Getting into 35mm film photography

tem · May 1, 2022

Have always been interested in film photography, but it always overwhelmed me. I'm finally deciding to commit fully as summer begins and start sooner than later. So I would appreciate any advice, camera recommendations, and etc. Thanks in advance!

Sirius Glass · May 1, 2022

tem said:
Have always been interested in film photography, but it always overwhelmed me. I'm finally deciding to commit fully as summer begins and start sooner than later. So I would appreciate any advice, camera recommendations, and etc. Thanks in advance!

Get your hands on a camera, read the instruction book [available here https://www.butkus.org/chinon/ ], load the camera and start taking photographs and remember two things:

None of us was born with the knowledge, someone had to take the time to teach us.
There are no stupid questions except the ones not asked.

Welcome to ~~APUG~~ Photrio!!

Paul Howell · May 1, 2022

You will be overwelled by recommendations so perhaps you can share what you like or what to shoot, what kind of images do you enjoy looking at, landscapes, sports, fashion, street, still life ect? What is your budget? Do want a old fashion experience, all manual control, how about auto focus?

Valerie · May 1, 2022

Some suggest you simply teach yourself, but not everyone learns well that way. Is there a community college nearby that teaches a summer course? Many offer it as a continuing Ed class. A good instructor can help make sense of it all and ease that sense of being overwhelmed. Photrio is also a wonderful place to learn and ask questions (first lesson: the Ignore feature ). Choose a simple manual camera and start with your basics.

McDiesel · May 1, 2022

@tem Internet advice, forums, "tips and tricks", YouTube - all of it is just noise and it is overwhelming you, do not ask for more noise here.

Turn everything off and read a book on photography. Books are by far the most optimal way to learn anything, because they offer a learning curve professionally designed for most efficient consumption. At least good ones, anyway.

Everything else will be useful later.

AgX · May 2, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Get your hands on a camera, read the instruction book [available here https://www.butkus.org/chinon/ ], load the camera and start taking photographs and remember two things:

None of us was born with the knowledge, someone had to take the time to teach us.

However, when we started there was not that wealth of information, at hand. Some of us even started practically with no information.

If as a newbie, I would have read this forum, with heavy discussuons on details, I might have refrained from starting at all... But this is the case with any specialised forum.

Oldfashioned as I am, I still advise to read some basic textbook of the 70's/80's.

Concerning choice of camera, there are different approaches:
-) use what you already got ot what you easyily can get for little money, and decide later on other models in case
-) buy from the start into an SLR system with an easy availabe huge choice of lenses and accessories

Nitroplait · May 2, 2022

tem said:
Have always been interested in film photography, but it always overwhelmed me. I'm finally deciding to commit fully as summer begins and start sooner than later. So I would appreciate any advice, camera recommendations, and etc. Thanks in advance!

You are not providing many clues as to what you hope to achieve, thus it is difficult to advice.

Anyway, for the beginning of journey into film photography I'd recommend a film camera with some sort of overrule-able automation.
It is a great relief in the learning process to be able to lean up against some sort of automation.
I'd suggest minimum aperture priority as found in Nikon FE/FE2/F3, Olympus OM2 and many many other cameras.
Get something from the later end of the manual focus era; that is the late 70's up to the mid 80's.
Resist the temptation to get a camera prior to that period - you will most likely struggle with age related issues, metering errors, battery incompatibility, shutter inaccuracies etc.
Film cameras from the mid 80's and forward can be fine as well, but you will move into the AF era and most people new to film are not too attracted to the polycarbonate cameras produced during that period.

Lens: get one lens, a 35mm or 50mm and learn to use it before you buy another. Any lens of these focal lengths from a known camera company will be fine - don't waste time on obsessing over tiny differences.
Don't get a zoom lens.

Decide on one film that is easy for you to buy and have processed. Learn to use the film before you begin to experiment with other films.

jnamia · May 2, 2022

tem said:
Have always been interested in film photography, but it always overwhelmed me. I'm finally deciding to commit fully as summer begins and start sooner than later. So I would appreciate any advice, camera recommendations, and etc. Thanks in advance!

hi tem

is it developing film you want to learn or doing the camera-work ... or both?
The Henry Horenstein book (there is a catalog of photos in the book with common mistakes and ways to solve them )
( https://www.amazon.com/s?k=henry+ho...=Henry+hore,aps,66&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_10 )
Be advised most cameras are old and you will need to send them out to a repair tech before using so it's had a tune up, nothing worse than a camera's shutter tanking and wasting all that money, time and effort, and being new and not realizing it was the camera ...

Don_ih · May 2, 2022

It really is all about what you want to do. Many people here really want to mess around with stuff - use older cameras, get weird results, test their own knowledge and skill. Many people here will swear by their own methods above any automation. Many people here will shoot film and scan. Many make enlargements.
If what you want is to take good film photos and not bother to learn much about exposure and focus, get a newer autofocus slr with a kit lens. A Canon Rebel is dirt cheap and takes excellent photos.
If you want to learn all about exposure and focus and depth of field and so on, get a 4x5 monorail, a tripod, and an orange vest (that will keep people from wondering what you're doing out in the world - they'll think you're surveying).
These are extremes. But it all depends on what you want.

Les Sarile · May 2, 2022

Whichever camera you get - and there are many to choose from, make sure it is completely functional and accurate.
A camera with some automation csn be very helpful.
If you're going to use color negatives ir b&w film, just be sure to err on the side of overexposure - at least 2 stops, and you will always get usable results.

xkaes · May 2, 2022

While I agree with what many have suggested about "reading a book on photography", most "Intro" books focus on one type of camera, or even worse, one BRAND of camera. And while you can take the "just buy a camera and read the manual" approach, chances are you will not get the camera that's best for you.

I'll ask two simple questions. Do you already have a film camera or do you have access to one?

Do you currently have or use any type of camera -- or picture taking device?

4season · May 2, 2022

You are in luck: In recent years, there's been a mini-boom in books dedicated to film photography including

Analogue Photography by Andrew Bellamy
Old-School Photography by Kai Wong
Photography by Tom Ang

Why books? Because instead of hearing a cacophony of opinions of varying quality, you get just a few, and they've passed muster with an editor and publisher. Besides, the books themselves can be drool-worthy.

Nicholas Lindan · May 2, 2022

See if you can borrow a friend or relative's camera. Doesn't much matter what sort. Buy a roll of color film. Take pictures and send the film off to be processed. Look at the prints that come back. Does the experience grab you?

Ditto, see if any of your associates has a book on photography. If you are not the book sort then look for web sites or you tube channels.

If you look for advice here you will get so much conflicting noise - including this, my own, noise - that it will be hard to make any sense out of it.

M-88 · May 2, 2022

Back in "ye olden days", which would be 2010 for me, after experiencing frustration with DSLR, I decided to move to film camera again. All I had was Soviet-made Zenit 11, which one could use in close combat in the morning and take photos in the evening, so I wanted to try something else. I had to read a couple of books, a couple of magazines from 70s, 80s and 90s to get the idea of what was available on the market and what I actually wanted. I ended up buying Olympus OM-1. Then I sold it and tried some other camera. Then sold that one too and tried something else. It took me a couple of years to make up my mind and all of that was done by trial and error.

In comparison, nowadays people approach me and express their interest SPECIFICALLY in Pentax K1000, Minolta X-700, Canon AE-1, Olympus Mju, Konica Big Mini and some other cameras which are horrendously overhyped by Youtube, Instagram and other social platforms. They simply HAVEN'T HEARD of better options and have NO IDEA about the downsides and underwater rocks of any of aforementioned tools.

What I'm trying to say is that OP might want to make a research based on old school resources of information, because there's less chance of these sources to be biased.

Sirius Glass · May 2, 2022

AgX said:
However, when we started there was not that wealth of information, at hand. Some of us even started practically with no information.

If as a newbie, I would have read this forum, with heavy discussuons on details, I might have refrained from starting at all... But this is the case with any specialised forum.

Oldfashioned as I am, I still advise to read some basic textbook of the 70's/80's.

Concerning choice of camera, there are different approaches:
-) use what you already got ot what you easyily can get for little money, and decide later on other models in case
-) buy from the start into an SLR system with an easy availabe huge choice of lenses and accessories

Yes, but even starting with just the instruction manual should help the poster get started.

BrianShaw · May 2, 2022

One good book... I'm in the "book camp" for a beginner. I also tend to agree with AgX on the value of vintage books but, perhaps, for a different reason. The vintage books can be procured for very little money on the various old book sites. The one I generally recommend is really inexpensive, like about $5 including shipping: Perfect Exposure by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz. Comprehensive, generic, well illustrated, and easy to read/understand.

grat · May 2, 2022

Depends on your experience level. If you're familiar with DSLR'S, then review the basics of exposure (metering, iso, shutter speed, aperture) and find a fully working, reasonably inexpensive camera. If you have a Canon or Nikon DSLR, consider a late 20th century / early 21st century film camera from that manufacturer, as your lenses may be compatible.

If your familiarity with photography is a cell phone camera, then I suggest Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, which has been printed in 4 editions, I believe, and the last two editions include digital-- but that doesn't matter too much, as he deals with exposure in a general sense.

Andrew O'Neill · May 2, 2022

Are you interested in colour or black and white? When I started, it was mainly to document my drawings, or to photograph subjects for my drawings... I picked up a K1000 from local pawn shop. I can't remember what film I was using but it was colour slide. I used colour print film for my wanderings around the city, and had it processed at London Drugs. When I moved to Japan, I decided to give B/W a go. I think my first roll was TMAX, or Fuji Neopan 100 or 400. First developer was some Fuji powder, but then switched to D-76 (then eventually Xtol appeared!) I kind of bounced around those two films for a while, eventually settling on HP5. So... pick up a simple camera, like an SLR, that will give you control over exposure (I still have a K1000. Great student camera!). Pick up a roll of film, and have at it! You'll eventually know what you want out of photography.

Sirius Glass · May 2, 2022

BrianShaw said:
One good book... I'm in the "book camp" for a beginner. I also tend to agree with AgX on the value of vintage books but, perhaps, for a different reason. The vintage books can be procured for very little money on the various old book sites. The one I generally recommend is really inexpensive, like about $5 including shipping: Perfect Exposure by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz. Comprehensive, generic, well illustrated, and easy to read/understand.

I would go a step further: anything written by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz you can find including on this website is a good place to start. There publications were well written and aimed at people without much background. That is not to say that they only covered the basics. They covered much more without making the reader struggle through the words and concepts. I have several of their books and basically just pick up whatever you can find that they wrote.

MattKing · May 2, 2022

Is there a store around you that sells used cameras? One that you can go into, look at real cameras, and talk to real human beings?
Some here will decry this advice, but I used to sell 35mm cameras for a living, and I know I helped lots and lots of people decide on, buy and go out and enjoy cameras.

Chan Tran · May 2, 2022

A couple of responses brought some good points.
1. You are new to film or new to photography all together. If you are familiar with digital photography then it's much easier.
2. Are you interested in color or B&W. If you are interested in the later some darkroom work is needed.

Huss · May 2, 2022

Les Sarile said:
Whichever camera you get - and there are many to choose from, make sure it is completely functional and accurate.

This is job #1. I've seen kids ripped off by craigslist sellers etc who sold them broken cameras by saying stuff like 'it just needs new batteries' etc

Whatever u get, make sure the seller proves to u it works. Or u get it from a place that accepts returns.

greg zinselmeier · May 3, 2022

What says the OP? A lot has been thrown into the mix, I’m curious what the OP thinks.

xkaes · May 3, 2022

I would not be surprised if Tem is simply overwhelmed by our overwhelming responses to what is a simple question.

Ask a simple question, get a million answers.

Sirius Glass · May 3, 2022

@tem the first thing I learned about photograph is to move closer to cut out the extraneous.

Getting into 35mm film photography

tem

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Valerie

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M-88

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grat

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Getting into 35mm film photography

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