I am getting back into photography...

[seaweed]

Hello there. I just wanted too introduce myself and give a little background, them maybe ask a favor of you all.

My name is Tina. I go by Seaweed here. I am *cough*somewhere in my 30's*cough* and I am trying to get back into analog photography.

A little background: My father has been into photography for most of his life, including SLR's and underwater photography. When I went to college in the mid 90's for an art degree, I was lucky enough to take a photography course, and it was instantly love at first site. I took all of the courses that they had, and was lucky enough to have a darkroom at my disposal.

For the most part, I used a Canon FTB from the mid 70's. I usually had a 50mm lens on it, but from time to time used some others, like a really cool 28-90mm lens. When I didn't use that one, I used the slightly newer (mid 80's) Canon A1 with the same lenses. We used Kodak chemicals (D76 and I forgot the other one) Ilford HP5+ 400 black and white film and Illford Multigrade IV paper, usually matte, sometimes glossy.

After I graduated college, since I didn't have access to a darkroom, I kinda of got away from analog photography for quite a few years.
But while I was talking to a coworker of mine, he mentioned this website and told me to come visit and take a look around. Just thinking about reading about SLR photgraphy made me want to pick it back up again. So I "borrowed" those two old cameras back from my father, got some black and white Kodak film from a store, and I want to try them out.

The issue is that I really do not know if they even work any more. They have not been used for about 10 years, and my skills are quite rusty.


What I would love to hear from you guys are some tips to see if these work. I am sure the batteries are dead, so I don't even think I can use the meters, so I may just have to guess about exposure time and aperature. I do not have an aperature meter, just the cameras themselves and the lenses that are on them. The A1 has a 50mm and the FTB has the 28-90mm zoom.

So can you guys help me out? What is the best way to dust off the cobwebs from both my skills and these cameras? How can I take some test shots to see how well they work (if at all?) when I am not sure anymore of how to set the aperature and all that?


Thanks in advance.



Tina

 

[pentaxuser]

Welcome to APUG. I am not a Canon user but plenty here will be, so good advice will be forthcoming. Here's to a long and fruitful relationship with APUG and analogue photography.

pentaxuser

 

[seaweed]

Welcome to APUG. I am not a Canon user but plenty here will be, so good advice will be forthcoming. Here's to a long and fruitful relationship with APUG and analogue photography.

pentaxuser

Hehe, thanks. After I posted this, I went to my A1 and turned it on, and lo and behold the battery actually still works. It gives me the aperature at the bottom, so I put some film in it (I can just hope it loaded okay, I am really rusty at this!) and I guess I will take some shots with it tomorrow after work.

Thanks alot!

 

[DWThomas]

The A-1 uses a PX28 type 6 volt battery that is still pretty available -- my local Ace Hardware has 'em. Welcome to APUG and have fun.

DaveT (A-1 owner)

 

[Anscojohn]

Welcome Seaweed,
You can use the FTb whether it has a battery in it or not; the battery is just for the meter. It will need one of the new air/sinc replacements for the PX-13/625 mercury batter. Without a battery, just go take pictures in sunny light, using the ASA (iso) of the film as a shutter speed setting, and set the fstop at about f/16.
The AI requires a battery for all functions. It is a LOT more complicated than the FTb because of the various program settings; unless you just can set it on P to set shutter speed and fstop for you.
You have come to the right place. Lots of people who really are into "real" photography on film and paper.
x-

 

[DWThomas]

If you don't have manuals, you can find Dead Link Removed.

DaveT

 

[2F/2F]

Hi,

Congrats. I started with 35mm and an FTb and 50mm lens.

The meter is the only thing that needs a battery on an FTb. Not so on the A-1, however. You should be able to get the battery for the A-1 at most places that have a good selection of batteries, however, the FTb's 625 battery is no longer made exactly the way it was made back then. There is a Wein cell that you can get for it that is of the proper voltage (1.35V), but they are relatively expensive and don't last a long time. Also, you can get the alkaline version of the old battery, but the voltage is wrong, so you need to compensate for this, or have the camera tinkered with by a repair person to read accurately with the alkalines. I had mine calibrated to commonly available and dirt cheap 1.4V 675 hearing aid batteries and they work fine. You just wrap the small 675 in a rubber o ring or a split metal ring and this takes up the empty space.

You can shoot your FTb without the meter, however, and IMHO, it is better that you learn to shoot based on exposure guides rather than on your meter. Meters are only guides, and in order to operate them properly, you need to have a thorough understanding of what they are actually telling you. You can learn this fairly easily, but IMO should just go out and shoot for a while without worrying about too much of the technical stuff.

IMO, it is easier for a beginner to learn using the sunny 16 rule. This is known as BDE (Basic Daylight Exposure), and you simply make adjustments off of it for different levels of light. For instance, BDE is: when shutter speed equals film speed, in CLEAR and BRIGHT sun, use f/16. This does not mean you have to use f/16, of course. You could use f/11 at one shutter speed faster than your film speed, or f/8 at two shutter speeds faster than your film speed, etc. For shady shade, I usually open up to f/4. For brighter shade, f/5.6, etc. The film boxes usually have decent guides to get you started.

 

[seaweed]

To answer a couple of questions... and add a few of my own..


I do have the manual for the A1, and I found the PDF for the Ftb online. I messing with the A1 tonight since its batteries are working. I have been taking some pictures around the house with a few different settings, so I can hopefully see how it works.

The first pics were not set on P, but I found the P setting about halfway through, so the second set of pics were on P. I will see if there is a difference in those pics.

For the person talking about exposure guides... Is that something I can find online and print out? If so, do you have a link? I actually do not have an external meter. I am not sure the Ftb has any meter on it that I can see, like the one on the A1.

And what is the sunny 16 rule? I am going to try to do some research tonight, but any explanations I can get would be great.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Hello from Richmond Va. FTb has a match needle meter on the right side of the view finder. Just turn on the switch on the top left. I believe the FTB meter is semi-spot.

Jeff

 

[ford prefect]

for fairly entertaining expination and a chart (at the bottom) try this link

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

 

[Lee L]

I believe the FTB meter is semi-spot.
Jeff

It meters the center rectangle that's slightly darker than the rest of the focusing screen. That's 12% of the field.

Lee

 

[jgcull]

Just wanted to say, welcome from NC. (I was just in Florence, Darlington, & surrounding, for family reunion last wk.)

 

[KWhitmore]

Welcome Tina, from Montreal Quebec.


Kathy

 

[ricksplace]

Welcome from Thunder Bay.

 

[mjs]

And what is the sunny 16 rule? I am going to try to do some research tonight, but any explanations I can get would be great.

Welcome back! I hope that you have a lot of fun.

The "Sunny 16" rule is very simple: on a sunny, cloudless day within a few hours of noon, the correct aperture and shutter speed combination for film (any film,) is to set the aperture at f/16 and the shutter speed at the closest speed to the film speed. In other words, if you have Tri-X loaded (with a film speed of nominally ASA400) then set your camera to f/16 and 1/500 second (because your camera probably doesn't have a shutter speed of 1/400, so 1/500 is closest. 1/250, the next slowest speed, is also fine,) shutter speed and shoot away. You'll get a reasonable image on the negative. It may lack shadow detail, but after sitting on a shelf for ten years your camera's shutter probably isn't all that accurate anyway.

What if there are clouds, or if you're photographing in the early morning or late afternoon or evening, when the light isn't as bright? Make an estimate, based on Sunny 16 and understand that there is more lattitude for exposure errors in print film than in slide film. For example, on an overcast day I'd shoot Tri-X at 1/250 at f/8 -- but you may do it differently, depending on how you like your film to look, how thick the clouds are where you are, whether it's winter or summer, etc. A light meter is great but you can learn to get pretty close with practice. You can also bracket if you aren't sure about your estimate: take several frames of the scene, starting from two stops underexposure to two stops overexposure (of your estimate.) You'll probably get something printable, and you'll get better quickly.

Have fun!

Mike

 

[kennethcooke]

Hi Tina

I am glad you are back into real photography. I have been taking pictures since the 60's B&W and Colour Reversal- Kodachrome II and like lots of other people I have been through the manufacturers list, so to speak but nowadays I am totally Leica M series but the point I wanted to make was that in all that time with a multitude of different cameras I have never bought a battery. They just don,t seem to wear out. I always carry a spare but I have never used it. Enjoy you photography and I enclose a recent picture which my wife took of our daughter and myself. Her camera is my old Olympus OM2n and, yes it has never needed a new battery. It was second hand when I bought it in 1994

 

[Perry Way]

Hi seaweed, both of those Canons are fine cameras. One thing you will want to check though is whether the light seals are still sealing the light out of the film compartment. The light seals on that genre was made out of a foam material and it tends to deteriorate into a glop of sticky mess. Once that happens the light leaks in. There is a DIY (do it yourself) kit on the internet and on eBay by a seller that goes by the name Interslice. For something like $15 plus shipping you can get your hands on brand new foam enough to re-seal 10 cameras or so. Or you can send your camera in to Garry's Camera (Google that) for something like $50 plus shipping cost and he will do the seals for you and oil the shutter gearing on that A1 in case you have that shutter squeak problem plus a clean job. The Interslice foam is a new kind of foam that will not deteriorate. That will be the last re-seal you'll need to do. I re-sealed two of my 4 Minoltas and the Canon A1 I have. It was very easy. Took about 20 minutes in no rush.