myself was in 1979 when I rode my bike the FM and a borrowed tripod down to Ontario Place at sundown.

Took the shot at a time when the white Cinesphere dome was lit with the orange from the setting sun. The light was magic, and I later had to stop and reconstruct in my head just what I had done to get something that special.

Shoot lots of film, and learn from your mistakes. What's even better is learning from others' mistakes, so read film forums and absorb the lessons.

I shoot film exclusively except when I shoot with flash or have to shoot and dash ... LOLOLOL ...

I shoot film in 35mm, 6 x6 and now 4 x 5. I shoot digital as well- though less frequently- usually with moving subjects ie. hyper children, where the results are likely to be more hit and miss (part of that is wasted film and part is the fact that until recently my film cameras were manual focus without built in meters), and when I need to be able to provide some photos to someone in digital form immediately.

I agree- shoots lot- and I completely agree about the feel of some of the older film cameras- and in many cases, the simplicity.

As you are shooting black and white, you may wish to consider processing your own film after you feel comfortable that you have the basics of exposure.

I'm interested in trying this. I have a Canon sitting at home that hasn't been used in over 20 years. It's probably a pretty good camera because my dad's photos from back in the day are decent.

I had some basic questions. How should I print my images? I really have no idea what options are available to me. Can they be scanned instead of printing and is that the way to go? What's a good place to buy film? I have a membership at Costco, do they sell or print film? Obviously I am a complete beginner at this so I am looking for good value options rather than anything high end.

A little bit long winded http://www.photography.ca/blog/2012/07/ ... y-podcast/
Also the previous pod cast on HDR might interest a few ppl around here.

That was interesting but also a little bit intimidating (the printing part). Seems like if you let someone else do it you lose most of the control which makes film fun. But doing it yourself could take a while to learn (and darkroom stuff is expensive?). Maybe I should look into how I can transfer film to digital to start with.

Don't worry about the printing part as darkroom printing is a whole different branch of skills in photography. Shoot a few rolls of colour film get them developed and scanned either really cheaply at a place like shoppers drugmart or at a higher quality lab. If you like the results move up to better films or do it yourself B&W. Also an adequate scanner (for upto 8x12" prints) such as the Canon 9000 or Epson V600 can be had for around $200.

The film must still be developed (at least) into a negative. In this process, there is some variability of quality, but not as much as in printing. You can have it done most anywhere (including Shoppers, as mentioned). Some will give you a CD full of JPEGs but they're usually not the greatest quality in my experience (I haven't used film in a few years, so this is outdated a bit).

But scanning negatives is hard and takes special hardware so best to let someone else print them and then scan those.

Regardless, since we share them online, process them online and most low-end printers are basically just big scanners with a printer on one end, it seems kinda silly to shoot film, unless you have an artistic reason to do it (and that usually means processing it yourself, since the printers generally just pump them out in "auto" mode anyway).

Just my opinion obviously.

I have an old Nikon D70 that I keep in the back of my car. The body and lens together were only $250 (and I keep an old $50 Sigma flash with it), so I don't mind leaving it in my car all the time and when I'm at the beach or somewhere it's liable to get damaged.

It takes images that are better quality than you will get shooting film, printing them at Shoppers and scanning them on consumer-grade scanner. If you buy a pro-grade scanner, you might as well just spend the money on a digital camera.

All I'm getting at is.... film is dead (except for specific artistic or creative uses and reasons) in my opinion. It costs more, even in the medium-term, so you're not saving any money. It takes more effort, unless you're fine with unprocessed snaps and it hinders learning, making it take much longer to get proficient with important concepts like the exposure triangle and the effects of motion on shots, etc.

Eric I beg to differ it's obvious that skystride as he owns a 7d is already on the digital path. So does not consider film for the reasons that would hinder learning.

I found quite the opposite that going from digital to mostly film advanced my lighting, creativity and compositional skills removed the training wheel so to say. Taking more effort is rarely a bad thing.

Didn't suggest print at shoppers and then scan the prints. Just suggested them because the scan such as it is is free with developing so at least he can see if he likes the whole film thing before getting more involved.

As for a D70 taking better quality images then film cameras that sounds like a challenge:)

"Film is not dead it just smells funny"

awesome feedback guys
I'm surprised that allot of you shoot medium format as well larger formats, id love to get my self an older medium format Hasselblad 500 series and just have fun shooting it but don't' have extra $1000 to bid on eBay for one.
i doubt film will ever die , considering there is still a decent amount of people who shoot film today.

I should shoot more 35mm -- I just don't seem to have the time or energy to do so in the summer.
Shooting and processing B&W is a fairly nominal expense. Chemicals aren't more than $30 a year, and I get film in 100ft rolls, so another $60 a year or so.
Colour costs more to process, but I inherited a lot of old expired negative and slide film from a friend of mine. The cost of shooting slide film is going up.

I also shoot 6x6 and 6x9. A serviceable TLR can cost less than $100. My 6x9 folder needs some amateur repair but only cost me $30. I'm no haggler, so I'm sure one can do better. Oh, and bring your own light meter.

Lastly, those of you with film cameras sitting unused in a closet: a friendly reminder to check the batteries for corrosion, and make sure you fire off the shutter to keep the mechanics working every once in a while. It would be a shame for old cameras to become unusable due to neglect.

"Who's that over there with the D70...Ansel Adams?"

Hah, I think I clearly said that "film developed at Shoppers and then scanned on a consumer-grade scanner" would not likely be as good a quality as RAW output from a D70 and I would stand by that for many situations.

But, there are some inherent benefits to film like increased exposure latitude, sure. My experience is that without investing in decent scanning gear, good processing, quality prints, etc, the benefits of film are lost, for the most part.

I actually have to admit that I also confused Stryder with Skystride in my initial reading. Whoops! Regardless, I still say film is an awesome artistic outlet, but not advisable for beginners.


My opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

Eric I have a consummer grade scanner which actually scans shoppers drugmart developed 35mm with a tested resolution which is as good as the top of the line Nikon scanner so I guess I still will have to disagree. Of course I have to clean the finger prints and dust off them first.

Good for you!

“Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.”

― Ludwig van Beethoven

I just happen to have switched back to film after a rather disastrous outing, lugging my heavy gripped D200 + 24-70 around the city. I got home and thought there has to be a better way without switching down to a P&S.

Prior to this I shot a Mamiya 645 and Pentax ME but primarily stayed with my D200 for shooting. I always liked the technical aspect of film but the economic incentive of rapid fire digital shots made the Nikon my go-to camera. It really wasn't until this last outing that I had any serious problems with it.

I picked up three rangefinders. Two old Soviet models, a Zorki-6 from fedka.com, a FED-2 from eBay, as well as a Yashica Electro 35 GSN. The Yashica felt like utter trash in my hands so I've resigned it to be a shelf display until I decide to unload it. The Zorki busted a shutter (which considering it's a cloth shutter and is over 50 years old I couldn't really be too upset at) but at least fedka.com's customer service is top notch -- a replacement is already one the way. The FED-2 is yet to arrive, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'd love to drop $1200 on an X100 or film Leica, but economics dictated I look a little lower. Still, the compact size of the Zorki-6 really appealed to me and I can't wait to get it out on the streets of Toronto