The other day my photo buddy and I got together. He just acquired a Nikon D200 DSLR for a song, and in a fit of generosity (as well as a ploy to convert me to a Nikon fan!), has offered me the use of his Nikon D70 DSLR for play. Isn’t that great? And I admit, I am really excited about the idea of being able to use a DSLR with interchangeable lenses. All my digital cameras have had fixed lenses.
I’ve also been on the hunt for a rangefinder camera as I have never used one, and am looking at several on eBay. I don’t want to spend a fortune, so I have been doing a lot of research. It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn while looking! There are so many rangefinder cameras out there – some more popular than others, some with an interesting history, some for pennies, others for thousands of dollars. To me, what is the most fascinating idea of all, is their supposed portability compared to SLRs. I’m no expert, but my impression is that the plane of focus can be very narrow, and this gives pictures taken with rangefinders some of their charm – blurred foreground and distance, with razor sharp images in the middle. As well as this, brilliantly detailed landscapes.
And if I do this – I need to get the pictures developed. My scanner has an attachment for digitizing film negatives. But! I have no negatives that I can find to try it. Solution? Dig out my old, and only, SLR – a Canon A-1.
Tragically, I never really learned to use this camera. My cheapskate side hates spending thousands of dollars on snapshots which I don’t like. However, with the idea of being able to digitize snapshots, I decided to pull it off the shelf where it has been sitting for too many years. It has seen better days. It has been dropped fairly hard, to the point the enamel is down to the metal underbody, and the ISO dial is reluctant to move. The lens has a haze filter on it, but the entire camera was swathed in dust. The lens itself was jammed, and a button to release it from “A” for the automatic modes popped out when I tried to move the lens to an F stop.
As you can see, this poor thing has been really neglected. I got most of the dust off, but this shows you just how much more needs to be done. Despite this, I went out and got a new battery and the only package of film (Fuji 400 Superia) in the drugstore, downloaded and printed out a manual, which I don’t think I ever even read when I got this camera nearly 30 years ago. I read the manual front to back.
I pulled out my tripod and set up a few shots, using only the manual elements to do some close-ups of an orchid in the yard, and the dying hop plant. I tried to do shots with the largest F stop – f/3.5 with the 28 mm macro, and some with f/11 for detail and depth. I have no idea how they will turn out, but recorded them in a notebook. It will be interesting to see what they look like. Hopefully not like snapshots!
It’s pretty amusing to think I used my digital camera (Lumix DMC ZS5) to take these pictures. If I find myself wanting to use this Canon, we are very fortunate to have a camera repair place here in town that has an excellent reputation.
Time was when one used to be able to buy film in drugstores and grocery stores, but not now. Online seems to be the place, and camera stores. The varieties are still myriad, but local availability has dwindled. Forget having black and white processed at a local lab – it needs to be sent out while color processing stays somewhat local. It may be worthwhile looking into processing at home or finding a local members-only lab, but that is a bit down the line, and only if I get into it.
How times have changed!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 