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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
03-11-2011, 12:54 PM
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What do you mean by "failed?" The strip feeders' LEDs, which align the negatives, do die after a while, and you can buy a new feeder for $125-$175 on eBay. I can't pony up for that yet, so I'm reduced to scanning frames one by one using the strip adapter in the slide scanning module.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-22-2011, 12:16 AM
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Is it possible to have an SV's focusing screen changed out to split-image focus? I've never been a big fan of the ones that get "sparkly" when they're almsot in focus.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-17-2011, 01:13 PM
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Well, I just went down to B&H to hold some cameras in my hand. Was that a good idea? I'm not so sure.
They had a Leica M6 and an M9, which I loved the feel of, but as I've never used a rangefinder I'd definitely want to rent or borrow one for a few days or a week to see if I liked it.
The Nikon F2 Photomic was very sturdy, no doubt about it, but I didn't like the layout and the shutter was really loud (it had a real kick to it, too!).
Also, on a side note, I held a Mamiya 7 medium format rangefinder, which I've considered before, but that thing is enormous, way larger than it appears online, and I can definitely rule that one out now.
I'll keep mulling the KX and SV for now until I've shot through all my 120 film and can make a decision about whether or not to keep my TLR. Thanks for all the suggestions.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-16-2011, 02:31 PM
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That's very good to know about the KX, and does make me lean more towards an MX. Of course, I could always just have my K1000 renovated, but for some reason I've never liked this camera. I think the leatherette is part of that; it feels cheap. The K1000/KM meter is also less sensitive to low light than the KX and beyond.
I'm going to go down to BH and/or Adorama tomorrow to hold some of these cameras in my hand. I've never used a Nikon before. I do like the idea of sharing lenses between my film and digital bodies (assuming I get a Pentax digital), but it's really not necessary and not quite the same as long as Pentax keeps making crop-sensor bodies.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-15-2011, 07:54 PM
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It does sound like the KX is the way to go. The LX has that amazing light meter as well, but I've a handheld meter for really tough light. Thanks for all the suggestions! Hopefully I can get a KX before long.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-15-2011, 10:56 AM
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True, true. I might run down to Adorama later this week if I get a chance, see what they have.
Also, what are opinions on the MX versus the KX in terms of build quality?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-15-2011, 10:39 AM
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Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
Are the Spotmatics the only ones with that beautiful metal film advance lever? My K1000 has this ugly black plastic (or pastic-covered) one.
I'm saving for a K-5, so I'd love to stay with Pentax. It sounds like a Spotmatic is a pretty good bet for me, or a KX (which has the advantage of using the same lens mount as the K-5). Sadly, the LX is beyond my means at the moment. I'm really attached to having high build and functional quality in my cameras, so if that requires a CLA, so be it.
Is there anywhere in New York City where one can try out old SLRs? I'd love to just feel a Nikon F/F2 and compare it to the feel of my K1000 and memories of my old SPII. I probably shouldn't let myself keep thinking about Leicas, of course.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
02-14-2011, 10:00 PM
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I have a K1000 and a Yashica Mat 124 TLR, but I'm not so keen on either (they also neither of them work that well). I miss the metal film winder crank from my old Spotmatic, the Yashica Mat feels delicate, and I'm lusting after a Leica I can't afford. I wonder: what is are some of the best-built film SLRs out there? The Spotmatic SPII I used to own is the best I've handled, but I'm sick of buying duds (it's happened too often for my college student budget) and I hope to get a beautifully built camera next.
In short: is there an SLR out there with build quality like—or even near to—a Leica's?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-26-2011, 02:27 PM
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Thumbs up, once again. I'm not yet sure which I prefer of the two.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
01-25-2011, 12:21 AM
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One of my favorites here in a long time!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-28-2010, 09:59 AM
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Really? Why is that?
I got the Yashica Mat thinking that, since my parents are getting me a DSLR for my college graduation in May (hoping for a K-5!), I probably wouldn't use a 35mm SLR much after getting that. I figured that having square format medium format would provide a different enough experience to keep film interesting, and I love the darkroom too much to let it go. I got the Yashica since, at $60, it cost less than a CLA on the K1000. I don't expect that it will be my only medium format camera ever; someday, when I save up some money, I'd like a Mamiya 6.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-23-2010, 11:57 AM
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Any ideas? Maybe I got swindled on the "it was recently CLA'd" claim... Or maybe I'm just unlucky.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
12-21-2010, 11:52 PM
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I've recently bought a Yashica Mat 124, so I'm looking to sell my K1000 that I bought this summer, but something strange has begun to happen recently. The camera is in beautiful shape, with nice seals, a good meter, good times, it's clean, etc. But, when I use the 1/1000 second shutter speed, the shutter only opens half way before closing again, exposing only half the frame (and underexposing it, at that!). This isn't happening with any other speed. What could be going on?
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-17-2010, 03:29 PM
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Thanks for the suggestions. I will go in a straighten the photo later this evening. Sadly I can't retry the shot since we're no longer on vacation (this was over a month ago), and the shot was one fo the only ones that came out from the roll (my camera, unbeknownst to me, had a faulty shutter). But you're definitely right about the underexposure and reflections, and I'll work on paying more attention to that in future. As for digital, well, that will happen some day, but it won't ever fully replace film for me :)
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Forum: Photo Critique
12-16-2010, 09:03 PM
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My mum in a hotel our family was staying at recently. Any suggestions on how I could improve this?
FYI: This photo was shot on FILM (Tri-X, to be precise). It is not a digital black and white conversion, thus the grain and noise introduced by the scanner.
Many thanks!
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
11-11-2010, 05:07 PM
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Trial keeps crashing when the program tries to open! Anyone else (Mac users) get an Error 5000 message on launch, then have the program crash after authenticating the trial?
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-01-2010, 09:41 PM
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Turns out I managed to fix it. I just hit the shutter button really hard and pushed at it a lot, and now it's fine. No idea what happened there...
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
11-01-2010, 12:36 PM
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Hi everyone,
My trusty K1000 seems to be on strike. I was changing a roll of film this morning and, as I was winding the new roll in, the shutter stopped working. I got the initial crank ad release to roll the film onto the spool, but as I tried for a second before closing the door, I found that the shutter button had not come back up after I'd last pushed it. I can make the button come out again by holding the camera upside down and gently shaking, but pressing it has no effect. It feels almost as if a spring that the button depresses has magically disappeared. What's going on? I'm broke and can't afford to buy another camera at the moment. How do I fix this?
Thanks!
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-24-2010, 09:47 PM
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Congratulations! Wishing you and your family all the best.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-10-2010, 08:16 PM
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I may try NikonScan again if some of my latest batch of scans don't work out, at least if they're photos I really want. I'd much rather get on with my parents' slides and my old negatives, though. So sick of scanning these same kodachromes again and again...
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-10-2010, 10:32 AM
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ICE4 (Coolscan 5000 and 9000) works alright with Kodachrome using Nikon Scan, but earlier scanner generations (ICE3, etc.) don't handle it nearly so well. Vuescan's infrared cleaning is not ICE but a separate algorithm which doesn't work well with kodachrome. If I have vuescan highlight the areas in the preview where is "sees" dust, I often find that it thinks large portions of the image itself need correction for no reason, and the color there gets irreparably bad.
So, that's a big point in favor of NikonScan. If only I could get it to work in other respects as well as vuescan. Even so, scanning kodachrome is hard. I'm going to try to find a projector so I can at least enjoy these slides as they are meant to be (I only have on of those little viewers that you put a slide in and hold up to a light source).
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-10-2010, 09:25 AM
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I read in a few places that kodachrome did well in overcast light, so I wasn't worried about shooting it this summer in such conditions. The slides themselves are lovely (and the ones in bright sunlight are, too), but the scans are very blue and the reds are diminished significantly. It's quite a pain to fix them, especially the underexposed ones, but really all of them are trouble. Having only 2GB of RAM doesn't help when photoshopping 130+ MB files, either.
I'm glad I did this experiment, it was a good learning experience, I know my scanning software much better, and there are some great shots that came out of it. For someone who doesn't project, though, who scans all his color film because he can't print it, kodachrome's just not worth the trouble or the price.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
10-08-2010, 04:44 PM
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On the well-exposed ones, the colors really are lovely, but sadly, the way I shot, these are few and far between. I fine the tones to be slightly muted, and I took a lot of shots on overcast and cloudy days, which only emphasized this. I've some nice silhouette shots by happy accident. It remains to be seen on how today's scanning session turned out, since I've 75 120MB files to dust spot in Photoshop before I can load them into Lightroom for tweaking, and my computer's not the brightest star in the sky. I hoping that, now that the infrared cleaning was turned off, I'll not have all the ugly artifacting it was giving me before.
Steve, I did use NikonScan for a while, but I found the interface very difficult to use and the program was unstable on my computer. Now that I've read the manual, I find Vuescan quite usable now, and it lets me save with ProPhoto RGB, which can actually fit most of the colors from the scan into the file.
I'll be glad to go back to scanning negatives, I have to say. Frankly, I'll be glad to call it quits with color film and stick with the darkroom and a hypothetical dslr. Scanning isn't fun, and with slides, especially, things happen just quickly enough that I can't do other work at the same time.
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