Olympus OM 10

[jimthetrain]

Found my old film camera today. The oly OM 10 with 50mm 1.8 prime and a Hoya HMC zoom & macro 75-205mm f4. Needs two new batteries and a good service but still looks in perfect condition. Probably not worth spending the money on but it showed me how lazy you can be with a DSLR. Any one still tinker with their old film jobbies or are they confined to the depths of your cupboards.

Jim

[anglefire]

I do have a film camera or two up stairs - but I've not used them for years! I keep meaning to get my Canon A1 out of the cupboard - but never quite make it! I wouldn't mind, but I had it serviced a few years ago and it was back to being fantastic again. Then I bought digital...

[greypoint]

Sold my last film camera when I went digital with a Minolta Dimage 5 - they were still selling OK then

[Hybridphotog]

Any one still tinker with their old film jobbies or are they confined to the depths of your cupboards.

Jim

Yeah, I do. I've a couple of Leica rangfinders (IIIc and a Standard) parked on my desk, as well as a couple of boxes of film cameras that are generally for display only (drop-down bellows type cameras).

There are a few gems in those boxes though, namely an Olympus OM-1n (bought for the princely sum of £5!), a 1975 Kiev 4, a Ziess Ikon "Coffeecan", a Minolta Autocord, a black FED-2, a 5-digit s/no FED-NKVD, and (last but not least) a Holga.

At the moment I'm tied to what the local 3-hr d&p shop can handle... so it's C41 35mm only. 

[Malcolm1938]

Not an old film camera but a recently aquired Kiev 4 (1984) which was decribed as in new condition (£30) and it really is a beauty. I have not ye trie it out properly but I am looking forward to doing just that in Spain later in the year...

The OM10 would be my ideal digital camera if they would make it - full frame with the manual over ride thingy on it and do away with most of the un necessary gimmicks. A digital camera for photographers.

[Graham]

         I've just put a film through a Minolta Autocord TLR and am looking for a company to dev and scan to disc (If anyones any suggestions )
        On the same subject, I have 8 rolls of Kodacolor VR Plus 200 (36 exp.) on my desk. Their in cannisters but not boxed so I don't know whether their in date or not.
        If any one wants them let me know. (Can we send pm's on here?)
                                     Graham.

[Hybridphotog]

Not an old film camera but a recently aquired Kiev 4 (1984) which was decribed as in new condition (£30) and it really is a beauty. I have not ye trie it out properly but I am looking forward to doing just that in Spain later in the year...

The Kiev's are nice rangefinders, and have one of the quietest shutter's you'll hear. Hopefully you'll also have a Jupiter-8 lens, which is a very good Russian copy of the pre-war Zeiss Sonnar lens. There's a magical thing about these lenses... pinpoints of light appear to glow, if the surrounding area's dark. Some of my work done with a Kiev and a J8 lens can be seen here.

If you're not going to use the Kiev for a period of time, keep the Kiev in its 'unfired' state (wind on, then fire the shutter), and make sure the shutter speed is above 1/60th. That'll ensure the springs aren't stored under tension, so the camera will go a bit longer without a service. Also, get into the habit of setting the shutter speed *after* winding on. Setting the shutter speed before winding on can cause damage, and also make the selector loose its correct placing.

The Contax/Kiev rangefinders are prone to lightleaks along the upper edge of the film back. It is possible to resolve this problem yourself, have a look at the "Kiev survival site" for help.

The OM10 would be my ideal digital camera if they would make it - full frame with the manual over ride thingy on it and do away with most of the un necessary gimmicks. A digital camera for photographers.

Too many times I've wanted a DSLR that has just the PASM modes... none of this "night time"/"sunset"/"macro"/"sports" modes.

... preferably a digital version of the OM-1n.

[picsfor]

that is the one blessing of a film camera - it shows us how lazy we've become with film.

I try to remind myself when taking pictures now to think of my digital as a film camera and it has reduced the amount of shots i have been taking - but ultimately my digital produces image quality now that my A1 just couldn't compete with - and i'll not even get into film purchase and development.

[chris@seary.com]

I've recently bought a second hand Nikon FE, in beautiful condition. I'm trying some of the film that's about - Kodak portra is nice, and I'm about to try Fuji Superia Reala 100.

Film cameras on ebay have started going up in price. Stuff that you get hold of for £25 a couple of years ago is now going for lots more. I saw a Nikon F3 go for over £200 the other day! Film cameras are now a finite resource, so I think they're having their last heyday before the manufacturers make the decision for us to get rid of them.

A copy of American Photo from six months ago stated that most of the well known art/fashion photographers that get their stuff shown in galleries still use film, scanned in so that it can be worked on in Photoshop.

If you want to see some great use of film, look at this lady's gallery:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minka6/

This film group is one of the most prolific on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/

I'm not saying I'm converting to film, but I've just had some scans back from peak Imaging today, and it definitely has its place. Amazing tonal range, and not much need for post processing to get a nice, punchy shot.

[anglefire]

Too many times I've wanted a DSLR that has just the PASM modes... none of this "night time"/"sunset"/"macro"/"sports" modes.

... preferably a digital version of the OM-1n.

Sounds much like my 5D - none of the modes, just the PASM and B(ulb) and C(ustom) on a rotary dial. Oh and I suppose the green square. And its full frame. And by the post on another thread on here, only £400.