Starter but capable film camera for 2022?

[250swb]

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Don't sweat, it's a learning curve with any system, but look at it another way, if you have a digital Leica M or SL all you need is an adapter to mount all your Nikon lenses.

Edited January 21, 2022 by 250swb

[aksclix]

11 minutes ago, 250swb said:

Don't sweat, it's a learning curve with any system, but look at it another way, if you have a digital Leica M or SL all you need is an adapter to mount all your Nikon lenses.

Yea I thought of that.. if I got a Leica M, I might have an option to add a digital M if I ever plan to get one and I can adapt the lens to my SL2 or CL.. 

 

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[pippy]

14 minutes ago, 250swb said:

But changing one non-compatible lens out for the overall usability of the AI/AI-S lenses shouldn't be ignored. With the AI-S lenses you are already into the realms of Auto Exposure and even bodies that offer auto film advance...

Agreed. I suppose it comes down to how much the OP wants to learn about - putting it simplistically - ISO / Shutter-speed / Aperture / TTL metering. IMO learning these basics will free-up a whole world of choices for the rest of one's photographic life. And let's be honest; it's hardly rocket-science...

Philip.

[aksclix]

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

Your 28mm will work on Nikon FM2 only manual focus,

 

But your 1.2/55 Nikkor pre AI will not mount on FM2, it will break the fragile AI lever of FM2.

You can use it with plain  FM, in which the AI lever can be pushed up.

If I removed that claw, would it work mount on the FM2 without breaking anything? 

[aksclix]

12 minutes ago, pippy said:

Agreed. I suppose it comes down to how much the OP wants to learn about - putting it simplistically - ISO / Shutter-speed / Aperture / TTL metering. IMO learning these basics will free-up a whole world of choices for the rest of one's photographic life. And let's be honest; it's hardly rocket-science...

Philip.

Just to clarify, I am not new to photography.. I’ve been shooting with DSLRs for over 15 years… I don’t make a living out of photography as a business but I was getting paid gigs from time to time for sports, concerts and family portraits.. other than that most of my photography profits are going towards a good cause.. 

I am new to film photography.. that is all

[a.noctilux]

16 minutes ago, aksclix said:

If I removed that claw, would it work mount on the FM2 without breaking anything? 

It's not the "claw" the problem.

The rear mount itself of the pre AI lenses is a bit too long or too large.

Nikon used to replace (services) pre AI lenses with compatible AI Nikon  mount to use on later Nikon from FM2 up.

 

have a read here for AI conversion

not that easy affair (link to Table of compatibility)

Edited January 21, 2022 by a.noctilux

[pippy]

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13 minutes ago, aksclix said:

Just to clarify, I am not new to photography...

In which case the world really is your oyster in terms of cameras / lenses. As long as you understand how to interpret the available light and / or take a meter-reading(*) - and I'm sure you do - then choose whatever system takes your fancy and have fun!

Philip.

[philipus]

@aksclix Though it may not mount one or two of your Nikon lenses I would also suggest the FM3. I'm constantly amazed by it's design. It works as a fully mechanical camera and as a fully electronic camera, in both modes with shutter speeds up to 1/4000. I know the FM2 has the same top speed but the AE in the FM3 is really handy, particularly for slide film. In AE the shutter is electronically controlled which gives exceptionally accurate exposures (provided you know how to meter the scene of course; there's no matrix metering or such). I love the metering needle it uses. It's unobtrusive and very accurate. True, in very dark surroundings it's not as visible as screaming LEDs but I've never found it to be much of a problem due to the AE.

Edited January 21, 2022 by philipus

[RayD28]

The OP got lots of good recommendations.  If he goes 35mm, I suggest getting a roll of Potra 400 and high quality scans.  The sharpness and colors are in the same class as some digital sensors and IMHO will generate a "wow" response.  

There are probably other films as good as Portra but it's the one I have recent experience.  

[aksclix]

Thank you all.. it’s a bit late for suggestions now.. 😁 chose this over the FM as it only had 1/1000 shutter speed.. luckily, found a 105 f/2.5 with the same seller and got both.. for now, it has a dubblefilm jelly 200 roll which I had lying around for no reason .. it’s not such a great film but good for wasting it on practice shots.. will report on this later 😌

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[aksclix]

I’ve got a stupid silly question.. if I get the portra 400 film, does that mean I have to shoot at ISO 400 on the FM2? Or I could shoot at any ISO irrespective of the ISO rating on the film?  Am I simply overriding the ISO of the film when I do that? 

Edited January 22, 2022 by aksclix

[malligator]

15 minutes ago, aksclix said:

I’ve got a stupid silly question.. if I get the portra 400 film, does that mean I have to shoot at ISO 400 on the FM2? Or I could shoot at any ISO irrespective of the ISO rating on the film? 

That's a loaded question. The short answer is...you're in charge.

Long answer...you can shoot at whatever ISO you want. That's called your Exposure Index (EI). You then push or pull the development to compensate, or not. Shooting at a different ISO will over or underexpose. I would say stick to the box speed unless you know what you're going for and how to do it. Also, keep in mind, whatever EI you expose for you'll have to do it for the entire roll.

Do an internet search for Exposure Index and pushing and pulling film.

Edited January 22, 2022 by malligator

[logan2z]

36 minutes ago, malligator said:

That's a loaded question. The short answer is...you're in charge.

Long answer...you can shoot at whatever ISO you want. That's called your Exposure Index (EI). You then push or pull the development to compensate, or not. Shooting at a different ISO will over or underexpose. I would say stick to the box speed unless you know what you're going for and how to do it. Also, keep in mind, whatever EI you expose for you'll have to do it for the entire roll.

Do an internet search for Exposure Index and pushing and pulling film.

Just to add to what @malligatorsaid, with film you want to protect the shadows rather than the highlights, which is the opposite of digital  - you'll often hear the common refrain  "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights".   So it's fairly common to overexpose a bit to ensure that you capture enough shadow detail.  I shoot B&W negative film exclusively - Tri-X 400 - and I usually rate it a stop slower at 200.  That gives me a bit of leeway to avoid underexposure.  But give box speed a try and adjust from there.

Edited January 22, 2022 by logan2z

[andrew01]

$3k is a huge budget for a film camera and lenses.  You have many great choices.  I would spend way less than that to start and see if you like it. Some ideas as follows:

 

For around $400 for camera and some lenses:

Canon EOS 1N or EOS3, Nikon F100 - closest to digital camera experience.

Pentax MX - classic manual camera. Factor in the cost of a service.

Nikon FM2N. as above but more expensive.

Contax RX and Zeiss lenses.

 

For around $800 for camera and some lenses:

Nikon F3, Canon F1 new, Pentax LX, Olympus OM4ti - classic pro cameras.  The LX will cost a bit more for a good one, get a late model and get it serviced by a Pentax specialist.

 

For around $1500 for camera and some lenses:

Leica R6.2 - superb manual SLR, lenses pricy but a fraction of Leica M lenses

Leica M2/3 with Zeiss/Voigtlander lenses - buy the body from a trusted Leica dealer.

Canon EOS 1V

 

$2k to $2.5k

Hasselblad 500CM full kit serviced

Rolleiflex 2.8F

Leica M6 with one Zeiss or Voigtlander lens

Nikon F6 with lenses

 

[Fotoklaus]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb aksclix:

I’ve got a stupid silly question.. if I get the portra 400 film, does that mean I have to shoot at ISO 400 on the FM2? Or I could shoot at any ISO irrespective of the ISO rating on the film?  Am I simply overriding the ISO of the film when I do that? 

Just set the camera to box speed and that´s it. Color negative film should rather be a bit overexposed than under, Color slide film the other way round. With slide film you have to be more

precise with your exposure, as it has not the forgiving range of negative film.

Yo can shoot the Portra at 200 ISO or 800, but then you have to shoot thw whole roll the same setting, as it has to be developed a bit different then

as when using ISO 400. Yo can´t shoot one frame at 100 and the other at 1600.

With B&W film you don´t have the standard developing processes (C41 neg., E6 slide), as there are a bunch of diferent developers around.

But for example a Tmax400 will work fine with Kodak D76 Developer at box speed and the times used as written in the Kodak data sheets.

So just start with standard settings and get used to your camera.

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Fotoklaus

[Fotoklaus]

vor 11 Stunden schrieb philipus:

@aksclix Though it may not mount one or two of your Nikon lenses I would also suggest the FM3. I'm constantly amazed by it's design. It works as a fully mechanical camera and as a fully electronic camera, in both modes with shutter speeds up to 1/4000. I know the FM2 has the same top speed but the AE in the FM3 is really handy, particularly for slide film. In AE the shutter is electronically controlled which gives exceptionally accurate exposures (provided you know how to meter the scene of course; there's no matrix metering or such). I love the metering needle it uses. It's unobtrusive and very accurate. True, in very dark surroundings it's not as visible as screaming LEDs but I've never found it to be much of a problem due to the AE.

I have a lot of Nikons from F2, F3, F5, FM, FM2, Fm3a, FE, FE2 and so on. The most versatile camera with the best value for money is the FE2, in my opinion.

Shutter up to 1/4000, 1/250 flash sync, TTL-flash (even with newer flashes), AE-Mode, Long Auto-Exposures possible. So in general everything that a Fm3a does.

The FM3a is very expensive, and the additional mechanical shutter mode is hardly ever used. The FEs and FE2s are very reliable, so in real life

the lack of a mechanical shutter is not really important.

 

[pippy]

3 hours ago, aksclix said:

I’ve got a stupid silly question.. if I get the portra 400 film, does that mean I have to shoot at ISO 400 on the FM2? Or I could shoot at any ISO irrespective of the ISO rating on the film?  Am I simply overriding the ISO of the film when I do that? 

Good catch! Congrats and have fun!

If you will be getting colour neg. film commercially processed you will have to stay fairly close to the rated ASA / ISO because the lab will be putting it through at the same time as everything else so you will be unlikely to get them to push- or pull-process your film. If you rate the film at ISO 3200, for example, and the film goes through the Dev. Process as normal then the film will be three stops underexposed and pretty much useless.

Confirming what  others have mentioned I normally rate C-41 film slower than indicated on the box. For the way I interpreted my metering systems (YMMV) I found for ISO 400 film setting the camera to ISO 320 worked best. For ISO 100 I used ISO 80. You get the idea; roughly -20% of box-rating.

If you shoot B'n'W or E-6 you could rate the film pretty as you please (within reason!) and, if using one, ask the lab. to develop accordingly; i.e. rating 400 film at ISO 800 = 1 stop push, 3200 = 3-stop push etc. You should bear in mind that push-processing WILL change how the emulsion performs in terms of grain-structure, your contrast-curve and several other things......

Processing B'n'W at home is hardly complicated but there IS a knack to be learned. If you adopt this approach then you can tailor the results by careful selection from many different types of developer which can each be used at different dilutions and so on so as to get as close as possible to the results you desire. But that all takes a certain amount of time and practice...

Philip.

Edited January 22, 2022 by pippy

[oldwino]

Nice FM2! If I were you, I would sell that non-AI 55/1.2. You do not want to put it on your FM2. I would also suggest trying to find an AI version of that lens, because it is a really special lens in terms of rendering. They seem to be going for around US$300 lately for mint copies.

That 105/2.5 is a great one, too!

[Danner]

Nikon F100 with a range of professional-grade D-AF Nikkors.  All can be had at bargain prices, and $3k will buy a lot.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[aksclix]

1 hour ago, oldwino said:

Nice FM2! If I were you, I would sell that non-AI 55/1.2. You do not want to put it on your FM2. I would also suggest trying to find an AI version of that lens, because it is a really special lens in terms of rendering. They seem to be going for around US$300 lately for mint copies.

That 105/2.5 is a great one, too!

Yea, I won’t be mounting the 55 1.2 on that.. the seller had an FM too and even on that the 55 mounted tight and the non had to be pulled back for the 55 to mount.. he said this ain’t possible with the FM2.. as someone suggested on this thread I got the 105 (instead of the usual 50 1.8)

I’ll just leave the ISO at box speed then.. interesting to learn that the whole film has to be shot at that speed.. thinking about it a little makes that obvious though.. 

thank you all for the patient explanations.. appreciate it much