Help with a project

narcotiks

narcotiks

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Trushar
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Hey everyone


After using some the best of current digital cameras I find myself feeling empty. I find that I do not have the same fear and inventive flair that I did when I picked up my first SLR. Therefore, I am looking to work with a film camera but this time I have decided to chart my progress to make it more meaningful. After much research and deliberation I have decided my weapon of choice is the Mamiya RZ67. I have begun setting aside time and funds to finance the project. To convince myself that I am serious about this, I just took delivery of a Body, lens, light meter and 5 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 film.

I consider myself a newbie when it comes to film cameras, like most I took great interest in film in my high school days but promptly forgot it as a relic once I hopped on the digital bandwagon. I also realise the Mamiya is a very steep climb for someone with little experience, but i have always learnt the hard way and with the guidance of the more experienced folk on here I can get to grips better with the system.

I dont know about most but I think its a shame that film cameras held their glory for over a hundred years and are cast aside so casually (well at least I think so). I have pitched the idea to a few friends and they feel the same and have offered their help with the project, but alas, we are all of the same age group meaning we don't have the same level of experience as some of you good people.

I have joined the 'Framed Network' and love their film programme, but I can understand they are making an entertainment program and cannot delve as deeply as I hope to with my system.

Trawling through the net I keep hitting dead ends when it comes to information. The little of it I have isn't that conclusive either. So I'm asking for the necessary links I should be following for help and information. I have gone through the search bar on this forum, youtube, flickr, and google as a whole and there hasn't been a 'eureka' moment thus far. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hi and welcome to the musty old f&C section. Now, this may seem a little blase but my first suggestion is to load a roll into the beast and get out and shoot it, just to get you into shooting film. Make a careful note of each shot, the lighting conditions, aperture, shutter speed, film and ASA and then get them devved and see which ones work.
If you have any specific questions there are a number of crusty old fillum types on here who would be only too pleased to spend all day answering them but in the mean time just enjoy using a proper :thumbs: camera.

Cheers

Andy
 
As Andy has said, best thing is to get out there and run a test roll through to get a feel for the kit.

Yes there are plenty of "Crusty old fillum types" (Andysnap for one!!:D) who will gladly answer your questions, along with us less crusty, slighty younger and perhaps not quite so knowledgable "getting older and crustier critters":D who will also attempt to help you find your way back into film!

Enjoy your "new toy" and welcome to F&C / TP
 
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Welcome - I'm confused as to what information you are really looking for, other than general "beginners advice"?

In many ways, film photography is significantly easier (the shooting process, anyway) than digital - for a medium format SLR, it would usually be:

lens cap off, open waist level viewfinder, remove darkslide, focus (with magnifier if necessary), set aperture, set shutter speed, press shutter button, wind onto next frame

Written out, that seems a tad arduous, but when you are shooting it's actually a very smooth and easy set of actions to do.
 
freecom2 said:
lens cap off, open waist level viewfinder, remove darkslide, focus (with magnifier if necessary), set aperture, set shutter speed, press shutter button, wind onto next frame

when you are shooting it's actually a very smooth and easy set of actions to do.
Click to expand...

Just don't be trying it in reverse order! :D
 
i was expecting ( like fc2 ) a question at the end ,,,as the title was
Help with a project
so i'm thinking that going to film is the project,,so its like digital ,,,but film ,,take a light reading set aperture and shutter speed ,focus ,click
for most films you are stuck with the same film speed ,iso ( or as a respected "cough" older member called it asa )
and i don't think anyone in here would ever cast a film camera aside :D
have fun with the project
 
donutagain said:
...iso ( or as a respected "cough" older member called it asa )...
Click to expand...

I still think of film speed in terms of DIN, especially Ilford. :):)
 
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Trushar, what they said. For definite, go take photos. But the gotcha is, you've no feedback. You can't chimp and decide whether to take another. So, as Andysnap says, take photos and make notes. I try to use a little portable dictaphone recorder, as my writing is carp. But because of the lack of feedback, my advice is to take your first roll as fast as reasonably possible, send it off to be processed ASAP, and check the results back against your notes. If you use a "1 hour" service, your delayed feedback could still come on the same day. For many of the postal services (see the sticky at the front of the forum), you'll get it back in 3 days (that reminds me, it's tomorrow! It's tomorrow!).

Good luck, and do try us with some more specific questions as they come up. People here are brilliantly supportive.
 
Oy Donut what you referin' to......:razz:
 
Obviously film isn't "really" a forgotten relic of the past, the generation that know about it will swear by it. For someone of the current generation with very little experience i'm sure you can appreciate it can be a bit intimidating.

I think i'm definitely in the right place when it comes to questions about film. This does keep me reassured and I appreciate all the help you guys can give.

That being said I will take forth everyone's advice and just make a jump for it hoping for the best. Good words of advice from Andy on taking note of what settings I am using so I can reference how the stock is behaving under different lighting conditions.

I guess I will never truly know until I give it a go.

The only help I need really is how to meter effectively. Jonathan Canlas says in his book that for Kodak Portra 400, it would be advisable to overexpose by half a stop. Does any one have thoughts on this or any other handy tips i should go by?
 
personally, I'd run a roll at standard, process it at standard and see what you think...
 
narcotiks said:
The only help I need really is how to meter effectively. Jonathan Canlas says in his book that for Kodak Portra 400, it would be advisable to overexpose by half a stop. Does any one have thoughts on this or any other handy tips i should go by?
Click to expand...

Ignore him, shoot it at box speed and make your own judgements
 
TheBigYin said:
break out the Fed's and start thinking GOST...
Click to expand...

My old Leningrad meter means I am proficient in GOST... who needs capitalist light readings anyway :bonk:

Trushar - yes, it definitely can be a bit intimidating, but many film shooters are people who started off (and still shoot) digital; from first hand experience, I can tell you that it really isn't that difficult, once you've shot through a few rolls and got them developed and scanned/printed.

Plenty of resources on the net, any question that you haven't found an adequate answer for - we are more than happy to answer - and you probably won't encounter something that hasn't been documented and discussed in the past.

Also, I know this might seem quite basic advice, but it might be beneficial to read the manual for the Mamiya if you haven't already - film camera manuals tend to be quite clear and straight to the point, since you don't have to mess about with every infinite setting. They offer both an insight into the particular quirks of that camera system, and also more general usage and operation.
 
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