mercer

Thanks for this! I looked on eBay and couldn't find any, but I found a seller that spools film and compares the film to Technical Pan. The price is cheap enough that I may give it a try.

I agree. I am having a lot of fun slowing down and looking for the shot. I think it's instilling some patience in me. The cameras I am using are so small, I end up taking them everywhere. I haven't been searching for photo opportunities, but I have the camera there when one arises. It's a lot different than getting my gear ready to go and shoot some B-Roll or prepare for a shoot day and there is something I really appreciate about that. After I go through a few rolls and decide on a 135 camera, the Yashica is on my watch list. I just love that square format for photos.

The RC was on my short list before I found the dirt cheap Canonet 28. It isn't fully manual like the RC, but it's definitely a fun camera to shoot with. I'll have a look at the Ricoh. Thanks.

I like the XA very much, but I don't know how long I will keep mine for. It's in mint condition and I paid very little for it compared to what they fetch on eBay. I don't know if it's much better, or that smaller than a Canonet to warrant having both. With that said, it is a remarkable little camera and after I get my test rolls developed, I may end up keeping that to satisfy my analog desires. But you're right, if Olympus, or other brands, would take the XA as a cue, we could have some pretty remarkable little digital cameras. The Sigma FP was a bump in the right direction, but I'd love to see a tiny, FF digital rangefinder. I don't understand why the rangefinder focus patch hasn't been adapted by more mirrorless cameras. It's such a quick and intuitive way to focus.

I agree, it's a different direction for a changing industry. I would assume the majority of Red owner/operators only get a portion of their income from narratives and more than likely it's small scale projects. An RF mount is much more appealing to those shooters than PL mount. Just look at the used market, most low to mid level cinema cameras with PL mounts sell cheaper than their EF counterparts. There are some PL mount lenses to choose from, but not a lot and only a few newer lenses that will cover full frame. Even The Joker had the Nikkor 58mm 1.2 lens adapted to PL mount. So if you want a specific look, or need to use a vintage lens for budgetary reasons, the PL mount can be limiting. As far as control placement, I assume bigger production will be using the new Red a lot with cranes, jibs and drones... so the control placement probably isn't as big of a concern. Let's be honest here... 8K 120p footage isn't designed for handheld, single operator dramas. These cameras are made for VFX and action films. They will be flying and circling sound stages wrapped in green screen.

Also look at that Suicide Squad/Red BTS video. It seems that productions are looking for smaller cameras that they can do more with much easily.

There aren't enough FF cinema lenses in the PL mount to warrant it. Hence the RF mount. PL lenses can be adapted, and any other cine modded, FF still lens can be adapted.

Thanks for the reply! These look great and are perfect examples of what I am looking to photograph. I just love B&W. The Trip 35 was recommended to me but there aren't many for sale in the US. The Fujica is a zone focus camera as well. Blind focus is a little daunting but it seems pretty straightforward. I also bought a Canonet 28 that has a brilliant little rangefinder patch, so I have options. But the light seals need replacing and I'm waiting on a battery adapter. I'd like to find a selenium metered rangefinder, but the "better" rangefinders seem to have been made in the 70s when selenium was abandoned for battery-powered, cds meters. I have a few rolls of Kodak Gold color film and T-Max 100. I probably should have bought more Fomapan to start out with but it doesn't matter much. I love the Acros simulation, so I have a couple rolls in my cart. Summer has been kinda hectic, so I spent more time researching everything and collecting a couple cameras to get a feel for what I do and don't like. In a couple weeks I'll have more time to go out and shoot some stuff and then I'll sort out the processing. I'd love to process my own footage but I don't have the space to do it and my GF has some pretty severe allergies, so I couldn't use the chemicals. Caffenol interests me, but I can't afford a scanner right now, so I'll just send the film out for the time being. And for now, I want the process to be as simple as possible. If I could get decent scans from the local pharmacy, I would probably just do that.

Thank you, that is kind of you to say. I'm really hoping to get back to shooting video soon. Flickr has one of the worst search engines I've ever seen, so it's possible your shots from the QL19 ended up in a QL17 search. Interesting, I'll do some more research. This hobby is very new. I've only shot a few rolls and haven't sent any out to get developed yet. I'm hoping to keep the entire process as cheap and painless as possible. Do you have any cheap film stock recommendations? B&W and color?

Yes, that's true, but I condensed the story. The camera was a total rip off but the seller listed it in a way that I couldn't get a refund. Needless to say, when I opened the film door, it was pretty much the last straw with that camera. Overall I've been very lucky with the few cameras I've bought, but you really have to be careful with eBay and old cameras. Luckily they don't cost too much and when you get an understanding of possible issues, you can get some deals because a lot of people will list stuff pretty cheap and as parts when they're just not checking the cameras right.

I've been shooting on cheap film stocks... Kodak Gold 200, and T-Max 100. I had a roll of Fomapan 100 but I mucked that up (when testing one of the cheap cameras I have that I shouldn't have bought) by opening the film door. What's the best, cheap B&W film? I'm looking for fine grain, good contrast and sharp.

Great work, Tim. Some of your shots seem familiar. Do you have a Canonet QL17 Giii and have posted some of your shots on Flickr? I love the idea of processing my own film, but I don't have the space to do it. Have you ever used the Cafenol processing?

Interesting. A couple months ago when I decided to look into it, I immediately went to MF. But I quickly realized that I was looking for something that is pocketable and that I can walk around with without too much fuss. With that said, I'll probably be on the lookout for a cheap Yashica TLR eventually. I just love that look.

Whoa!!! Those are cool. I was able to cross my eyes and see the effect pretty quickly. Nice job! Do you have any B&W samples? I can picture some fun, moody Halloween shots.

Great shots. I love the look of Portra 400. Were they straight outta camera... or did you manipulate the scanned files? I was looking at a more modern Canon camera when I first decided to give this a try... I forget the model, but apparently made a camera in the early 90s that had Eye AF... and I mean that the camera would focus the portion of the frame that you were looking at through the viewfinder... what kinda witchcraft is that?!

To add, I also bought a couple rangefinders and they are a blast. The Olympus XA is a fun little camera. And I just received a Canonet 28 I paid $20 for that's in great shape. I'm still waiting on a battery and the seals need to be replaced, but the Rangefinder patch is brilliant.

Yeah please share them. I kinda remember stereo photography from when I was a kid, but I don't know much about it. Photography is kinda new to me, but so far it's been a ton of fun. What kind of scanner do you have? My goal with the half frame is to shoot dyptichs and try my hand at telling stories with two frames. For now I'm just going to let them scan the film and plan my shots accordingly from the start of the roll, but if I enjoy it, I may eventually want a small scanner and get the negatives back uncut.

Haha, nice. How did the rolls turn out? I took a course in high school too and I really enjoyed it, and come to think of it, there were some cute girls in the class. I agree, it is bit of a pain in the ass, but that's kinda what I like about it. Shooting raw video on my 5D3 is a pain too, but I still love it. For me, it's more about the process. It's cathartic. Glad to hear you had a good experience with The Darkroom. I haven't sent any rolls in to get developed yet and I plan to send a couple rolls off to a few different places. I'm on the other coast, though so I ultimately may end up choosing somewhere more local when it becomes a regular thing.

Actually, the first film camera I bought, about a month ago, was a NOS N6006, too. But I haven't used it yet. Although I have a bunch of old Nikkor lenses, I don't have anything with AF. Shortly after, I picked up a Nikon P&S that was kinda fun, but the process was a bit too simple. Anyway, like most things I get interested in, I get pretty obsessed with it, so I do a ton of research. If you're looking for something with AF, there were some pretty spectacular cameras made in the 90s by Nikon, Contax and even Konica, but they can be a bit pricey. I really had no idea what I would like, so I wanted to try a few different cameras. In the end, I'll probably keep two or three, since they're so cheap. I'm more concerned with the cost of film/processing than I am with the cameras, though. I guess that's why I'm excited to use this Fuji Half Frame camera... 72 shots from a 36 roll... yes please.

With so few opportunities to shoot video, I decided it was time to mess around with stills to keep me sane. Well, I enjoy a little bit of crazy, so I decided to start shooting film. I've never been a stills shooter, so I decided to look at some old film cameras. After some research, I'm really drawn to the 60s/70s fixed lens rangefinders and half frame cameras. So, I threw an offer on a Fujica Half, half frame camera. The seller didn't offer a lot of information, but I figured it was worth a shot. They accepted the $25 offer and it arrived yesterday and I was thrilled to find out it's in near mint condition and the old selenium light meter seems to function perfectly... Does anyone else shoot film? If so, what are your favorite cameras and film stocks?

Is it? I've never heard that. The sample the OP provided was classic videography. A decent camcorder would lock onto that and hold it. More than likely, the video was shot on a small sensor Canon... probably a G7X Mark II. That camera doesn't even have DPAF yet it was still a favorite of the YT crowd because it held focus well and had a fast lens. Slightly OT but there seems to be a weird mix of "AF sucks" and "I NEED AF" on this site, when the truth is that AF is great for certain jobs. If I was a wedding videographer, Canon DPAF would be locked onto the bride. No question. But for a short film, there's a bunch of other features that are needed before AF. Right tool for the job, I suppose.

Good luck with the project. Please share your experience, and the film, when you're done. My friend has the E-M10iii too... I don't know why I wrote mark ii. Either way it's a nice little camera to shoot from the hip. The focus peaking kinda sucks, but it's better through the EVF. The GH5 is and will be a very good camera for years to come. I've been pretty obsessed with B&W lately and the Panny L-Monochrome is damn near perfect. The only "better" B&W is probably the Fuji Acros.

Yes, I think you could definitely get a Voigtlander for that money, but then you have a m4/3 lens that is fairly pricey with an unknown as to how long the mount will be used. Full frame lenses can always be adapted. I don't really have an approach. I mostly just tinker. I really need to get a new computer or monitor. I've been using my MacBook Air which does not have a 178 degree viewing angle so depending upon how I look at the screen, the image could look different. It's very annoying. I figure once I have something... anything... completed I'll take that stuff more seriously. For those shots I used a Log to Rec709 LUT, made a couple exposure adjustments to open up the waveform and then desaturated the image. So nothing fancy.

That's awesome. I love those lenses. They were such a perfect size when I used to shoot on the eos-m. I still have a NOS 50mm 2.8 in its box in my closet. Are you shooting the short for someone else, or is this a personal project? You're shooting with an E-M10ii now, right? I started shooting stills on film recently and have a fondness for old rangefinders, especially the ones from the 70s with the built in lenses... Minolta Hi-Matic, Canonet, Olympus XA. Inevitably I'll want to move onto a hybrid stills/video camera. Size is more important to me than anything else, so I am looking at Olympus and Fuji. My friend has an E-M10ii and a GH5, and he did a shoot a couple months ago using both cameras and I went back and forth between the two and surprisingly, or not, the Olympus just looked better. So right now it's between the E-M5iii and the X-T4. Anyway, the point is that there is something special about these small cameras. The GX85 was a ton of fun to shoot with. The Samyang 12mm t/2.2 balanced perfectly on that camera and due to the 4K crop I was able to use some of my c-mount lenses. I love Full Frame and someone will have to pry my 5D3 from my cold, dead hands, but it is big and not particularly stealthy. So it's cool to see that some people are still shooting on small cameras.

Are you looking at the non L version? Admittedly I've never used it but from all accounts it isn't that great of a lens. I'd go with the 1.4 for a 1/4 the price. As you may remember, I also have the 1.2 L that I had modified to EF mount, iris de-clicked, etc... and I think that is one of the best lenses I've ever used. However, with the prices the way they are, I am having a hard time justifying its existence in my bag. I've been looking at some footage lately between the two lenses and although the 1.2 L is definitively a better lens, the 1.4 gets you most of the way there. 1.4 1.2 L I have a few side by sides I'll post later when I'm on my computer.