Hello I am Stephen from Surrey in England and I have just joined the forum.
I have been a keen amateur photographer since I was a child. I started developing and printing my own films over 25 years ago when i was a student at university but I was lucky enough to have learned basic darkroom skills in the photographic club at school (run by my excellent biology master, Mr Bowen-Jones). Back in my student days I would develop B&W films and colour slide films but never colour prints because it was too expensive. Nowadays I just develop B&W films and then scan the negatives. Slide films I send off because I am too lazy to mount them (but I suppose I don't really need to mount them if I am just going to scan).
I have neglected my photography for a long time but I have never moved to digital. I worked out that to replace my collection of cameras and many lenses with digital equipment would be financial madness. There is nothing wrong with the lenses I have acquired second-hand over many years but to buy new ones for digital equipment would cost thousands of pounds. Then of course I would be caught up in the never ending cycle of upgrading and equipment going out of date so it would never end.
I use both 35mm and MF. My 35mm camera is an Olympus OM4-Ti that was a wonderful present new whilst I was a student -it has never gone wrong despite travels all over the world. I have quite a number of OM Zuiko lenses as well. I also have about 6 (at last count) Zeiss Ikon folding MF cameras. These are guess-the-distance, uncoupled rangefinder and coupled rangefinder models from the 1930's to the 1950's. In fact, again in student days, the first MF camera I ever used was a Zeiss folder. The pictures were so good that I was absolutely hooked on the larger format. I did have a Mamiya TLR at one point but had to sell it during hard times. I don't really regret that because it wasn't a very practical camera to carry around.
Film wise I use Ilford B&W films, Kodak T-Max and sometimes Fuji Velvia slide film. I have been meaning to try Agfa slide film because it is so reasonably priced.
So anyway, I am very glad to have found this forum and I hope to learn a lot from likeminded enthusiasts. I am sure that as my old cameras get even more elderly I will be asking other users for tips on keeping them going both DIY repairs and who to send them to.
Finally, a slide I scanned recently. A photo I took 23 years ago (Forth Rail Bridge) on my OM4-Ti. Unfortunately, the slide was filthy. I am still learning the various settings. I haven't a clue about digital editing yet either.
I have been a keen amateur photographer since I was a child. I started developing and printing my own films over 25 years ago when i was a student at university but I was lucky enough to have learned basic darkroom skills in the photographic club at school (run by my excellent biology master, Mr Bowen-Jones). Back in my student days I would develop B&W films and colour slide films but never colour prints because it was too expensive. Nowadays I just develop B&W films and then scan the negatives. Slide films I send off because I am too lazy to mount them (but I suppose I don't really need to mount them if I am just going to scan).
I have neglected my photography for a long time but I have never moved to digital. I worked out that to replace my collection of cameras and many lenses with digital equipment would be financial madness. There is nothing wrong with the lenses I have acquired second-hand over many years but to buy new ones for digital equipment would cost thousands of pounds. Then of course I would be caught up in the never ending cycle of upgrading and equipment going out of date so it would never end.
I use both 35mm and MF. My 35mm camera is an Olympus OM4-Ti that was a wonderful present new whilst I was a student -it has never gone wrong despite travels all over the world. I have quite a number of OM Zuiko lenses as well. I also have about 6 (at last count) Zeiss Ikon folding MF cameras. These are guess-the-distance, uncoupled rangefinder and coupled rangefinder models from the 1930's to the 1950's. In fact, again in student days, the first MF camera I ever used was a Zeiss folder. The pictures were so good that I was absolutely hooked on the larger format. I did have a Mamiya TLR at one point but had to sell it during hard times. I don't really regret that because it wasn't a very practical camera to carry around.
Film wise I use Ilford B&W films, Kodak T-Max and sometimes Fuji Velvia slide film. I have been meaning to try Agfa slide film because it is so reasonably priced.
So anyway, I am very glad to have found this forum and I hope to learn a lot from likeminded enthusiasts. I am sure that as my old cameras get even more elderly I will be asking other users for tips on keeping them going both DIY repairs and who to send them to.
Finally, a slide I scanned recently. A photo I took 23 years ago (Forth Rail Bridge) on my OM4-Ti. Unfortunately, the slide was filthy. I am still learning the various settings. I haven't a clue about digital editing yet either.
