Learning on an old Medium Format camera

[MattPharmD]

Hey Everyone, this is my first time posting here and I have a question. I recently acquired a Kodak no.1 pocket (series II, maybe), and I am trying to learn to shoot it.

So far, everything seems to work. The lens has a small scratch but is clean as is the viewfinder. The aperature and shutter seem to work, and the bellows seem to be in good condition.

I learned photography on a Rebel 2000, so I started at the end of film. Back then, though I had a meter and numbers I understood. Now I have shutter speeds of T,B, 1/25, and 1/50 and aperature values of 1, 2, 3, and 4 (which I understand are about f/11, f/16, f/22, and f/32).

Does anyone have any advice on translating what I know about my digital SLR to this new film camera, or am I just going to have to ruin a lot of film to figure it out? For reference I have a roll each of Ilford 100, 400, and Ektar 100.

Any advice for this newbie would be great!
Also, if this was the wrong place to post, let me know.

Thanks!

 

[Nick Merritt]

First, confirm what those aperture values are in terms of f-stops. You can use the "sunny f16" rule with a fair amount of comfort this time of year -- bright sunny day exposure would be f16 and the shutter speed set to the reciprocal of the film speed (e.g. 1/100 for 100 speed film). Then I'd suggest you use a decent handheld meter in order to judge the light accurately -- and that will also give you equivalent settings at a glance (like, in the previous example, 1/50 at f22 = 1/100 at f16). Given the extremely limited set of shutter speeds, you don't have a lot of options, so you will need to see what you can do with, say, f32.

 

[Sirius Glass]

What Nick said. But note that f/11, f/16, f/22, and f/32 will give the best depth of field possible so everything from a few feet away to infinity will be in focus.

Using Ilford 100 or Ektar 100 and Sunny 16 you can start with 1/50 at f/22 for snow or bright sandy beaches, at f/16 for bright sunny days, at f/11 for partly cloudy or overcast days.

Using ISO 200 and Sunny 16 you can start with 1/50 at f/32 for snow or bright sandy beaches, at f/22 for bright sunny days, at f/16 for partly cloudy or at f/11 for overcast days.

Using ISO 400 or Ilford 400 and Sunny 16 you can start with 1/50 at f/32 for bright sunny days, at f/22 for partly cloudy or at f/11for overcast days.

 

[pentaxuser]

As you know the shutter speeds available and believe that you have worked out the apertures for numbers 1-4 then the rest is no different to working out exposures with a digital camera except that you have a limited range of apertures and shutter speeds.

So with a slow film such as a 100 forget about dusk and night shots as your aperture range is too small and the apertures too small. Your ability for differential focus is very limited as well such as a portrait close up and wanting to throw the background out of focus.

You can get around some issues by checking the light conditions and putting the appropriate film speed into the camera and then not exposing again until those same light conditions are available or better still load the righr film and shoot all the negs that session and change the film if necessary the next day/time

You might want to look up the site that allows gives you the Dof( Depth of Field) for the film neg size lens size and aperture. Play around with the site and get an idea of DoF

I don't think you need ruin any film. Most negs should be printable, even if not ideal and you will learn something from each that is less than ideal. If you want instant success and this is always good when starting out then choose a sunny day with 100 film, set the aperture to F16 or even f22 and the speed to 1/50th and you are good to go.


If you have B&W filters that will fit the lens this will improve sky definition and will give you greater leeway if the film for that day is a stop or even two stops faster than is ideal

pentaxuser

 

[tkamiya]

One thing I'd like to mention to you is that shutter speed may not be as indicated any longer. I have several old cameras of similar vintage to yours. If my results are any indication, most of cameras are off as much as 2 stops. Meaning what I think as 1/125 maybe 1/60 or even 1/30. You may need to experiment quite a bit to see what works the best for you.

 

[Nick Merritt]

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post -- with color negative or black and white film, a little overexposure (like a stop or a little more) is usually a Good Thing. The film can definitely handle it, and you'll get more color saturation and/or shadow detail. So I tend to follow more of a "sunny f11" approach. I understand digital is not very forgiving of overexposure, but you need not worry about that with color negative or B&W. "Expose for the shadows" is the mantra. That is, make sure you get the right exposure on the darker parts of the picture, and let the film's latitude deal with the highlights.

 

[MattPharmD]

Thanks for all the advice. I've got the Ektar 100 loaded, and am going to go shoot it soon.

I am actually pretty excited about using this older camera and getting to know it. I'll let you know how this first roll turns out.

 

[Jaf-Photo]

You will probably have a lot of fun shooting it.

The biggest caveat is what tkamiya mentioned that shutter timings are fairly likely to be off.

It can be fairly difficult to judge by how much before you have developed a feeling for the exposure of film.

But try it out and if you are a bit lucky, you'll have beautiful film images soon.

 

[tkamiya]

My suggestion....

Don't worry about all that. As I said earlier, I have many old cameras, from Kodak Brownies to whatever else. Some pieces dates back to early 1900. On some, "shutter timing" is basically a friction and a spring. I have no expectation that they are even consistent from shot to shot, never mind a calibrated figure. Some lens are simple element plastic with one fixed aperture. It's basically a box with a lens and a film.

Amazingly, they all turn out fine. Not a museum quality shots but nevertheless, fine. It's awful a lot of fun to take those simple camera and just shoot "stuff." It frees me from worrying about our usual, such as finding the best lens, accurate exposures, auto-this-and-auto-that. It's very refreshing and liberating experience. Every once in a while, I leave my F100 and Dxxx, and take a camera of my choice for the day. I always come back with a smile. Often come out with even bigger smile out of bathroom (where my film development is done).

I'd say keep your expectations reasonably low and have fun. You'll turn out with something and that's how it's going to be.

 

[Whiteymorange]

I'd say keep your expectations reasonably low and have fun. You'll turn out with something and that's how it's going to be.

+1

 

[Regular Rod]

Have you got a tripod? If you don't have an exposure meter, have you got an iPhone or similar? You can download a free app to make the 'phone into a pretty good exposure meter. In your shoes, with just this one camera to use, I'd start off using it almost like a field camera. Use the tripod, use T and use the smallest apertures, take into account reciprocity failure (page 2 in here http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20106281054152313.pdf ) after you've gotten used to the camera in this the simplest way of using it, then start experimenting with the instantaneous shutter speeds, although I reckon you should stick to 400 ISO films for hand-held work. ILFORD Delta 400 gives you fine grain as well as the higher speed so you might want to give that a go.

RR

 

[elekm]

Check the bellows in that camera for holes. Go into a darkened room or wait until night.

Get a flashlight, extend the bellows and open the back of the camera. Turn the flashlight on and pass it all around the camera while peering into the bellows.

I've found that some (not all) Kodak camera can be prone to degradation of the bellows.