whats the best way to learn how to shot with a film camera???A yashica 2000 fx-3 super to be exact!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by CameraClicker on May 17, 2011 at 9:30am

Don't want to waste film?  Shoot with digital.

 

People used to  shoot Polaroids until they were happy with what they saw, then swapped the polaroid for their "real" camera.  Now you can do that with a digital instead of a Poleroid, and save the cost of Polaroid film.

 

Except the dynamic range of film may be different than the sensor's, there should be no difference between 100mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 shot with a film camera loaded with ISO 100 (ASA 100) film and a 5D Mk II set to the same settings.  If your digital has a crop sensor, the field of view will not be as wide, you can adjust the focal length of the lens to compensate without affecting the other values.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Diane on May 17, 2011 at 4:39pm

I think it's a great idea to learn how to shoot with film. There's a lot to learn but it's will make you a better photographer and a stronger digital photographer.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anatoliy on May 17, 2011 at 4:56pm

The best way to learn not to wast film is buy wasting film then later thinking twice before you shoot how much it all will cost. Like children you tell them not to touch the fire but they do and when they do next time they wont.

 

 For me the best film camera is a  Zenit E, fully manual (no batteries) made in USSR in the 50's. Awesome camera

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Robert Davis on July 9, 2011 at 12:50pm

Buy a hand held light meter and use it everytime, your film images should be fabulous.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by nathan mccreery on July 9, 2011 at 4:38pm

There's almost no way to learn on a film camera without having some film wasted.  Using film is one of the quickest ways I know to learn the craft of photography, as well as the art.  I don't know where you live but my suggestion would be to enroll in a basic photography (film) class at a community college or universtiy.  If taking the class for credit is intimidating then sign up for it as an audit.  One of these classes should get you into film use fairly easily and quickly.  In my classes it will cost about $150.00-200.00 for film and paper for the semester, which in my estimation is quite reasonable.  For that you learn to hand process film and make your own prints in black and white using enlargers etc.  A friend of mine says "education is expensive, but ignorance is even more expensive".  Give it a try, your camera should be just fine for the class and when you're done you'll know more than 90% of the people on this web site!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fred on July 9, 2011 at 9:54pm

You will get some mistakes while you are learning.

You will need a light meter to start with.

Write down the settings you have the camera set at:- ISO(ASA), f/stop and shutter speed for every photograph. If the photograph has not come out very nicely you can look up the information you had the camera at. One other way you could do it is to carry your digital and set that exactly the same as the film unit.

Select the correct make and type of film. I mainly used Fuji and Kodak. Make sure you fit the correct ISO(ASA) into the camera for what you need but once you have some experience using high ISO(ASA) in daylight can give some interesting results

As you are using film, how are you going to have the film developed? Investigate that route first before you jump in with both feet.

Remember before you press the shutter button, ask yourself is everything on the camera correctly set and is the photograph correctly framed.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by nathan mccreery on July 10, 2011 at 1:20pm

I use a handheld meter for all of my black and white photography, and color work when I'm working with my large format cameras.  I actually have at least four different handheld meters so I am well acquainted with them and how to use them.  What I am not understanding though, is why at least two different people have suggested that Ms. Adacious Images use a hand held meter.  Simple is almost always better.  The camera has a built in meter that will work well for almost all purposes, as a beginner.  No one says the user of a DSLR should get a hand held meter, at least to Adacious Images in this discussion.  Why is this different?  It's almost as if people have drawn a line of division between camera technique before digital and after digital.  It seems to me that it should be a continuum.  Cameras that are, were, pre-digital were quite sophisticated.  Principles of film exposure and digital exposure are very similar however, using a completely manual camera will demand the learning of certain principles of craftsmanship that may be easily overlooked if one is using only a fully auto everything DSLR.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by nathan mccreery on July 10, 2011 at 1:24pm

PS. Taking a course at a community college will give access to everything that is needed to both process and print film.  If you have good instructor they will have the knowledge to show you how to do it.  Community Colleges, or junior colleges, are a great asset to beginning photographers.

• ▶ Reply