New to film!

[morski]

I've acquired (saved from the bin) a couple of film cameras that were about to be thrown away that belonged a distant relative that recently passed away.

The first one is an Olympus XA2 which is all boxed with a separate flash unit, and the second one is a Pentax ME Super with what I'm guessing is the original 50mm lens, a Sigma 35-200mm lens, a Miranda 630CD flash gun and various other accessories. All of this is boxed and it all looks as new, so I'm guessing I've done quite well?

I've put fresh batteries in both cameras and they both appear to be working, I've bought a couple of cheap films from Poundland just to test the cameras out and see if they work.

Should be interesting, I've not used a film camera since I was about 12 years old (39 now) and that was only a disposable type thing lol. I even had to read the instructions to see how to load the film

Has anyone got any experience of these 2 cameras? Do you think there will be any problems using these cameras? From what I can gather asking other family members neither of the 2 cameras have been used since the late 80's even though they appear to be in excellent condition. Do you think the fact they have sat around for so long might cause any problems when they suddenly start getting used again?


There is one good thing that's already come out of all this though, my 16 year old daughter who has never taken any interest in my DSLR or other digital camera gear has now suddenly decided she's interested in these film cameras and has said she wants to learn as much as she can about photography and seems genuinely fascinated by these 2 film cameras.

Sorry for the dumb questions, but I've really never bothered with film cameras until now

 

[excalibur2]

Congrats...good gear
You can check the camera out roughly for the iris in the lens stopping down properly and shutter speeds by hearing or seeing with the back open, and if you think they are ok.......take your shots and it will show if you have any problems like light leaks, dragging shutter, incorrect exposures etc in the pics.

 

[Andysnap]

It looks like you've done ok, 2 nice cameras.

Don't be afraid of film, it seems to me like all of a sudden people find film a dark and archaic art but only 10 years ago most people stuill shot film and digital was the new kid on the block. All the things you know about digital still apply to film but you just have to take your time and make sure you have it right. If you look through the 'show us yer film shots then' thread you will see that film can produce images that are the equal to and in some cases better than digital.

So, get out there use the cameras and post your results in here and bask in the glow of the magic that is film.

Cheers

Andy

PS Must remember not to go on line after beer, I type waaaay too much.

 

[freecom2]

Two great cameras. The XA2 has a great reputation as a sharp pocket camera - however, the flash is almost certainly useless, and makes it a bulky package so one to avoid using.

ME Super and the 50mm lens again has a very good reputation - I'm biased but Pentax made some superb, easy-to-use and well built SLRs and the ME Super was very popular for good reason.

Maintenance wise, the most likely thing to be obviously wrong with them is probably crumbling light seals in both. Shoot a roll in both, and there probably won't be any light leaks - but the light seals are still likely to be crumbly to the touch, because the seal material used back in the day isn't the best for longevity.

 

[offline]

Two great cameras. The XA2 has a great reputation as a sharp pocket camera - however, the flash is almost certainly useless, and makes it a bulky package so one to avoid using.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say about the flash, an XA2 with it's flash attached is still a fairly small package. Having a dedicated flash means it's a doddle to use when you need it. It isn't a powerful flash (running off a single AA) and it's obviously close to the lens so very direct, but it's good for party type shots and a bit of fill light if you're within a few of yards of the subject.

The XA2 is at it's best in bright conditions with colour film.

The main problem with the XA2 is the sensitive shutter button and door switch - sometimes they just pack up and it doesn't detect you're pressing the button or you've opened the front door fully. Check you can wind on, shoot, wind on and shoot with the camera empty. Open and close the front door a few times too. It can be annoying pressing the shutter several times for the perfect shot, only for it to go off when you turn the camera around to examine it.

 

[freecom2]

This is, needless to say, IMO stuff really - but I think it throws the ergonomics and the very neat design of the XA2 (and the rest of the XA series) off by a lot - especially the bigger flash (A16?). It's very limited in scope, not very powerful and only offers a very limited number of choices.

 

[35millimetre]

As said above, on the XA2, pull the little shutter door across until you hear it click. It won't fire unless it's fully open. And the shutter is very sensitive too. My parents had one, all our childhood photos were taken on it I bought one for £5 from a boot sale once, then in a mad moment gave it to a friend in return for lunch and a pint! It's a solid little camera.