Thread: 35mm SLR Camera's

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It brought a tear to my eye. I still hgave my Nikormat I got in 1971 and it works great.

Anyone still use these things or have you all gone digital?

I have a Nikkormat FT3 bought in the mid seventies and I still use it now and again. I did all my own B&W processing and occasionally colour with a drum processor.
However, like everyone else, I use digital almost exclusively these days.

Originally Posted by leadduck

Althouhg I don't use them anymore, I have never sold one of my 35mms. My first was a Mamiya/Sekor - the last they made before going to medium format.

Love those. I have a mid-70's Mamiya Sekor DT1000 35mm that my dad gave to me last year. It was the camera he used to take all our family pictures while I was growing up and I love that camera. Now I use it to take B&W's of my daughter as she grows up.

However, like several others, my Sony Alpha digital gets most of the work, just from a convenience standpoint.

It's interesting how the quality level has changed. The macro lens and 200mm zoom I have for the Mamiya were made in the late 70's and are made from milled aluminum. Nice and heavy and fitted with wonderful glass - they just don't make them like that anymore, and as such I find myself reaching for the old Mamiya lenses quite often to use with the new DSLR body (hooray for lens adapters!).

Originally Posted by HNSB

I had a Canon AE-1, an AE-1 Program, a T-70 and a T-90 with about $3k worth of glass. I sold the whole lot about five years ago for $350. I nearly cried.

But, I really really like digital photography much better than film. There are some things that you could do with medium or large format that you can't do with digital, but there are tons of things that are better about digital.

It's funny though, I was just having a conversation with a pro photographer about this the other day. I am glad that I grew up on film and manual cameras. There are so many people these days with high end digital SLRs and no understanding whatsoever about capturing light.
That said, I'm not one to talk... I still have yet to figure out the nuances of close up photography or studio photography for that matter. My razor pictures are embarrassing.

Absolutely. The fact that I love film doesn't mean I don't love digital, and I think the people who say that film colors out score digital colors are just dreaming. Technologies come and go---I don't have a radio with tubes in it anymore, nor would I want one. My Canon S90 camera produces colors so awesome, in lighting conditions so difficult, that it just amazes me.

But really... people should appreciate the history of their chosen medium more.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Took my Minolta SLR on vacation a month or so ago and was utterly amazed at the vivid colors. Shot about 4 rolls and just am in awe at how the pictures look compared to the digital ones. I've got several slr auto-focus lenses that are of little use now & I hate that idea. At least you Nikon guys can use a digital body & keep your lenses...

Not sure if you have checked Shooter but there may be an adapter. I know there are a bunch for Canon cameras to use other manufacturers as well as the older lens attachments so I would assume someone may make them for Minolta too.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Took my Minolta SLR on vacation a month or so ago and was utterly amazed at the vivid colors. ... I've got several slr auto-focus lenses that are of little use now & I hate that idea.

The Sony DSLR bodies use Minolta AF lenses. Sony bought out Konica / Minolta a few years ago.
In fact, take a look at the Sony A100 and tell me the body doesn't scream Minolta.

As to the colors, it could be the film, or it could be the photo lab jacking the saturation. That's the problem I had with film at the end. Rather than getting back the photos I took, I would get back what the kid at the photo lab thought my photos should look like. Sometimes they'd come back looking great. Sometimes they'd look pretty crappy. But... It was all in the hands of the kid at the photo lab.

I still mainly shhot film but have slowly been selling off many of my SLRs. Right now I have a Canon F-1 and a Nikon F on ebay. I plan to keep a pair of Nikkormats I enjoy using, an FTN and an EL.

My favorites lately though ar the little "point and shoot" travel cameras, the Rollei 35 and the Olympus Trip 35. The Olympus has zone focusing and auto exposure via selenium cell. The Rollei has manual exposure but does have a built in battery powered meter.

While the Rollei 35s bring serious money the Olympus Trip 35 can be scored for under $30 on ebay. This is the older metal bodied, rangefinder looking one, not the streamlined plasticy version. In sufficient light you just snap away and it chooses shutter speed (1/40 or 1/200) and aperture. Too little light and a red flag pops up in the viewfinder and the shutter button locks. For flash it defaults to 1/40 and you select the aperture.

Tony

Originally Posted by HNSB

....snip....
As to the colors, it could be the film, or it could be
....snip....

Color has always been a challenge. Agfa was truer to my
eye but Kodacrome had a 'funner' look.

The good thing about digital is that once you get the
image captured you can tinker. Free tools like
Google's Picasa or the Gnu Image Processing tools (GIMP)
work wonders.

Hasselblad just put some of their digital tools out for free.

The next generation of sensors has me drooling. I suspect
most of the vendors will spend a lot of effort on digital video
which is a natural next step and that pulls the whole package
forward.... Digital's smaller sensors let the lens folk go nuts
and are now making some astounding sharp and fast zoom
lenses.

Ain't it great to live in the future.

I continue to use film (Minolta CLE) but also a Nikon D40 digital. I even have an old Canon I purchased around 1970, why I hang on to it I can't answer.

It depends more on my mood when I decide to take the CLE or D40 for an outing. For a trip, they both go in the camera bag.

My problem with digital is that the cameras don't hold any value. Some of the film cameras can still bring some good dollars. I could sell the CLE with the two Leica lenses for over $1000 and it is a 30 year old camera. The D40 might go for $100 and its plastic.

My dad still has an old mechanical Asashi Pentax, which is a great camera. I really love the ker-CHUNK you get when you work the action or take a picture. Awesome!

Definately a memory of childhood!

I have a Pentax K1000 that I bought way back in the 1900's (1986) still works fine.