[womble]

That's funny.. I wasn't impressed with my local pro lab that uses a noritsu, despite them raving about it... I just figured it was because I was getting small scans... I've been happy with their prints. I like the colors and balance of their scans but not the grain... So I just use my old Epson 4870.

The lab I use has a Noritsu scanner and I have never had reason to complain. I guess like everything, it depends on how much care and effort goes into the process in the first place. I pay -- relatively -- a lot of money to get my films developed, printed and scanned at a good lab that I trust. I have done so ever since a roll with some nice images got ruined by getting it developed by an in-store minilab. If I had stuck to digital I could have had a K3 with a complete set of FA Ltds by now!

K.

[Eyewanders]

A lot depends on what part of the country. Here in the Portland area, a CLA'd MX, body only, is about $200 with a similar K1000 priced at about $150. A P30T in the same shop* would be about $90. Portland is a little different, however, due to a thriving film photography culture. It is not unusual to see people shooting with film cameras. I would suggest KEH as a source of warrantied cameras at a fair price.

My advice is to avoid the AF and auto-wind bodies in favor of any of the manual focus options...less stuff to break. The option of manual exposure mode is highly recommended as is a full-information viewfinder. I own several bodies that meet those criteria and can recommend without reservation:

• Pentax KX
• Pentax Super Program
• Ricoh XR-2s
• Ricoh XR7

I have used my FA series lenses on these cameras with good results and did not miss the AF. I do have a preference for manual focus, however

Steve

* Blue Moon Camera

Steve - i didn't realize you were at Blue Moon! Suddenly much is clearer about you now. :-D Great shop - I've been in once or twice when I've been down that way. In fact i just read a while back a blog post (cannot remember where or by who precisely) extolling the magic of the Pentacon Six TL (I've been looking for a nice one over the past couple months that isn't located in Bulgaria), written by someone there at Blue Moon.

---------- Post added 06-05-14 at 01:08 PM ----------

Be careful...film photography is a slippery slope
It starts out innocently enough, you rationalize that it's fine to buy one camera to shoot a few rolls, and then before you know happened, you're opening packages that are wrapped in brown paper and came from some Ukrainian city that you've never heard of
And then you run across a medium format camera and you're really in trouble.

I.. (cough) I... don't know what you're... (ahem) this doesn't sound familiar at all!

---------- Post added 06-05-14 at 01:14 PM ----------

Hopefully, much better than Noritsu quality
It was Noritsu quality that drove me to purchase my first scanner! I have seen Pakon output and the scans are better than Noritsu or Frontier minilab scans.

This is true, there will be an odd image here and there that I prefer the Noritsu, but 95% of the time I much prefer the rendering of my Pakon. It can't output the same resolution (outputs 2941x1960, 16bit, tiff or jpg) but the quality, or rather the overall handling of the image looks better to my eye in most cases. 2941x1960 certainly isn't huge, but for most of my purposes is better than adequate. A full roll in under 5 minutes, yessiree. (Caveat - the thing will only run in a Windows XP OS environment).

[Jamey777]

so when i said under $1.50 a roll, that meant the developing not the actual film.... wanted to clarify! i use the press kits from b&h which are pretty economical.

it takes the same amount of time if not less time to do c-41 vs b&w. depends on how much you are pushing.

and the pakon is great. I run mine on my macbook air using parallels and XP. if you want to know more, join the facebook group and read it all.

[todd]

so when i said under $1.50 a roll, that meant the developing not the actual film....

Yeah I think we understood!

I guess like everything, it depends on how much care and effort goes into the process in the first place. I pay -- relatively -- a lot of money to get my films developed, printed and scanned at a good lab that I trust.

I hear ya. My local lab came with good reviews but I don't get the impression they spend much time at the scan. I think they have the thing on auto-pilot... I consider it pretty expensive too at about $14 to have a roll developed with 4x6prints, and 1791x1188 scans... I think I will try a mail in service with my next roll...

[gofour3]

Be careful...film photography is a slippery slope
It starts out innocently enough, you rationalize that it's fine to buy one camera to shoot a few rolls, and then before you know happened, you're opening packages that are wrapped in brown paper and came from some Ukrainian city that you've never heard of
And then you run across a medium format camera and you're really in trouble.

Amen! Very true.....

Phil.

[stevebrot]

Steve - i didn't realize you were at Blue Moon!

I am only "at" Blue Moon when I am in the neighborhood. it is a dangerous place to visit. The last time I was in there I almost walked out with an Exakta. Blue Moon does do my processing, but I drop my film at Knight Camera in Vancouver.


Steve

[Eyewanders]

I am only "at" Blue Moon when I am in the neighborhood. it is a dangerous place to visit. The last time I was in there I almost walked out with an Exakta. Blue Moon does do my processing, but I drop my film at Knight Camera in Vancouver.

Ah I misinterpreted - looks like it was at the end of your sig a few posts back, ala
Steve
Blue Moon Photo

[6BQ5]

Photography is a hobby for me which means it's a financial and time pit - one that cannot be rationally justified or explained except that gives me a peace of mind.

With that said, you can get in FF film photography for what seems like very little money. Almost any camera body with a decently working meter plus a clean 50mm will do. Heck, you can use an external light meter or rely in the Sunny 16 rule for starts. Since this is a Pentax forum then find a K1000, a Spotmatic, or an AF body like the SF1n. $15-$25 maybe?

Film is not too pricey. $5-$9 for a roll of Ektar or Portra? Or, get a 4-pack of regular old Fujifilm 200 if you're ok with the colors and grain.

Development can be anywhere from $3 for processing film to $8 to get prints to $15 for prints plus a CD?

So expect $45-ish if you go on the cheap so to speak.

After that it's just film and processing. Swag it at $0.30 to $1.00 per shot depending on how pricey the film is and how fancy you want to get with development. I DSLR scan my negs and that suits me just fine but I did get a pricey macro lens to do this.

[hks_kansei]

Film is not too pricey. $5-$9 for a roll of Ektar or Portra? Or, get a 4-pack of regular old Fujifilm 200 if you're ok with the colors and grain.

I find Fuji Superia 200 not that bad in regards to grain, and the colours are quite good for certain things (it seems to tend to the cooler end of the spectrum, blues and greens)
Ektar is a great film, but I've found it can be a bit warm for some things (skins mainly)

I'd suggest buying a small range of films, my fridge usually contains a few rolls of Fuji Superia200, a few rolls of Kodak Gold400, Kodak Ektar100, Ilford HP5+, and a couple of oddball rolls (I'm waiting for a special occation to break out that roll of Ektachrome VS)



I change films depending on what I'm shooting that day, nature and general outdoors is usually the Fuji200, City and rusty old things usually Kodak400.
I've only recently started using the Ektar, so still getting used to it's character.

[Eyewanders]

I change films depending on what I'm shooting that day, nature and general outdoors is usually the Fuji200, City and rusty old things usually Kodak400.
I've only recently started using the Ektar, so still getting used to it's character.

I don't mind superia but am often a bit disappointed by it. The more I shoot with Ektar however, the more I wonder why I shoot with anything but Ektar.

[stevebrot]

The more I shoot with Ektar however, the more I wonder why I shoot with anything but Ektar.

I shoot three color films: Ektar 100, Kodak Gold 200, and Ferrania Solaris 100. The Kodak Gold 200 is used for casual shooting. The Ektar and Ferrania are used for the serious stuff.


Steve

[ChristianRock]

I am only "at" Blue Moon when I am in the neighborhood. it is a dangerous place to visit. The last time I was in there I almost walked out with an Exakta. Blue Moon does do my processing, but I drop my film at Knight Camera in Vancouver.


Steve

Is it like Wings Camera here in Atlanta? I avoid that place - last time I was there I wanted half the store - quite a few medium format cameras and some large, too. Good thing my lunch break was over and I had to rush back.

Maybe in New Orleans there is such a shop that has old cameras and the OP can try some out and see what feels good in his hands?

If not, the K and M mechanical cameras are always well regarded. I don't think any Pentax cameras are "junk" - but the mid 80s to early 90s ones - A, P and ZX series - seem to be having problems with the winders and shutters at this point in their lives... you never know if they're going to last or if they'll break down. I've had an A3000 and a ZX-M break in my hands within the last 6 months. Then I bought an almost free P30T that I thought was broken and eventually I got it to work (pressed shutter/winder enough times that it seemed to stop skipping frames). It's now my FF Pentax camera clunkiest shutter sound ever...

[womble]

I don't mind superia but am often a bit disappointed by it. The more I shoot with Ektar however, the more I wonder why I shoot with anything but Ektar.

Most of the time I shoot Ektar for colour, but sometimes the more subtle colours of Portra suit the subject better. For reasons I don't understand, I don't like it so much for medium format where I tend to shoot something like Fuji 400H or Portra 160 or 400.

K.

[gofour3]

The more I shoot with Ektar however, the more I wonder why I shoot with anything but Ektar.

Try slide film it's even better.

Phil.

[Eyewanders]

Oh I have, and personally I think the difference is negligible given the higher processing costs and higher price of the film to begin with. Color negative couldn't touch slide throughout time, until Ektar IMO. That said - I've got some Velvia frozen and a couple on the way - it's been years since I shot any.