Looking for a Guide to old school film cameras.?

Question

I am thinking about buying an old film camera and shooting some films as hobby. I know nothing about them, but filming things looks to be pretty interesting and old cameras are not very expensive. Are there some guides online or books that contain helpful information that would help meet to start up on this hobby? Is there some cheap/solid equipment that I should be aware off? Thank you.

Answer 1

Do you mean a still camera for taking pictures....or are you interested in getting an old 8mm or 16mm movie camera?



For taking pictures, sure, I can recommend a lot of great vintage 35mm and medium format cameras.



If you want a really antique camera, then I would recommend the Argus C3. It's a 35mm rangefinder camera. Everything is manual on it, so you will have to learn how to use manual exposure. But it's not that hard to learn, and you should use manual exposure anyway because you can have a lot more control and creativity with your pictures. You can get the Argus C3 dirt cheap at antique shops, thrift shops, eBay, etc. But it's actually a really good camera and will take very sharp pictures. It's made entirely out of metal and it's very solid and reliable.



Here's a Wikipedia article about it:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_C3



Minolta also made a lot of nice 35mm SLR's. The Minolta SRT-101 and SR-1 are both great cameras and you can find them for fairly cheap. I have both of them.



If you want to try medium format (120 size roll film) then I can recommend a few cameras you should think about. The Yashica A is a great camera. It's a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera. They're a little bit more expensive, but I managed to find one on eBay for about $65. It's also completely manual exposure and manual focus. It's very well made and it's actually one of my favorite cameras. In fact, I have to laugh when people rush out to buy overpriced crapply plastic lomography cameras like the Holga, Diana, etc when they can get a REAL all-metal medium format camera like the Yashica A for the same price or even less.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverscape/3863415260/in/set-72157616703204253/



The Graflex 22 is another good TLR.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverscape/3441751304/in/set-72157616703204253/



I could go on and on. There are a million great vintage film cameras out there. It all just depends on what you're looking for. Most of them (actually, the best ones) are going to be completely manual. So you will have to learn how to use manual exposure control. You have to set the aperture and shutter speed yourself. But if you have any questions, just email me.



And if you do want an 8mm movie camera, I can help you with that too. I have a collection of antique wind-up movie cameras and I shoot with them sometimes as a hobby. (YES, you can still get 8mm and 16mm movie film. You can easily order it online).

Answer 2

those old kodak guides to 35mm photography are a good start. I found one at a thrift store for $1.99



If you buy an old film SLR and are thinking of eventually upgrading to a digital SLR, just know that some of those old lenses may not be compatible with the new digital bodies (canon being notoriously famous for this). Many old nikon lenses work well with both the old and new bodies. So do Pentax. With minolta, only the newer lenses work with the sony bodies. Same with olympus I think (not sure). There are also cameras with the M42 mount (these lenses can be mounted to new cameras with an adapter, though you don't get automatic focus and auto-aperture). Konica lenses are good but functional Konica bodies are getting harder to find (and repairing cameras is expensive and not always possible due to lack of spare parts).

Answer 3

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Answer 4

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