ATTN All Film Shooters

I've been known to still run a roll or two through my T90s. Unfortunately, the majority of the FD lenses I own are at best, average.

This whole film thing is getting the better of me.

I now hate canon. I have had 3 canon bodies die in the last month. My A-1 with the sqeaky shutter decided to seldom give 1 second exposures at 1/1000. ARG!

It's infuriating. The consumer bodies spent 20 years without use and the pro bodies have been worn out by the motor drives.

I think the reputation that nikon is more conservative but actually builds stuff to a better standard is true. So they released a full frame camera 7 years after canon... big deal. At least it doesn't have AF problems like MkIII or sqeaky shutters like the damn A series.

I'm selling my FD system and doing a switchover to nikon... or better yet rangefinders.

Anybody want FD lenses? 50/1.4, 28/2.8 and a beat up 135/2.5 pm me.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #5050893
This whole film thing is getting the better of me.

I now hate canon. I have had 3 canon bodies die in the last month. My A-1 with the sqeaky shutter decided to seldom give 1 second exposures at 1/1000. ARG!

It's infuriating. The consumer bodies spent 20 years without use and the pro bodies have been worn out by the motor drives.

I think the reputation that nikon is more conservative but actually builds stuff to a better standard is true. So they released a full frame camera 7 years after canon... big deal. At least it doesn't have AF problems like MkIII or sqeaky shutters like the damn A series.

I'm selling my FD system and doing a switchover to nikon... or better yet rangefinders.

Anybody want FD lenses? 50/1.4, 28/2.8 and a beat up 135/2.5 pm me.

Sounds like you could benefit from the Nikon FE2. It has probably the best meter in AV than any manual focus camera Ive used.

I picked up OM2 from a junkyard, the meter is not working but it is still working in manual mode.
fell in love with the system and bought OM4Ti for half of the market price because the guy basically just dont use it any more.

I love the compactness of Olympus OM series, and also you can use the lens with my XTi (w/adapter)
Not to mention the viewfinder is huge! bigger than 5D or 1D series.

thedjo,

I love the OM2. I recently sent a great working copy with a 50 f/1.4 to my brother as a birthday present. He has never done "real" photography, but I think the OM2 is a great camera that he'll learn on.

Well Doc, I hadn't actually considered it until you mentioned it.

On the one hand it's a cute little rangefinder, lightweight and quite portable with it's own pretty decent external flash/TTL metering, and wonderful Zeiss glass. I've always wanted to have something like that.

Reality is though I'm totally infatuated with digital.... at the moment.... and the little Contax just sits unused in it's case.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #5050844
Are you thinking about selling your set?

The thing that turns me off contax is that the lenses are pretty slow and way too expensive for my budget. I don't mind spending money to get quality optics, but I don't need a 50mm f/2 planar with a G2 for 1500 bucks. It's not that big enough of an upgrade from some other rangefinder that is 100x less the price.......

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #5050869
Leica are a whole other story. I am not so sure which lenses I will actually like and use with that system.

M3 has a viewfinder with too high a magnification for wides, but it has the bayonet mount.

M2 has an OK 28mm viewfinder, but it's a screwmount. I won't be able to use the 35/1.2 with it. It's silly.

Leica's have to CLA'd every now and then, and while the service is usually good, it's not exactly cheap. I would get M3 or higher rather than the screw mount simply because they are newer and less prone to shutter damage/sticking.

That said, I agree with the others here that the Olympus OM series are excellent cameras. I used an OM 1n and an OM 2N long ago, and I must say that though they are small, they are built like tanks and are wonderful to hold. I like the metering system too, that OTF Off The Film metering that they pioneered was clearly ahead of its time. I like the way they get brassed from use and I wish that the Canon dSLR's aged the same way. And those Zuiko lenses can hold their own against the world's best lenses.

Of course, if you have M42 lenses, the Asahi Pentax screw mount SLR's are really cheap and practical to have.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #5050869
Leica are a whole other story. I am not so sure which lenses I will actually like and use with that system.

M3 has a viewfinder with too high a magnification for wides, but it has the bayonet mount.

M2 has an OK 28mm viewfinder, but it's a screwmount. I won't be able to use the 35/1.2 with it. It's silly.

Leica M are *all* bayonet mount.
The M2 is a bit newer model then the M3 actually
If you read German: Click
Leica I, II and III series are screw mounts.

I've shot 2 rolls each of Velvia 100 and Ektachrome 100VS and 1 roll of Velvia 50 in the last two weeks.

2 rolls each of Velvia 50 and 100 along with 2 rolls of Ektachrome 100 VS in frig. More 50
on its way from B&H.

Canon bodies: EOS 1 and Elan 7
Minolta bodies: XD-11 and X-570.

I'm not about to give up on film just yet.

Anyone else shoot provia 400x? Its my favorite practical film right now. It has low grain, great colors, and the shadow detail is amazing.

I learned by shooting film. But Digital has major benefits. This past Sat. I was at a cheerleading competition at a University as the official photographer. Between 11am and 10pm, I took over 2600 shots. I couldn't have done it with film.

Mike R wrote in post #5057246
...Between 11am and 10pm, I took over 2600 shots. I couldn't have done it with film.

Some might argue that's the benefit of film...

Mike R wrote in post #5057246
I learned by shooting film. But Digital has major benefits. This past Sat. I was at a cheerleading competition at a University as the official photographer. Between 11am and 10pm, I took over 2600 shots. I couldn't have done it with film.

I like shooting short movies as well.

sjones wrote in post #5057293
Some might argue that's the benefit of film...

It would have been 73 rolls
I'm glad I learned how to shoot with film, otherwise I might feel that "I can always fix it in PS" I still try to soot as if I have to get it right in the camera but digital is a lot cheaper, not counting a growing list of gear.

JAcosta wrote in post #5051177
Sounds like you could benefit from the Nikon FE2. It has probably the best meter in AV than any manual focus camera Ive used.

It's a good body. What are they going for nowadays?

thedjo wrote in post #5051768
I picked up OM2 from a junkyard, the meter is not working but it is still working in manual mode.
fell in love with the system and bought OM4Ti for half of the market price because the guy basically just dont use it any more.

I love the compactness of Olympus OM series, and also you can use the lens with my XTi (w/adapter)
Not to mention the viewfinder is huge! bigger than 5D or 1D series.

Yes, I'm looking at those things as well. I'll need to find all of the zuiko glass though

sapearl wrote in post #5052129
Well Doc, I hadn't actually considered it until you mentioned it.

On the one hand it's a cute little rangefinder, lightweight and quite portable with it's own pretty decent external flash/TTL metering, and wonderful Zeiss glass. I've always wanted to have something like that.

Reality is though I'm totally infatuated with digital.... at the moment.... and the little Contax just sits unused in it's case.

If that's a yes, PM me with an amount.

BottomBracket wrote in post #5052141
Leica's have to CLA'd every now and then, and while the service is usually good, it's not exactly cheap. I would get M3 or higher rather than the screw mount simply because they are newer and less prone to shutter damage/sticking.

This is what I don't like about leicas. I keep hearing the shutter curtains need to be changed every 10 years or so.

I don't have as many screwmounts anymore. I sold by best lenses in that mount and now I'm only left with a 50mm tessar, jupiter 9 and 58mm f/2 jupiter.

René Damkot wrote in post #5054849
Leica M are *all* bayonet mount.
The M2 is a bit newer model then the M3 actually
If you read German: Click
Leica I, II and III series are screw mounts.

Doh. I don't know my leicas well enough.

JAcosta wrote in post #5057099
Anyone else shoot provia 400x? Its my favorite practical film right now. It has low grain, great colors, and the shadow detail is amazing.

I like slide, it's too expensive.

I'm thinking about it. I think I want a NEW camera. In my experience things serve me very well when I'm the first owner. I've paid reasonable money for a couple of bodies only to discover they need CLA.

I think FM10 is the way to go for me.