35mm Film Photography

Yes, those were the ones…

Dymo's_Embosser

Those labels were ubiquitous, schools, homes offices, you name it!

This one runs on computer software. Quite an old version of the Dymo LabelWriter (330 Turbo) but I’ve had it for years and it still works well.

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Nice camera. Pentax 17, out 2024, £499.

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The SLR camera at the back in my photo is a Pentax SP2. a good camera but still with the old Pentax screw thread. The real killer was the button battery for the exposure meter it contained mercury (1970s remember) so was discontinued though I have read there is a way round this if I wanted to revive the camera…

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As you say, everywhere. When they first came out my old man (a headmaster) brought one home to show us. My brother labelled just about every thing in the house, we thought they were a wonderful machine (woe betide him if his spelling was wrong).

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Interesting d00d

I’ve been reading some reviews. It seems that the camera is a kind of compromise between more traditional 35mm film cameras and something that might appeal to the more “modern” photographer. I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable with the half frame format.

Many many decades ago I had an SLR called an Olympus Pen FT (I think it was - though I muddle it up with the Ilford Pan F film I tended to use in it) it was a half frame camera. You got 72 photos on a roll of 36. I thought it was a great format though the frame of course longer vertically than horizontally (looking at photos these days you could say it was way ahead of its time) you just tended to tilt in on its side. but it was also smaller and lighter than a full frame 35mm camera

I had no problem with it because I developed and printed my own films BUT if you took it to processor they charged extra and you received photos half the normal size.

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And possibly image quality?

The lens were excellent and Ilford Pan F was a slow 50 ASA with consequently smaller grain size. With film I think grain size tended to degrade image more than lens quality. You could blow up a frame of Pan F film many times more than, say, Ilford HP5 400ASA film without grain becoming visible.

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I love grain to bits, not everyone’s cup of tea!
Used in the right way it can provide an edge to an image and some handy shutter speeds in low light conditions.

You previously mentioned taking pictures of bands at gigs. I remember Konica 3200 colour film, discontinued I believe.

I just used to push HP5 to 1200 ASA (from memory) as you say very grainy and contrasty but atmospheric.

I liked Ilford film It was more reliable than say Kodak, (and British) funny thing is I rarely used FP4 that was their standard film at 120ASA (again I think that is right going from memory) a compromise between grain and speed.

Personally I’d buy film in bulk and load it into cassettes myself, so much cheaper and efficient, if you had a special job or a test run you could load enough for say 10 frames take it, develop it and have prints the same arvo.

If I needed colour (rare but happened) would buy Ektachrome because there were processors who could have it done in a few hours.

All in the long distant past for me now.

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Blimey! when I shot film, it was 100, 200 or 400.

400 asa was noticeably grainier than 100 or even 200.

Nowadays 3200 iso might look a little murkier than 100 but barely noticeable. I have cameras on Auto ISO with a max limit 3200 for when I want a high shutter speed and big aperture at the same time. The uncontrolled max is 25600.

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I couldn’t help sharing this link, so pertinent.
What memories!
I’m actually sitting in the pub at the moment and stumbled upon this article :+1:

I’d forgotten you had to buy platform tickets in the UK. Strange business.

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Money well spent for the hardcore trainspotter :wink:

That was me until I discovered girls

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I started photography with 35mm with a cheap Olympus camera, before switching to digital. Never a fan of conventual film as it was expensive and you ended up with a physical print which you had to put somewhere, taking up space. I was never really happy with the results, probably because I had a naff camera. Switching over to digital was a revolution for me and never looked back. However, I did manage to take one exceptional shot, taken in Key Largo, Florida in 2001.

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Another topic entirely :slightly_smiling_face: