C220 - Uh Oh...

Amp34

Amp34

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Well following on from my thread a couple of months ago (Medium Format - How much) I've got back from my travels and am heading to uni shortly so I'm back in the game so to speak...

Just looking back on ebay and considering costs and time constraints (not sure I'll really have any time to shoot when I'm there:() I'm seriously thinking about getting a Mamiya C220. Yes I know the limitations and that the C330 and the RB67 would probably be easier (at least) but I think the price of the C220 is winning me around quite a bit.:lol:

The cheapest ones seem to be coming from a guy in Pakistan, now his feedback seems good and the cameras fine, just wondering how much I'd be likely to pay in import fees if I got from there. What's the duty on things like this?

Also a couple of questions on the camera/printing side of things. What sort of price would I be looking at to develop my own film? I think I remember developing equipment coming in at only around £50-70, developing fluid etc?
 
Where about in the UK are you?

The reason I ask is there is a Camera Fair on in Wolverhampton tomorrow so you would be able to get all your dev kit fairly cheap. last time I picked up a paterson developing tank, which would take 4 35mm reals for £3.

As for import duties on the Mamiya I have no idea. I suppose it depends on how the seller packages it and if Customs don't get suspicious of a brown parcel from Parkistan :shrug:
 
To the best of my knowledge there's no duty applicable on stills cameras.

There would be 17.5% VAT to pay, however.
 
If I remember rightly you pay duty on cameras but not lenses, I think optical equipment is exempt. I can't for the life of me remember what I paid on my Bronica when I imported it.
 
I've paid duty on every sodding thing I've ever bought, 90% of which has been film cameras and lenses :(
Not only import tax, VAT and sometimes there has been a charge by the carrier.
I think the pro traders and shops on ebay are the ones that get noticed as commercial sales passing through customs, a private ebayer ships without company titles and such and is more likely to be missed..
Thing is, you're more likely to buy from a commercial trader in another country than a private individual.
 
Had loads from abroad, there's a cut off point I think of about £60 (*including postage costs*) under which you should be OK. Over... depends on the inspector I guess but if you get caught for duties you need to be allowing about 20% on average.
 
Seems I may have been incorrect, at least as far as film cameras are concerned.

Don't take this as gospel, but as far as I can work out the Commodity Code for a 120 TLR would be 9006 59 00 00 - which attracts 4.20% duty on import, and then 17.5% VAT on top of that (and the carriage charge) - which would be roughly in line with Ambermile's 20% allowance.

The 0% duty rate applies to digital cameras - code 8525 80 30 00.

HMRC Tariff Classification Service Enquiry Line: 01702 366 077
 
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Thanks. :)

So essentially on one bought for around £80 I'm looking at between £20-30 (with £10 carrier charge), makes the bargain a little less so. :lol: Thought that may be the case.

Knikki, unfortunately I'm in the south so that's a no go really, however a Patterson developing tank appears to be the easiest way to go, and the least messy?
 
How far south as the nice chap in Arundel had a C220 last time I was there, its an amazing shop as well so well worth a visit :D
 
Well thanks to joxby I should have a nice C220 whinging my way to me shortly... Now I just need some film and practice...

I was planning on using my digi to light meter (at least to start with), sound ok? Also any good links in a "beginners guide to film/MF" way?

Finally film, http://www.discountfilmsdirect.co.uk looks pretty cheap, along with 7dayshop, any other places I should have a glance at for film? I'm thinking of getting a roll or two of B&W and a roll or two of colour (maybe one saturated one and one muted one?) any recommendations for general shooting/landscape?

Any other bits and pieces I should be getting? Colour filters etc?
 
Welcome to the Mamiya TLR club :)

The threads for Mamiya TLR lenses are 46mm, so would be worth grabbing a couple of these. I use an old Zeiss Ikophot selenium based meter for metering my C330, which works OK. The CDS cell in my Minolta film SLR is slightly more accurate, however.

An interesting tip for using your TLR without a tri/monopod - use a simple camera strap around your neck and pull the strap taught while framing through the WLF when you're ready to take the shot. I've been able to get down to 1/15 without any problems. slower than this and you'll be looking at using a tripod.

I've found the cheapest 120 B&W film is on the bay of e - 10 rolls of HP5 for £28.90 incl delivery - the guy calls himself p02111802... very quick UK-based delivery time too.

Colour neg film I'm getting from evilbay too, with the cheapest being the far east version of 160 iso Portra, called Ektacolor - seller's id is 009film and goes for £12.85 for 10 rolls incl P&P! Expect a 10-day delivery time, though

Still trying to source a cheapo slide film seller...
 
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So if I got a yellow and red filter that should sort me out (Red giving me dark greens and blues, yellow, purples?)

HP5 is ISO/ASA 400 is it not, seems quite fast, or does it not really matter? Should I be looking at something slower as well for tripod landscape use? Think I've got a lot of reading up on film to start doing...:lol:
 
After a stock check, I've put in the package -

1 x Velvia 50
1 x Astia 100F
1 x Delta 400
1 x Pan F 50

:)
 
however a Patterson developing tank appears to be the easiest way to go, and the least messy?
Click to expand...
Make sure it's a Paterson Super System 4 (the ones with the wide mouth and black cap). The earlier models leaked on inversion and you ended up with dev dripping off your elbow !
 
Amp34 said:
So if I got a yellow and red filter that should sort me out (Red giving me dark greens and blues, yellow, purples?)

HP5 is ISO/ASA 400 is it not, seems quite fast, or does it not really matter? Should I be looking at something slower as well for tripod landscape use? Think I've got a lot of reading up on film to start doing...:lol:
Click to expand...

Ilford HP5 is a very low grain high speed film, as is Fuji Neopan 400, and they're very cheap, which is good in the film world - especially if you like taking lots of photos! :lol:

Finer grain B&W film - try Ilford FP4+ 125 or Ilford Pan F 50 and Fuji Neopan Acros 100. Even finer grain and you're looking at pricier film such as Rollei and Adox. It's nice to give 'em all a try, though after all the film I've tried, I've settled on a combo of either HP5 400 or Neopan 400 and Acros 100 if the weather is nice and bright ;)

Try that Velvia 50 Joxers is sending you - it's like candy for the eyes :thumbs: Probably the best colour slide film for landscape work.
 
john-oh said:
Make sure it's a Paterson Super System 4 (the ones with the wide mouth and black cap). The earlier models leaked on inversion and you ended up with dev dripping off your elbow !
Click to expand...

Ha, I think I might have the dripping one as it drives me insane :bang:

Nice one on the purchase, you will love it as TLR's are great fun to use :thumbs:
 
joxby said:
After a stock check, I've put in the package -

1 x Velvia 50
1 x Astia 100F
1 x Delta 400
1 x Pan F 50

:)
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you, that's much appreciated. Will have some fun with all of that. :D

Think I need to get out of my head the whole digital noise/grain thing, with ISO and grain not being the same on films (as such). I guess the idea is you can't just change the ISO halfway through a shoot as well, unlike digital. As I said a lot of research and playing needed. :lol:
 
Well - you've only 12 frames on a roll of 120, so it's not that bad - although the last but one film in my Perkeo was in there for maybe 2 months, so who knows!
 
Well it arrived this morning. :D

Just spent the last couple of hours reading the instruction manual and doing some dry runs shooting. Going to put some film in in a minute and get a few proper photos.

Just a quick question though, focussing wise is it just a case of looking and guessing (using the magnifyer) or should I be able to tell whether it is properly focussed using the engraved circles in the finder frame?

Just need to decide now what film I should have a go with first, B&W or colour... :p

EDIT: Also DoF, I take it it's a case of using a DoF chart and guesswork/experience? What sort of apertures should I be using for General and landscape? Thinking something like f/22 for landscapes?
 
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You'll find the DOF of medium format cameras to be smaller than that of 35mm, in other words you will need a smaller aperture to get more in focus (higher f-stop). In general, f/22 should be fine for landscapes.

Conversely, the lower f-stops will give you a very thin focus plane with great separation of subject vs background.
 
The Mamiya C-series TLRs are really good cameras with a great taking lens. Their only vice is their weight but if you can live with that they'll match any medium format for quality.
 
Well I've taken my first roll of B&W (the Delta 400) and I'm now onto the Velvia 50. Hopefully it'll be an ok weekend so I can get the roll rattled off and send them off and see how badly I've done... :lol:

The DoF when close up is pretty spectacular, I'll be interested to see how the couple I took come out due to the parallax issue but hopefully ok.

The Velvia 50 is going to be interesting, definately a tripod jobby with that low ISO although I'm starting to think I need to get a remote shutter cable to get some nice long exposures. :lol:
 
Well I've almost finished the Velvia 50 today but it's got me thinking about a few things....

Firstly as a lot of the shutter speeds are so slow, even in good light, I was thinking a shutter release cable may be a good idea. Just any will do or do I need one made specifically for the C220? looking around it seems any will do so something like this cheap one will be fine http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/70cm-Remote-S...raphy_DigitalCamAccess_RL&hash=item4aa41cd81e ?

Secondly, again low shutter speed related. I take it I still need to be doing the 1/focal length shutter speed to stop vibration blur? No difference for MF?

Can't wait to get those last two shots done and the film sent off, see how badly I've done... :lol: I think I've stuffed up 3 shots on the Velvia so far, one I forgot to adjust for parallax before shooting (closeup) and two I ended up with my finger in the way of the shutter cocking lever when pressing the shutter. That may have caused a much longer exposure than wanted...:bonk: We'll see when I get the shots back!
 
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Yep, that shutter release will do just fine, dunno about the rough guide calc....maybe .66 x focal length = slowest HH shutter speed on M/F.
75mm is a standard lens on M/F, so imagine its a 50 on 35mm.
At least there isn't a big ole mirror and shutter assembly flappin about everytime you take a shot....:)
 
Thanks. Think I'll get one lickidy split, not exactly going to break the bank if it doesn't work or breaks.:)

That was my wondering and why I asked so I'm glad i'm not being a bit dim. :lol: I noticed today that with the Velvia, even in bright conditions and a medium shutter that it's almost impossible to get it much above 1/60, especially if you need to do some exposure compensating for closer work.
 
Well, films are off to Club 35 today, decided on just 6x6" prints, still £21 for two rolls though! If I get into this properly I'll definately be buying developing kit. :lol:

Also won a Hoya yellow filter on ebay today as well. I put in a really low bid on red and yellow filters. The red had another bidder but I won the yellow for less than £5 inc postage so should have some fun playing with that when it comes. :)

Got to say though I love looking through the top when composing, the slight 3D effect is pretty cool and it just seems so much easier/nicer to compose on a big screen than through a tiny viewfinder.
 
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Well I got my films back today (Velvia 50 and Delta 400) and first impression was "yes! only two poorly exposed shots!":lol: First one was me not using the camera properly (finger in front of the shutter cocking lever, didn't realise it hadn't exposed to moved the film on again as I though that one would be overexposed) and the second one was a little over exposed. Rest of them were pretty good, a few of the Velvia shots could perhaps have done with a bit more exposure but the B&W's all seem pretty good (to my eyes at least:p).

Need to sort out DoF though, there are a few cases where the DoF was way too shallow, oops...

I'll post a few up when I get some scanned in... There must be a normal scanner somewhere in this uni, there may even be a medium format film one...
 
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