[Shaneuk]

Hi people
I am new to this hobby and have slowly been getting more serious about acquiring photography related products.
I have bought some vintage lenses to play around with, then my father in law who had a lot of photography equipment gave me his old collection of cameras.
Amongst these was a Praktisix 11, looks a beast I can't wait to try shooting film to test this out.
I've been looking on ebay for medium format film and most of what I have seen says expired and its anything from a few years to many years.
Hoping some experienced people on here can advise on whether on what the situation is with expired film.
It's daunting enough the thought of film camera to a novice without that extra worry.
Any tips would be most welcome thank you.
Shane

[stevebrot]

Any tips would be most welcome thank you.

There are better online sources for fresh film than eBay. Google provided a couple of resources that might be worth looking into:

Analogue Wonderland | Buy Film Online | 35mm, 120, Kodak, Ilford +more

Lightbox Darkroom - Where to buy film in the UK

I have personally dealt with Maco Direct, though I don't know how things are for purchases from the UK now with Brexit and all.

Large choice of analogue films on macodirect | macodirect EN


Steve

[Smolk]

You need to speciffy what you're looking for: B&W, colour negative, slide.
In all cases, options are again increasing. Not cheap, but dependable

[Shaneuk]

Thank you Steve I will follow your suggestions

[ChristianRock]

Adorama and BHPhoto would be good sources for film. There are still a few film emulsions made in 120 format that you can buy new, like Kodak Ektar, Portra (negative) and E100 (slide, or positive film). Ilford HPS and Kodak Tri-X and T-Max would be popular black and white films, but there's a lot of others to choose from

[tuco]

Is there some special effect you are looking for from expired film like flat, low contrast BW or unusual color shifts? It is so variable (age, stored conditions, type of film, etc), that it's difficult to give any advise except to say why bother.

[Shaneuk]

As its a vintage camera I think it would always be black and white, I like the black and white.
Not sure if it's something I would continue with having never tried it.
But the photographic equipment was given to me by my father in law who was a keen photographer all his life but sadly his memory is fading and he can't recall much detail about any of them.
I have no wish to sell anything but he gave me 6 cameras I thought at the very least I would run some film between each camera.
I'd never even seen a medium format camera before, was in awe of it soon as I touched it.

[MossyRocks]

If you are looking to play see what Lomography has for 120 file. They make all sorts of odd films with interesting effects so might be worth playing with.

[Lhorn]

Had to look it up but that’s a very cool looking camera. I wasn’t sure from your post if you wanted expired film or didn’t know that new film was readily available.
B&H has 120 film offerings for just as low as a few pennies under $5. Even my local camera shop which of course charges more than online stores has Ilford for about $7.

[UncleVanya]

My impression is that he wants to know how old is too old, what time of thumbs adjustments to exposure might be needed...

[Shaneuk]

Yes it was more I had no idea on medium format film and ebay was my first port of call, when I kept seeing expired on all these listings, so without looking elsewhere I was pretty confident if I asked the question in here I would get some good input and I have thank you all.
So yes I will some new film, but curious as much as anything a roll of film that expired say 10 years ago is still usable or likely to yield no or poor results?
Having never used film before if I experiment in an outdoor setting with black and white is iso 400 film a good starting choice, whether that is 35mm or medium format.
As I will be trying each camera with a roll of film cameras are
1. Praktisix 11
2. Minolta X 500
3. Minolta X700
4. Minolta Dynax 7
5. Prinzflex M-1
6. Canon AE-1

Complete newbie so know absolutely nothing about any of these, but all look well looked after and worthy of a roll of film to be put into them.
I'm certain I will use black and white but the iso choice I'm in open to suggestions as to if one will be easier or more difficult, I will shoot all photos outside in a gloomy English winter.
Again thank you everyone for help and information, much appreciated.
Shane

[stevebrot]

As I will be trying each camera with a roll of film cameras are
1. Praktisix 11
2. Minolta X 500
3. Minolta X700
4. Minolta Dynax 7
5. Prinzflex M-1
6. Canon AE-1

There are some nice cameras on that list...

• Minolta X700 was Minolta's flagship model in 1981 and is well-regarded (Link at Rokkor Files)
• Minolta X500 is a step down from the X700, but still a sophisticated camera and also well-regarded. (Link at Rokkor Files)
• Dynax 7 is auto-focus, dates from about year 2000, and is very cool (Link to Review)
• Prinzflex M-1 (Dixon's branding of the Chinon M-1) is a sturdy full manual camera dating from the early 1970s. It shares the Praktica/Pentax M42 threaded lens mount with Pentax cameras of the day and is probably fairly bulletproof.
• Canon AE-1 is the camera that started the autoexposure consumer SLR revolution in the late 1970s

It is likely that the foam light seals and mirror bumper may have deteriorated, but also likely that they are all in working condition, assuming that the depleted batteries have not been left in the cameras and corroded the battery chamber. I bet your father-in-law enjoyed using each and every one. Manuals for the cameras on your list are likely available from Mike Butkus. Download is free with a suggested donation of $3 USD if you find the manual useful.

Orphan Cameras | Free Manuals


Steve

[Shaneuk]

Thank you Steve, all the cameras came with an official leather case, he didn't keep the boxes for any of them but did pass me the manual for everything except the praktisix.
I was only given these last night been like a kid in a sweet shop since, camera's all over my dining room table, much to my wives annoyance, I'm only just getting away with it as they were her dad's, so I have a bit of leeway.
All different lenses which now means all different adapters to buy and test.
I recently converted all my wives childhood photos from the 35mm and medium format slides to digital and know whichever of these cameras took the photos, did a grand job most are fantastic.
But a slide projector wasn't doing them justice.

[JensE]

On the Praktisix II (two, not eleven), you may have more luck to find online resources when you search for Pentacon Six - they are basically the same (Edit - my memory fooled me after ~30 years since I used both, but still very similar: http://www.pentaconsix.com/19p6.htm). Be sure to not let the winding lever snap back but slowly move it back after winding, otherwise you'll sooner or later have problems with uneven spacing (overlapping/too few pictures) on the film.
If you're a newbe and think of black and white film, you may want to consider Ilford XP2 Super - it uses a color development process, which is much more standardized than black and white development processes, and thus delivers rather consistent results even from different decent quality labs. Otherwise, for actual black & white film, you need to either find a reliable lab with consistent (published) development procedures or learn to develop film yourself.

Outdoors, ISO100 film will usually be OK during the day, ISO400 is only needed when light fades or under thick clouds. Indoors, it's often not enough, but there are a lot of parameters in that decision ...

[Shaneuk]

Thank you for them tips, funny enough my father in law only mentioned one thing in reference to these cameras, and it was pretty much what you have pointed out.
He warned me when he first got the praktisix he wasted numerous films, something along the lines of making sure you wind it on real tight otherwise you get two images overlapping or in the same frame.