Am I crazy for buying a film camera?

If you are used to shooting digital and expect to maintain the same shooting mentality while shooting film, then you are up for a huge disappointment.

I have a D90 and three AF lenses, two of which are DX. I didn't like the way I was using the lenses as they allowed me to shoot with little or no care, because I could. Shoot the heck out of whatever you think you like, check results later, delete garbage, keep what's good, rinse, repeat... And that's ok in some situations, but the convenience won too often so I had to do something about it.

As a first step I got some MF Nikkor lenses (primes), loved them and their effect on my shooting, so I got more. Now I own six MF lenses and then one month ago I bought a FM2n. It's a manual 35mm camera, no autofocus, no bells and whistles. I LOVE it.

I use both D90 and FM2 now, but in entirely different situations. D90 is for everyday shooting and situations when quick reactions are important (social gatherings, moving kids) while FM2 is for when I want to really enjoy shooting. The feel of FM2 and old MF Nikkors can't be replicated using any digital camera and modern lenses.

So, I don't think you are crazy - I think that's a great move - as long as you are aware of what you are getting into.

Anthony said:

Have any of you gone back to an occassional roll of film lately?

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Actually, yes, I shot a roll of Fujichrome yesterday. Ohhh, moan, what suffering. I had to focus the camera with my left hand and I could only use one film speed. And I probably won't see the slides 'til next week.

Loved every minute of it, especially flippin' the film advance lever.
--
'Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.' -Unk.

film will teach you something you don't know about yet if you have been "all digital"

....something about your "imagination"

...because you can only see your intended result "in your mind's eye" you stay in your "imagination space" which is finally where a true photographic sense needs to be.....

that little LCD can be a big distraction....it's too literal

also - you just can't compare analog converted-to-digital against digital.....do this:

shoot some slides, and shoot the same thing digitally - put the slides in a projector and get a good glass bead screen, set it up in your living room, turn off the lights and throw the image up on the screen. A good setup and a well exposed slide will give you a contrast ratio that mere LDCs can only dream about - no contest - put your 23 inch screen along side - now lets talk about film and digital

best

Fred

I still shoot film all the time. Mainly medium format. I am waiting for two film cameras I just won off ebay to arrive in the mail right now. I still have an enlarger and use it often. Mainly for stress relief as I can sit in my darkroom and not have anything bothering me.

blickblocks said:

I've been shooting a bit with my Olympus Infinity Stylus with regular old 400 Tri-X, and I'm loving the quality. Perfect as a just-for-fun camera. However, I do want to get an N80 to use my newer lenses with it! They go for cheap on eBay. F100's are excellent too, though quite a bit more expensive.

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I mention above that I recently sold my N90 cameras. They are great cameras indeed but they don't play well with the newer lenses. The N90 will only work in program mode or shutter priority with a G lens (no aperture ring). This ran contrary with how I liked to shoot as I pretty much only shoot manual or aperture priority. I decided to stick with my newer N65 camera as it does a better job with my new lenses and for my older lenses I still have a nice little FG. I think you are limited to just the newest film cameras if you want full PSAM modes and VR support. Check out Ken Rockwell's compatibility chart:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

I've looked into this and rather than an N90 you should get an F100 as they have pretty comprehensive lens compatibility (of course the F5 and F6 will work too). The newer inexpensive film cameras work with newer lenses just fine but you lose metering with your older manual lenses. The king of lens compatibility would be a modified F5...they work with just about anything.
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eddyshoots

eddyshoots said:

blickblocks said:

I've been shooting a bit with my Olympus Infinity Stylus with regular old 400 Tri-X, and I'm loving the quality. Perfect as a just-for-fun camera. However, I do want to get an N80 to use my newer lenses with it! They go for cheap on eBay. F100's are excellent too, though quite a bit more expensive.

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I mention above that I recently sold my N90 cameras. They are great cameras indeed but they don't play well with the newer lenses. The N90 will only work in program mode or shutter priority with a G lens (no aperture ring). This ran contrary with how I liked to shoot as I pretty much only shoot manual or aperture priority. I decided to stick with my newer N65 camera as it does a better job with my new lenses and for my older lenses I still have a nice little FG. I think you are limited to just the newest film cameras if you want full PSAM modes and VR support. Check out Ken Rockwell's compatibility chart:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

I've looked into this and rather than an N90 you should get an F100 as they have pretty comprehensive lens compatibility (of course the F5 and F6 will work too). The newer inexpensive film cameras work with newer lenses just fine but you lose metering with your older manual lenses. The king of lens compatibility would be a modified F5...they work with just about anything.

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All true, of course, but the post you are replying to mentions the N80 (F80 in Canada, eh) which is compatible in all modes with G lenses, including VR.

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Member said:

All true, of course, but the post you are replying to mentions the N80 (F80 in Canada, eh) which is compatible in all modes with G lenses, including VR.

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But if you average an F80 and F100 you get F90....who am I kidding...I misread the post. I must be getting sleepy. Of course the F80 is a great choice for newer lenses.

--
eddyshoots

Life ain't no dress rehearsal, bro. Do what makes ya smile. Legally, of course :^)
--
Just keep clicking, something will turn out fantastic.

Nikon D7000, Nikon 18-105mm, Nikkor 35mm f1.8, Sigma 120-400. SB-600.

eddyshoots said:

eddyshoots said:

All true, of course, but the post you are replying to mentions the N80 (F80 in Canada, eh) which is compatible in all modes with G lenses, including VR.

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But if you average an F80 and F100 you get F90....who am I kidding...I misread the post. I must be getting sleepy. Of course the F80 is a great choice for newer lenses.

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Been there, done that.
With all your excellent posts, I don't think we'll hold this against you ;-)

I bought an F80 a couple of years ago as a companion for my D80, but I am ashamed to say it has not yet seen a roll of film. I think the last film I shot was with my Pentax ME Super (or Pentax KM) before I bought my second digital camera, the Minolta DiMAGE A1.

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Not sure about the house- the film looks too dark, the D90 looks too washed-out and lacking contrast, but with the example of the tree I find the film shot far more pleasing to the eye.
--
http://dailybento.webs.com/
Stop looking so closely guys!

Because photography is the act of exposing a light-sensitive material to light in order to receieve a lasting representation of what you are looking at or what you think you are looking at. There's no difference between digital photography or film photography because the end result should be the image that you want to look at! There should be NO digital versus film debate because it's all photography! I have no film equipment with me right now, but I have my Canon T70 and a couple of FD lenses waiting for me in my home town, and I am itching to get my hands on it again!

Do it! Love it! Remember having to wait for a week (or even just an hour) before you can get back the film of a mere 26 images that you took a week earlier? Then suddenly, over a coffee, you get to open the packet and relive every moment of that holiday, or the day out with your friends, or even that photo walk in the local botanical gardens. Well the buzz, excitement and anticipation that I got from receiving that little pack of photos far excels the mediocre hum that I get checking the 300 images that I took 30 minutes ago on my monitor these days.

Instant gratification is NOT improving the quality of ANYTHING in this world, least of all photography!
--
http://dailybento.webs.com/
Stop looking so closely guys!

zzzzzzzzzzz said:

Your comparison is severely flawed because you are assuming the desired destination is a digital file on a computer screen and the film image was converted to digital by a scanner. You didn’t even use a real slide scanner. You used a flatbed scanner with a transparency adapter. Furthermore, Velvia ia not a natural looking film, it is highly saturated. Are these scans of reversal (negative) film or sildes? Velvia and Provia are both available in reversal and slide media.

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First off, the V700 is a slide/film scanner. It was invented and designed to provide the best possible film/negative scanning in a flatbed format w/o driving the cost up past $1k. Every comparison and review I've read said the difference between a $20k drum slide scanner and this scanner is minor. The next step up V750 is a minorly different version, but comes with the ability to do a fluid interface for better scans.

Virtually no other flatbed scanner has the D range of this scanner (it's near 4, the theoretical maximum). I've seen this scanner pull stuff out of shadows I couldn't even see with a slide projector, all the while preserving highlights.

I needed to scan in over 10k slides and negatives of my family, and didn't want to compromise on quality. This scanner was the best out there w/o going to the 10k+ range, and it has the ability to do 12 slides to boot (but that was just a bonus).

Please do your research before slamming something like the Epson V700. Flatbed scanners have come a long way recently, and I was frankly flabbergasted at the ability of this device.

As far as your other point, you're right, I assume digital is the destination. For me it is. I go to great lengths to get good digital equipment to get images on a screen that rival my slides on a slide projector. If you're not going to a digital destination, digital cameras can't even compete

To answer your other question, I used positive (slide) film. I've found the quality from negative film inferior, although I haven't seeked out the best in negative film (instead focusing on the best in positive film). I used both Provia 100 and Velvia 100 in my tests.

eddyshoots said:

I know that it's not a fair comparison as different wet processing or electronic processing would yield differing results BUT I have to say I like both film images much better than the D90 versions. The home looks a little dated with film (which makes sense I guess). The tree images are like two different scenes with the colors and contrast in the film image being far more interesting. I'm not a pixel peeper (it's a bad habit) so I didn't zoom in as far as I could just determine which leaf is sharper, though. Different people will prefer different images.
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eddyshoots

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I agree with you, it's really up to what one likes in a look. For me, never having shot film before, I like the more "natural" look of digital, it looks just like I saw it with my eyes. The film (esp. the Provia) looks like pictures I saw in books back when film was the main way to get good photos. So I like the "look" of the film in an old-school, but the quality of the colors with respect to reality, and the superior resolution is what I meant. Whether one likes the colors of one or the other is up to the viewer.

Waimak Stud said:

Not sure about the house- the film looks too dark, the D90 looks too washed-out and lacking contrast, but with the example of the tree I find the film shot far more pleasing to the eye.
--
http://dailybento.webs.com/
Stop looking so closely guys!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed that too. One could push it up in digital PP I suppose. The D90 washing out was because that's how the actual scene looked in real life. It was overcast, with mist in between the camera and the house. The colors of the D90, as seen by my eyes at the time, are very accurate.

But accurate doesn't necessarily make for a good looking photo. Sure, the D90 matched closely how the scene actually looked. But I suspect the same house shot with Provia would have looked better.

The N80 might also have underexposed the shot a bit.

But, IMO, velvia isn't good for shooting buildings. Provia 100 took much better pictures of buildings on my Provia test.

Anthony said:

I have a D7000, and DX glass fropm 10mm up to 300mm. I'm very happy.

YET, for some reason, I have the urge to buy a friend's Nikon F100 film body. I can use my 50mm 1.4, and 70-300, and ( I think) Sb-600 flash.

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It can be fun to use film, especially with an old manual camera. I see no reason to use a modern SLR just to use film.

If you want to use film, use it. But I guess if that would be the case you would have written about the film and not about the camera.

Anthony14707 said:

Have any of you gone back to an occassional roll of film lately?

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I use slide film from time to time. Partly out of nostalgia, partly because I like the look of Velvia slides projected on a silver screen.

I use Velvia and it requires me to use a "film camera". I'm not using a film camera and happen to have to load it with film.

To be honest, I think modern dSLRs simply have the better image quality (detail, colour, noise/grain), but for me more important is the look of the final image.

I choose the medium based on what I want.

If I want a digital file I use a digital camera. If I want the look of film, I use film.

Fred Mueller said:

A good setup and a well exposed slide will give you a contrast ratio that mere LDCs can only dream about - no contest - put your 23 inch screen along side - now lets talk about film and digital

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What slide film do you use?

A slide projector is capable of a very high contrast ratio, but in my experience the problem is the dynamic range of the slides.

Comparing a projected slide to a image displayed on a LCD? That's not fair. It's cruel.

No way! I use an F100 myself once in a while. I recently went to Tenerife, Spain and did quite a few shots on Kodak Ektar 100.

I love it - The F100 is a wonderfu cameral to handle.





More pics here
http://frontpoint-sport.com/?p=723

Regards,
Anders

masiguy said:

Loved every minute of it, especially flippin' the film advance lever.

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Ha ha, that's almost the best part of using an old camera. It like a "!" at the end of the image taking process.

When I was waiting for the D7000 (already sold the D90) I've used again my old Minolta Dynax (Maxxum) 7000 .

It always much fun and important practise of photgraphic skills using a film SLR from time to time.

Anthony14707 said:

Have any of you gone back to an occassional roll of film lately?

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Very much so!

I use a Nikon FM3a 'Film' SLR with Nikon 28mm f2.8 AI, 50mm f1.4 and 135mm f2.8 AI-S Lenses.

Invariably use Kodak Ektar 100 for it's colour and 'fine grain' also Kodak Portra 400 VC Colour.

I purchased the lot 'second hand' for a very reasonable price from a store in London...........all in 'mint' condition. An inexpensive way to go 35mm full frame.

I usually have the negatives, developed and scanned at Jessops, great job!

Just recently started to think about going back to home development and scanning. 'Film' is a great diversion with the Nikon FM3a but I still use Digital SLRs.

Living with Film -

http://www.lawrencephotographic.com/Articles/Ektar%20100/ektar100.htm

Cheers

Richard
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Richard Lawrence
Web: http://www.lawrencephotographic.com/
http://www.lawrencephotographic.com/spotlight.htm
http://www.lawrencephotographic.com/articles.htm