school me on 35mm cameras

[Nathan_454]

i picked up a nikon F90... which in my short search on the net has told me is basicly the european version of teh N90. this thing has WAY more stuff that i can use but id like a littel help with it... school me! what do i need to know. parameters, settings, buttons, oh my!

 

[Plaidfish]

you need to waste loads of money on bad shots and getting them developed to find out they are bad....then get upset because noone repairs analog Cameras anymore and byuy a nice digital camera that does everything the analog ones did and more.....all I can say is there is too much expaining to do for that over a forum....first read a basic photography book and it will explain what all the whistles and bells on your cam do.....then you get to waste all the money on taking bad shots.....

 

[Nathan_454]

lol i here ya. I'm a digital guy all the way, but i couldnt pass up the deal on this camera. i picked it up for 60 bucks with a lens and a flash. I may just sell it to fund a digital of the same quality... I'm undecided as of now

 

[sweetdiesel]

then you get to waste all the money on taking bad shots.....

very very true, be prepared to get about 1 or 2 good shots per roll of film until you get it figured out. If you can swing it take a course in black and white photography to start and spend some time in a darkroom. There are really cool things you can do on an enlarger with some simple tools and patience. And get a decent film scanner, to an extent you can fix many of your screwed up shots on photoshop these days!

 

[Rolex]

It's all about F stops and shutter speeds to control the effects of lighting, motion and depth of field. That, and an understanding of the light meter and knowing what you want to achieve. It's not simple to explain, and if you really want to get into it, you will need to pick up some books on photography.

 

[Plaidfish]

F-Stop controls how much the shutter opens when the buton shutter button is pressed....Shutter speed is how fast it opens and closes...higher speed for faster action the duration of the shutter being open combined w/ the diameter it opens creates an almost infinite array of photo/exposure combinations....experience is the the ONLY way you will learn how to use these functions unless you have a good light meter and want to look up combinations on a chart before taking every shot.....I just switched to digital 2 weeks ago and now I've got about 10,000 dollars of worthless 35mm Canon equipment.....I used to shoot pics for Zoo york and ADI Tri-state skateboard companies......35mm is just too expensive to get proofs done anymore...everyone wants to pump it through an automatic machine and give you crap pics.....I gave up on it.....Nottrying to discourage you cause it is fun, I just can't devote as much time to that hobby anymore bacause I needs to smell some nitro fuel burnin now......

 

[jetmechG550]

Dump it and fund the digital. My wife does some amatuer photography and she was getting so much film developed she was getting a commercial discount. We have a Digital Rebel now from Canon and just love it. Though we are probably going to trade it in for the new one that just came out w/ 8.3mp.

 

[Plaidfish]

jetmech...if she's interested in a good all in one cam i just got the sony DCS-F828 and it kicks arse.....8MP......accepts compact drive media and sony mem stick......built in macro focus and a carl Zeiss lens.....I'm in love......ONLY down side is it is a manual zoom lens, No motor on the zoom...I realy didn't like that anyway but some people do.....it also flips the lens up or down to get better angles on some of your shots......

 

[jetmechG550]

We've got several Canon EF type lens' now they are all interchangeable with the 35mm and the digital. IMO, I compared pictures at the store from a Sony and the Canon and the Canon was just as good on paper even with the two mp dif.

 

[Plaidfish]

the canon stuff is definately tits.....I was just amazed at how versatile the new Cybershot is.....there aren't many upgrades you can do and it seems to have just about every function I need....I wanted the new EOS 20d or the rebel Digital but I just couldn't justify getting top end equipment again if I'm not in the swing of it anymore.....I tried a bunch of different ones from friends and the sony was just a nice all around package....if your wife still does analog then the canon eos stuff would be better as it's interchangeable......does she use any older manual focus canon equipment as well?

 

[jetmechG550]

I've got an old (older than me) Fujica with a telephoto. It's cool for doing a double exposure shot if your trying to mess around a bit. You can also do some closeups a little easier with it. Problem with it is it sucks the life out of the batteries and they are not cheap.

 

[Plaidfish]

My AE-1 went through vietnam in a friend of my fathers pack......it just stopped working again...it's the shutter servo and I can't fix it....happens fairly often and it's like 140 bucks to get it fixed.....love it to death but it's got to become a shelf display now.....I took it to Europe and all over America Snowboarding / skating w/ me.......I've got so much older manual stuff now it's scary....actually I just dropped most of it off at my dad's...he still usees 35mm analog