35MM Film Cameras

[Ben]

Can anyone give me a reason why I might want to still keep my OM2N? I can't think of one, but maybe I'm missing something.

[never_retreat]

Whats film?

[never_retreat]

Never mind I found it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/135_film

[coppertales]

I keep my half dozen Petri SLR cameras because I can.........................chris3

[TommyGunn]

I still have my Nikon FE2 ......haven't used it in ..... ....... I forget!

[bedlamite]

I still have my Nikon FE2 ......haven't used it in ..... ....... I forget!

Same here with my Nikon N70, which really isn't that old, and I've got a Yashica 124 that's been upstairs in a pelican case too even longer.

[Perd Hapley]

It depends on the camera. The newer ones, especially the Rugers, can be safely loaded much higher than the off-the-shelf film, and achieve quite respectable shutter speeds. The older ones aren't made for that. Even so, with modern film designs, 35mm is capable of more-than-acceptable results on whatever you're shooting.

[geronimotwo]

do they make a digital back for that model?

[mtnbkr]

I gave up on film after I found out just about all film development center had switched from wet prints to "lightjet" printing.  The latter is where they develop the negative, scan, and project the image onto light sensitive paper (think movie projector).  If they're going to digitize the print, why bother with the middleman (the negative)?

Some still do traditional wet prints, but in the NoVA/DC/MD area, they can be counted on one hand, are expensive (probably cost you $50-$100 for a full roll), and a PITA to get to.

Chris

[HankB]

I've still got my Contax RTS . . . haven't used it in a while . . . but I've got a LOT of prints, negatives, and slides I'd like to digitize. (Including some my Dad took during WWII)

Can anyone recommend a good film scanner?

[Hawkmoon]

It depends on the camera. The newer ones, especially the Rugers, can be safely loaded much higher than the off-the-shelf film, and achieve quite respectable shutter speeds. The older ones aren't made for that. Even so, with modern film designs, 35mm is capable of more-than-acceptable results on whatever you're shooting.

I see what you did there and I salute you.

[KD5NRH]

Can anyone give me a reason why I might want to still keep my OM2N? I can't think of one, but maybe I'm missing something.

To save me the cost of having you ship it to me.

[zahc]

If you need to dispose of the OM2n, you can ship it to me and I will place it in my camera retirement facility alongside my other OM bodies, which are well-cared-for and exercised regularly.

You could always try using it. You will probably find that it works exactly the same as it always has. It's not like the commoditization of semiconductor image sensors remotely disabled all the film cameras of the world. You should shoot pictures with it while you can still get high-quality film.

[AJ Dual]

I think American chain restaurants might start screwing film SLR's to the walls as decoration, along with the various canoe paddles, feed store tin signs, and traffic lights etc. sometime around the 2040's...

The market might pick back up then.

[Brad Johnson]

Pfft... I've been trying to sell a mint Canon Elan IIe for $45 on Craigslist.  Not a single taker, though I could have sold it a dozen times overs to the idiots who call and ask "Is it really thirty five megapixels!?". (the description reads "35mm film body")

Brad

[MrsSmith]

I'd keep it Ben. Never know when an EMP is going to wipe out that second-rate Nikon you insist on using....

[Ben]

I'd keep it Ben. Never know when an EMP is going to wipe out that second-rate Nikon you insist on using....

Ouch.

Good point though. With a Canon, all you have to do is wind it up, so no EMP worries.

[P5 Guy]

I resisted the all automated cameras for years. Mamiya 645 was all manual and I felt I was actually making images with it and my knowledge. But I got talked into coming into the twentieth century and bought a Nikon 70 and a batch of autofocus lenses and my favorite film became unavailable. And then the maker stopped processing it.
So taking a beating on the value of the Nikon stuff I bought a Nikon D3000 and a couple of zoom lenses.
A lot less forethought goes into taking photos now. I used to have to remember to get the film out of the freezer a few hours before using it. Now I just grab and run off for some picture taking. I still don't have the same feeling of making an image as with that old Mamiya but now I'm a resident of the twenty first century, more or less.
 

[zxcvbob]

I gave up on film after I found out just about all film development center had switched from wet prints to "lightjet" printing.  The latter is where they develop the negative, scan, and project the image onto light sensitive paper (think movie projector).  If they're going to digitize the print, why bother with the middleman (the negative)?

Some still do traditional wet prints, but in the NoVA/DC/MD area, they can be counted on one hand, are expensive (probably cost you $50-$100 for a full roll), and a PITA to get to.

Chris

I like my old mechanical film cameras.  If you can guesstimate the exposure (and that's not hard to do with C41-process film), they work fine without batteries.  My favorite camera is a Canon A1, but it has an electronic shutter that let me down once shooting in very cold weather.

[MrsSmith]

Ouch.

Good point though. With a Canon, all you have to do is wind it up, so no EMP worries.

Good slam! 

That looks an awful lot like a Nikon though...

zxcvbob - you don't happen to have darkroom equipment do you? I had one room in my basement plumbed for a darkroom when I built a house years ago. Big regret that I never got around to setting it up. What I wouldn't give now to have the full set-up.

[zxcvbob]

No darkroom stuff, except for one enlarging lens that I mounted to a bellows; it makes a good macro (micro?) lens.  I almost bought an enlarger just before B&W film became an endangered species.  It's amazing how fast the changeover to digital happened.

[MrsSmith]

It was pretty amazing. I resisted as long as I could but eventually went digital as well. It has it's benefits of course. I regularly shoot a couple hundred images or more at events or when traveling. No way could I afford to do that with film.

Still. Wouldn't it be fun to find an old Omega enlarger and a nice selection of chemicals and paper and lock yourself in the dark for a few hours? So miss that.

[zxcvbob]

the Micro 4/3 and the APS-C systems are intriguing.  Most digital SLR's are unnecessarily large and heavy (and expensive, but that's coming dow), and P&S cameras have way too small sensors and no viewfinders.  Pisses me off when I see all the marketing hype about more and more Megapixels! on cameras as if that were a good measure of image quality.  Higher pixel count really just means more noise unless you increase the sensor's physical size.  So how about holding the pixel count down to something reasonable for a small camera (like about 6M) and put a little more into the glass?

[freakazoid]

I used to have to remember to get the film out of the freezer a few hours before using it

Say what now?

Don't have a 35mm, but I did recently pick up a Rollei 16. Actually got it for a Kolchak the Night Stalker costume I'm doing for Halloween, it's the camera he uses. Now that I have it I actually would like to be able to take pictures with it, it's such a cool little camera. Don't really know where I can get film for it though.

[zahc]

I used to have to remember to get the film out of the freezer a few hours before using it

I jam film into the camera straight out of the freezer all the time. I'm bad at pre-planning.

I almost bought an enlarger just before B&W film became an endangered species.

Are you honestly misinformed? B&W film is as much available today as ever; in fact the selection is probably better than at any time in history. Sure, the chain "photo" stores no longer carry real photography stuff of any type, but CVS still sells Tri-X.

Still. Wouldn't it be fun to find an old Omega enlarger and a nice selection of chemicals and paper and lock yourself in the dark for a few hours? So miss that.

??

There's nothing stopping you. I have a darkroom and I use it weekly. If you find an enlarger, it will probably be nearly free, although I notice that prices are slowly rising from negative to extremely cheap. If you shoot a big enough camera, you can always contact print in your bathroom.

I repeat, just because they invented digital cameras doesn't mean film does not work anymore.