Any film camera photographers here?

[JGalt]

Last week I decided to take up a new hobby, which was photography. I've used digital cameras since the late 1980's, mostly for taking Ebay pictures. But unless you spend hundreds of dollars, most cheap digital cameras can't capture images as well as a 35mm film camera.

I've had this Minolta Maxxum 3xi camera that I found at a garage sale a few years ago. I think I paid $5 for it, and was going to sell it on Ebay. But cameras like these aren't worth much, and can be bought for about $30. It has a nice Sigma 75~200mm automatic-focus lens on it and after putting a new battery in it, the thing worked great. I thought "What the hell? I might as well take up film photography."

After downloading the manual online and familiarizing myself with the camera, the next step was to get some 35mm film. Walmart? Nope. Even though they still send off film to be developed, they no longer sell it. Drug store? Nope. Radio Shack? Nope. Camera shop? Probably, but the only camera shop is 60 miles either way from here. Ebay? Sure, there's all kinds of 35mm film on there, but look at the prices:

6 x Rolls KODAK ULTRAMAX 400 COLOUR NEG Film--35mm/24 exps--expiry: 06/2024 - closing price, $410.72

10 ROLLS Fuji Pro 400H 135-36 EXP. Color Negative 35mm Film exp 11/22 - closing price, $250.00

Fujifilm 200 & 400 Speed 24 Total Rolls Color 35mm Film 36 Exposures ea 21,22,23 - closing price, $199.00

Lot of 6 Kodak Mix 400/200 24 Exposure 35mm Color Film Prints - 6 Rolls Expired. - closing price, $40.00

Fuji Film 35mm Color Prints 400 Speed SUPERIA X-TRA 4x24 Expiration 11/2011 - closing price $28.90.

Sure, I could pay that much plus shipping, but then I had an idea. There are numerous Amish stores around here that sell dent & bent and salvage. So I went to one this morning, and look what I found:

The expiration dates on these are 2022 so they're most likely still usable, depending on how they've been stored. So now I'm good to go.

 

[AntonToo]

Waste of time.

Get yourself Pixel 7 Pro or latest iPhone Pro either one will easily produce vastly better and more creative real world results with fraction of work

 

[JGalt]

Waste of time.

Get yourself Pixel 7 Pro or latest iPhone Pro either one will easily produce vastly better and more creative results with fraction of work

Digital zoom capability on smart phones isn't that good. I was wanting to take pictures of wildlife such as eagles and coyotes, out at a couple hundred yards. I have a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro for a smart phone and this is the best it can do at any distance...

 

[AntonToo]

Digital zoom capability on smart phones isn't that good. I was wanting to take pictures of wildlife such as eagles and coyotes, out at a couple hundred yards. I have a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro for a smart phone and this is the best it can do at any distance...

View attachment 752644

That is really ancient tech at this point.

That phone has only 4x digital zoom.

Pixel 7 Pro has 5x optical zoom and then digital zoom on top of that for 30x max.

I think Samsung has 100x on it's S22 ultra, though I'm not a fan of their processing.

Not going to beat zoom of purpose built lenses, but it's in another universe compared to older phones.

Google's Pixel 7 Pro Challenges My $10,000 DSLR Camera Gear

My full-frame Canon camera is better, but Google's flagship phone opens creative options far beyond snapshots.

www.cnet.com

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

I have a Nikon P900 fully digital.
At 1 mile (5,280ft) from the subject I can make out faces CLEARLY. WITHOUT using a tripod.
At 7 miles away I can make out the gender and attire of people standing on a balcony of a building on the 20th floor.
That would probably go to 10 miles with a good tripod.
And it's only 17 million pixels.

I think I paid $250.00 for it like new.

The P1000 is even more impressive.
And these are entry level.

That said, any camera you can use properly and enjoy is a good camera.

 

[Bob Blaylock]

Digital zoom capability on smart phones isn't that good. I was wanting to take pictures of wildlife such as eagles and coyotes, out at a couple hundred yards. I have a Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro for a smart phone and this is the best it can do at any distance...

View attachment 752644

All that “digital zoom” does is to crop down to a smaller portion of the sensor. If you intend to do any post processing at all, then it is much better, to shoot at the widest “digital zoom” setting, and then crop later. If, say, you have a 6000×4000 sensor, and you use “digital zoom” to double the magnification, the result is that you get an image with only 3000×2000 pixels of effective resolution—exactly the same as if you had taken the picture with no “digital zoom”, and then later cropped it down to the desired angle of view.

“Digital zoom” is not, in any meaningful way, comparable to actually using a longer focal-length lens to get genuinely higher magnification in the image as it is projected on to the sensor.

 

[AntonToo]

All that “digital zoom” does is to crop down to a smaller portion of the sensor. If you intend to do any post processing at all, then it is much better, to shoot at the widest “digital zoom” setting, and then crop later. If, say, you have a 6000×4000 sensor, and you use “digital zoom” to double the magnification, the result is that you get an image with only 3000×2000 pixels of effective resolution—exactly the same as if you had taken the picture with no “digital zoom”, and then later cropped it down to the desired angle of view.

“Digital zoom” is not, in any meaningful way, comparable to actually using a longer focal-length lens to get genuinely higher magnification in the image as it is projected on to the sensor.

Newest flagship phones are working with 50 megapixel sensors. That works out to 8700×5800 raw feed, which they normally cut down to 12mp in the actual saved image.

 

[miketx]

Last week I decided to take up a new hobby, which was photography. I've used digital cameras since the late 1980's, mostly for taking Ebay pictures. But unless you spend hundreds of dollars, most cheap digital cameras can't capture images as well as a 35mm film camera.

I've had this Minolta Maxxum 3xi camera that I found at a garage sale a few years ago. I think I paid $5 for it, and was going to sell it on Ebay. But cameras like these aren't worth much, and can be bought for about $30. It has a nice Sigma 75~200mm automatic-focus lens on it and after putting a new battery in it, the thing worked great. I thought "What the hell? I might as well take up film photography."

View attachment 752632

After downloading the manual online and familiarizing myself with the camera, the next step was to get some 35mm film. Walmart? Nope. Even though they still send off film to be developed, they no longer sell it. Drug store? Nope. Radio Shack? Nope. Camera shop? Probably, but the only camera shop is 60 miles either way from here. Ebay? Sure, there's all kinds of 35mm film on there, but look at the prices:

6 x Rolls KODAK ULTRAMAX 400 COLOUR NEG Film--35mm/24 exps--expiry: 06/2024 - closing price, $410.72

10 ROLLS Fuji Pro 400H 135-36 EXP. Color Negative 35mm Film exp 11/22 - closing price, $250.00

Fujifilm 200 & 400 Speed 24 Total Rolls Color 35mm Film 36 Exposures ea 21,22,23 - closing price, $199.00

Lot of 6 Kodak Mix 400/200 24 Exposure 35mm Color Film Prints - 6 Rolls Expired. - closing price, $40.00

Fuji Film 35mm Color Prints 400 Speed SUPERIA X-TRA 4x24 Expiration 11/2011 - closing price $28.90.

Sure, I could pay that much plus shipping, but then I had an idea. There are numerous Amish stores around here that sell dent & bent and salvage. So I went to one this morning, and look what I found:

View attachment 752636
View attachment 752637
View attachment 752638

The expiration dates on these are 2022 so they're most likely still usable, depending on how they've been stored. So now I'm good to go.

Back in the day all I did was film. However, today if you really want to take quality pictures I'd recommend a quality digital 35 mm type camera. Keh.com has a boat load of good used stuff that will take excellent pictures.

 

[miketx]

This setup will get you going.

D90 body:

Nikkor 18-105 lens:

keh.com

 

[JohnDB]

From my long term memory.....

Minolta are usually not the most light efficient when trying to take pictures....so flash is going to be necessary. Then because you won't like the flash effects you will want polarized lights. (Flashing a umbrella with refractive coatings)

Then a remote is also needed.....it will fit into the camera at the shutter switch by screwing in usually....a few clip on....but I don't see that on yours. It might plug in somewhere. An auto-advance is also really nice...(advances the film with each click and rewinds it when at the end) some are programmable and can take three different f-stop shots each time you push the button.

So you can use a faster speed film (400) or faster....with that telephoto lense you will need 1000 or better. (Yes there's faster than 1000 but it gets really really pricey)

Also....store any film in the refrigerator....keep it cold! That makes it stay good for longer. Fresh film is good film!

It's a nice hobby....also you will need filters and a filter holder....

Manual film pics are nice....nice and expensive.

 

[miketx]

JGalt, the Nikon d90 has a built in flash. It also has an area on top of it to place a large external flash which does not come with the camera.

Add on flash.

Built in flash.

These cameras are very controllable with you being able to control flash output from 100 percent down to a mere fraction of power. I wrote a piece on how to use one of these cameras if you don't know how. It's in the photography section.

Help for beginners

A brief tutorial for your digital camera. By me For the purposes of this study, I will use the same terminology concerning exposures and settings on the camera as we would a 35mm film camera. The actual values used here such as lens openings and shutter speeds and menus may be different...

www.usmessageboard.com

Keh.com has good deals on good used stuff. When new, my d90 and lens cost over 1200 dollars.