my budget is around 350, i'd like to buy a Film SLR camera, but i have some questions. how and were do i take them to get developed and how much would it cost. can i do it at home?
Buy a 35mm camera used, you can get something for under $200, get a Nikon or a Canon.
You can use labs but a darkroom can be a great way to make prints. You may want to first take a darkroom based photo course at the local college to learn how to process film and prints.
Hope this helps.
Mark
if you want to go film, it will cost you alot more than 350, in long run. You can get a used unit for as low as 50$ on ebay, but like stated above, it will require courses and more resources and time to develope pictures. for about 350 you can get an older used unite like the canon xt or olympus e400 unit. if you can find a way to get the film strip converted to negatives, hp makes a printer that can mke prints from negatives and it runs only about 150-200$. hp c8180.
Answer by Siriuz on 10 Jan 2010 01:59:44There are a couple of ways to approach your goal. One way is to consider future lens compatibility with a DSLR. The undisputed leaders in backwards compatibility are Pentax and Nikon.
Pentax introduced its K-mount in 1975 and is still using that mount on its current DSLR cameras. A Pentax K1000 35mm film camera with a 50mm f1.8 lens is considered the top student camera. You can find ones in good condition on eBay or at one of these sites:
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Just be sure to get the Owner's Manual for the camera.
Nikon introduced its N-mount around 1960 and still uses it on their current DSLR cameras. You'll pay more for a used Nikon 35mm film camera than you will a Pentax K1000.
A second way of looking at this is to ignore future lens compatibility. A Minolta SRT-202 or XE-7, either with a 50mm f1.7 or f1.4 lens would be a good choice. The 202 is 100% mechanical and is what my granddaughter is using in her photography class. I primarily use an XE-7 because of its choice of full manual metering or Aperture Priority. It also has a switch to allow easy double or multiple exposures. Minolta changed their lens mount from the SR mount to the A-mount in 1985 with the introduction of the Maxxum 7000 auto focus 35mm camera line. Sony's DSLR cameras use the Maxxum A-mount.
Another viable choice would be a Canon FTb which used the older FD lens mount. Canon also changed their lens mount to the EF mount when they introduced an auto focus 35mm SLR in 1989.
Still another choice would be the Olympus OM-1. It was the smallest and lightest 35mm SLR of its day. Olympus is yet another company that changed their lens mount when they introduced their DSLR line.
One thing using a film camera will teach you is to be deliberative when you're out shooting. You actually develop the habit of thinking about the picture you want to make and how you can use your knowledge of light, composition, exposure and depth of field to make it. None of this Digital nonsense of taking 40 exposures of every subject and hoping one of them will be acceptable. With film every exposure has a hard cost since you first had to buy the film and then to see your results you'll have to pay for processing and printing. This, in my opinion, is a great thing. You learn to think and since good photography requires thinking its a habit that will carry over if you decide to go digital.
I buy all my film on-line in 10 roll "bricks" and have my processing and printing done at Walgreen's. Walgreen's is great about running specials almost every week.
I use Kodak Ektar ISO 100 for most all of my nature and landscape photography although I occasionally shoot Fujicolor Superia Reala ISO 100. For people pictures its hard to beat Kodak Portra 160NC or 400NC ISO 160 or 400, Natural Color. Since I lack access to a darkroom I use Ilford XP2 Super, ISO 400 for my black & white photography. Walgreen's can easily process and print it. Just stress that the prints are supposed to be black & white. I figure it costs me about $15.00 a roll to shoot film. I'm anything but a prolific shooter, averaging about a 36 exposure roll a week. At age 62 I've no delusions about "going pro" so there is no way to justify switching to a DSLR. Besides, I'd want a full-frame DSLR and to replace my Minolta SR mount lenses would cost as much as a small car.
If you're interested in setting up a black & white darkroom then get a copy of the Kodak Darkroom Data Guide. It will tell you every thing you need.
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