Any have recent experience with 35mm film? (1 Viewer)

I've pondering seeing what it would take to resurrect my old 35mm film camera photography. I have an OM10 body that I might need to replace if I could find another in decent shape. I'd stay with an Olympus OM10 because I have lenses, etc. for that that would allow me to take better bird and nature photos than I can with my Nikon Coolpix L820. Wide-angle zoom, 70-210 Zoom, 50mm lenses, cable releases, etc.

Just don't know how well you can get the film developed nowadays, the costs of it, etc. I used to shoot mostly 400 with an occasional 1200 just to say I could without flash, etc.

Can't really afford the new, more modern DSLR that are out now.

sbarnhardt said:

I've pondering seeing what it would take to resurrect my old 35mm film camera photography. I have an OM10 body that I might need to replace if I could find another in decent shape. I'd stay with an Olympus OM10 because I have lenses, etc. for that that would allow me to take better bird and nature photos than I can with my Nikon Coolpix L820. Wide-angle zoom, 70-210 Zoom, 50mm lenses, cable releases, etc.

Just don't know how well you can get the film developed nowadays, the costs of it, etc. I used to shoot mostly 400 with an occasional 1200 just to say I could without flash, etc.

Can't really afford the new, more modern DSLR that are out now.

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Film photography has become a hobby, with prices to match.
You are fortunate to have really good gear, but unless you develop your own film, expect prices of about $1/image. So this is an inexpensive hobby to pick up, but there is a big bill on the other end.
Imho, film photography is a splendid tool for teaching about capturing light, it forces the photographer to be aware of how dark or bright it is and to adjust accordingly. Sadly, it does not teach composition, that is difficult to acquire other than by working with people who have the gift.

You can get film from B&H or Adorama, for example. Fuji and Illford and Kodak are all available.

There is a photo print store near where I live that does 35mm and 120 film (positive & negative). They do not really advertise it on their website, but in store you can see everything they do. They even sell film. I'd suggest finding a place that does advanced photo prints near you (like metal prints, art prints, etc.) and call them to see if they still do film.

I mostly do B&W on film nowadays and develop it at home with Ilford chemistry then scan anything that looks good. Sometimes I do Porta on 120 (Mamiya 6).

I had a Nikon FM, but it stopped film advance a while ago, and it's not really worth getting it repaired. So I bought an N80 for pretty cheap and it works with most all the modern lenses (except AF-P) and VR. You should be able to find a good inexpensive replacement body.

You might look at an OM3/OM4 (or the Ti) variants as those were the later models. Some of the earlier ones took mercury batteries and might not have been converted to non-mercury. You might want to try and get it from a camera shop ebay store that takes returns or at least tests the light seals and shutters, etc. Best of luck!

Marc

I recommend these guys for film development - and this place for film supplies.


Enjoy!

Hi Barney,

sbarnhardt said:

Can't really afford the new, more modern DSLR that are out now.

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If it's only the cost factor and your main concern is image quality, you're probably much better off with a digital camera.

I went from a SLR rig with chemical films to a 6 MP bridge camera back in 2006, and it was a leap ahead in image quality. (Panasonic DMC FZ30 ... not as good as a contemporary DSLR at the time, but it easily beat the film SLRs.)

Running costs of the film SLR were also high, and I'd expect this to be even more pronounced now that film processing has dropped from a mass business to a niche application.

Also consider image stabilization technology ... it's a great thing to have, and if your old lenses don't have this technology, you're seriously missing out.

If you love the old technology, you'll probably enjoy using it anyway, but if you're more rationally looking for a cost-efficient way to get good pictures of the birds you encounter, I believe you'll be better off with even an older, non-DSLR digital camera.

Regards,

Henning

For me the two things that digital has provided and improved my enjoyment of photography, were getting rid of that stupid flapping mirror I had been putting up with since the 1960s and constantly having to reload every 36 exposures.

I have one non-birding 35mm camera kit left - a double wind Leica M3 with a suitable set of lenses. Like an old smelly dog, I still love it.

Everything else is now lightweight, quiet, reliable, doesn't need an annual service and has brought back the fun into photography, revolutionising my ability to get the shot I want whether its a bird or a grandchild.

Way back, I got real excitement from overcoming the limitations of film speed etc, developing my own film and then printing it and hopefully getting that one shot that made the whole exercise worthwhile.

The thing that brought my 35mm photography to an end was when folks stopped producing high quality affordable film scanners. Most notably for me when Sony bought out Minolta as I was scanning all my film and printing digitally. Being able to auto scan strips of 6 exposures at a time made call the difference.

The only OM camera that took mercury batteries was the OM1, mine were converted, but as they only powered the meter, it isn't disastrous. More to the point the OM1, OM2 and 10 series cameras have spring powered fabric shutters, that can get sluggish over the years and the 10 series can also suffer from a sticky magnet problem that slowed the shutter right down, so an OM4ti or care is needed when buying second hand. Most older cameras have their share of potential problems, and Olympus is no better or worse than most others.

If you have a working OM10 setup, it won't be a major investment to try it out with one of the suppliers folks have identified. That way you will know whether you are rekindling a long lost love of film photography or whether it is better just to keep your happy memories.

Have fun.

J

sbarnhardt said:

I've pondering seeing what it would take to resurrect my old 35mm film camera photography. I have an OM10 body that I might need to replace if I could find another in decent shape. I'd stay with an Olympus OM10 because I have lenses, etc. for that that would allow me to take better bird and nature photos than I can with my Nikon Coolpix L820. Wide-angle zoom, 70-210 Zoom, 50mm lenses, cable releases, etc.

Just don't know how well you can get the film developed nowadays, the costs of it, etc. I used to shoot mostly 400 with an occasional 1200 just to say I could without flash, etc.

Can't really afford the new, more modern DSLR that are out now.

Click to expand...

You can probably pick up an older entry level DSLR on ebay for under $100, and there are cheap aftermarket lens adapters for most lens/body combinations.