The OCAU "film is not dead" club

Thanks, do the branded (Energizer, Panasonic, Duracell, etc) last a lot longer than the more generic ones?

Anyone ever use these?

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SB2324

 

I had a Nikon F80 that took CR123A batteries and they last aaaages. As in 40+ rolls of 36exp film. I did not use the built-in flash in the camera though much at all, obviously if you use the flash heaps it'll drain a lot quicker.

 

I think my lightmeter takes the CR123A batteries. I just went down to battery world and got 2 of them. I put one in my lightmeter and have the other as a spare in my bag. When I need a new spare I'll just go get another. They were pretty cheap from memory.

 

One from fathers day.. went shooting with the old man...

045N-2, 90mm f/8 Super Angulon
Fomapan 100 @ 50
6sec f/16
Rodinal 1:50, 6min 30sec @ 20°C



"Kurilpa : 1"

 

My light meter takes the CR123A too.. Think its been in there nearly 3 years now. Like Martin, I have a spare in my bag, because you know if its EVER going to die, it will be when you're at the bottom of a gorge, 8km from the car and 45km from the nearest shop that has one...

 

add to that awesome light!

 

Yep!

I have spares in every bag I take my cameras in haha.

 

Good stuff, will get some decent/branded ones then

Now to buy some film...!

 

So hypothetically, if I was a sucker who wanted to have a play with a 35mm rangefinder (something like a Zorki 4), what would I want to buy to get started.

My experience with film is pretty much zero - I bought my first camera almost ten years ago, and it was digital.

 

A working camera
Film to go in camera
Bus ticket to the lab (if you cant drive yourself).

 

Is development of 35mm film something you'd just get a photo shop to do, or is it viable/worthwhile to do at home?

 

Just get a lab to do it to start with. Then if you keep shooting it you can look at doing B&W at home.

It is more viable to get a lab to do colour until you are really keen.

Start small.. work your way up

You can either use sunny 16 rule, or use a phone to meter to start.. or a digital camera.. or buy a small handheld light meter Quite a few options.. best to just get something and shoot some stuff and see how much you love it (it's addictive). Then you can empty your wallet endlessly from there.

 

I'll buy 2 CR123's and keep a spare from now on.

Went to use the meter the other day and it was dead. Bugger!

These are high quality american made ones.

These are cheaper but still decent alternatives

There are also CR123A Li-ion rechargeable available.

For low current devices like a meter, the rechargeables would be a pretty good option I would think.

I looked in to this and its probably not worth using rechargeables. Its hard to find ones with the correct voltage (ones above are 3.7v not 3.0v) and for a device which uses 1 battery a year its probably not worth the hassle of having to charge more often.

The nitecore i4 will recharge the above li-ion cells as well as all the most common cells too.


I buy 18650 cells from fastech, they are reliable and have free shipping. Don't be in a rush though. Their CR123A range isn't as good as their 18650 range.

More photography gear, especially flashes should be powered from 18650's. So much more powerful than AA's. The rechargeable external battery packs for speed lights contain them but I cant see why they cant make the speed light itself hold the cells.

 

IMO I wouldn't use a Zorki as they tend to be crap, you can probably find something cheap on gumtree like a Canonet (mine was $10, but I was lucky~)

 

Kurilpa : 2

Fomapan 100 @ 50 in Rodinal.

 

I don't shoot film (not since a kid shooting 110 on toy cameras) but have looked into it and considered trying it.

From what I can gather a good place to start is shooting black and white 35mm and develop the negative yourself. You can then scan them and enjoy some of the aesthetics and process of the medium. This is a cheap way to get started and you need very minimal equipment and no dark room.

If you enjoy that process and results then move up to producing your own prints etc.

Would others agree this is a good way to get into film?

 

It is much easier just to get a camera, bunch of film.. shoot and send it off to the lab and get some results back. You can kick off the addiction from there by trawling gumtree/ebay and the rest for old kits and see how you go.

From there you can get your development gear (tanks, change bag, reels, bottles, plastics, thermometer etc etc), scanner (or rig up a DSLR style light back scanner), chems and the rest. The buy in isnt that much, especially if you find someone getting rid of a whole bunch of kit cheap. But the bits add up.. you then have folders and neg sleeves and other things.

The guide to B&W in my sig shows how easy it is to get started. I definitely started by getting a simple 35mm camera and putting some rolls through it and paying for lab dev + scans tho

 

I did the same, my first film camera was a Lomo Action Sampler. Did all of the above as you said. It's a great way because it's cheap and still a great way to learn the pros/cons of the medium and technology.

Take small steps. You'll be surprised at what you don't know, like loading and rewinding film.

I didn't have Bw film at first so I just developed my Agfa Vista in some ilford developer. Haha. It was horrible. And I took an hour to even spool the film on to the developing reel (takes maybe 1 minute now).

 

The developing something seems like half the fun though. Even if it is only the negatives to begin with.

How much is it per roll to get developed these days?

 

It's pretty fun But it can be where people get unstuck when they are starting out.

lab prices are between $5 and $20 for dev & scan.

Some cheap ones around tho.

Doing B&W yourself can be much cheaper, but again the out lay is higher getting starting.