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35mm film cameras, which one?

Jaffa007

By Jaffa007
in The Astro Lounge

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Jaffa007

Jaffa007

Posted
Posted

Hi All,

Hope this is in the right place, please move if not :p

I do have two digital camera's but not with 'bulb' capability. After looking at all the amazing photo's etc. And the reality that a 300D etc are all out of my price range :D. Webcam's, modified or not are also out due to cost & PC problems etc. So it's back to basics.

I'd like to start at the beginning. So my question is what 35mm film camera's [sLR type for afocal] should I be looking at, cheep'n'cheerful to mid price wise, with cable options etc for long exposer. I've had a look on 'ebay' :lol::D

And once everybody's stopped laughing :p some advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

Posted
Posted

Something like the Nikon F70 would suit you well. You could also use any lenses with the newer Nikon DSLR's like the D70. I am sure that Canon also make similar film bodies but I have no experience of using canon gear as i've always used Nikon.

Something like this perhaps:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Nikon-F70-SLR-Case-80-200mlens-35-80mmlens-manuals_W0QQitemZ330089282360QQihZ014QQcategoryZ30035QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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daz

daz

Posted
Posted

Nikon, Canon, Olypmus - any one of those will do James.

As you point out, you'll need a B setting, and a release cable. Try to get one with a mirror lock-up facility, and preferably one that does not require batteries to hold the shutter open.

Manual SLR's are cheap, but of course, the trade off is the film and development costs

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lunator

lunator

Posted
Posted

Nikon, Canon, Olypmus - any one of those will do James.

As you point out, you'll need a B setting, and a release cable. Try to get one with a mirror lock-up facility, and preferably one that does not require batteries to hold the shutter open.

Manual SLR's are cheap, but of course, the trade off is the film and development costs

Don't forget Pentax

I have an MX SLR, great camera but I hardly use it now.

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Andrew*

Andrew*

Posted
Posted

I'd be very tempted to sell my Minolta and all four lenses for £120 or so, and go for that Canon!

What do you think? It's a nice camera, B setting, cable release, T-adaptor, plenty of CR2 batteries - everything to get you going, and more than capable enough! If you don't need the lenses, it will be much less. I'll decide a price once I know what you want.

Andrew

P.S. admire you for taking the plunge into film astrophotography!

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FLO

FLO

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Posted

I would stick to Canon or Nikon as you can use the same lenses with a DSLR if/when you upgrade.

Its not quite as easy as that. When Canon dropped their manual FD mount in favour of their EF autofocus mount, they left no backwards compatibility. It must have been the right thing to (to widen the lens throat and remove all mechanical linkage between lens and body) as Canon are now number 1 by quite a margin.

When Nikon went AF they retained enough mechanical linkage to enable backwards compatibility. However, when they realised they were losing ground to Canon they reviewed their decision and began to remove the mechanical linkages and build focus motors into the lenses (as with Canon). Consequently, the level of backwards compatibility between Nikon cameras and lenses varies model to model from 100% to nil. You have to really know your cameras or find a shop that cares enough to train their staff!

Pentax and Olympus are your best bets: The Pentax K1000 and MX (particularly the MX) are good choices but my weapon of choice would be an Olympus OM1 for its large, bright focus screen, mirror lock-up and silky smooth operation (particularly the more recent OM1n). They ought to be very cheap as the meter battery (px625) is a mercury type that went out of production some time ago. Also, the OM1 can still be serviced by Luton Camera Repairs, they can even convert the battery compartment to accept Silver Oxide batts and reset the meter accordingly, not that any of that will be necessary for astro.

Did I mention I used to sell cameras......

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FLO

FLO

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Posted

I bow to your superiour knowledge Steve! I just know that the Nikon AF stuff fits my D70 hehe

Actually, I have misread your original post :oops:

I thought you were saying MF lenses worked with modern AF bodies...

To think I wrote three paragraphs worth of response!!!

Sorry Gordon, you are right and I must be overdue my next caffeine shot :lol:

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Jaffa007

Jaffa007

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Thank's go to you all! I bow to all your knowledge and wisdom! :notworthy:

I think I'll pass on the 'starting at the begining' and just sit quietly on the side lines :shock: :lol::D

I'll start saving them pennies........literially!

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richard42

richard42

Posted
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i sold my 350d fro the a100, does have quite a lot of noise at higher iso's but easier to use as a camera thanks to the image stabalsation, have not yet had a real go at astro stuff with it, do think it will like the ed80 :lol: only problem i've found so far is that the astro software will not look at the sony raw files for processing, so it is either a case of using jpeg or converting from raw into jpeg after. But a camera is still a camera.

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