The Photography Thread 2

[charlesr]

Not sure if photo bucket lets you look at full size. I'll have to put them on Flickr when I get back. Hopefully it lets you look at the other recent pics. There's one from 2 miles up on a volcano at 5 am

[Garf]

@Garf - Fime as in using good old camera film and not just a setting on a digital DLSR? Nice stuff. I like the Mini shot

Yep, I am giving film a go - currently using an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic from around 1970 :


Excited... by GarySmith70, on Flickr

Really enjoying it so far, a totally different experience to digital photography. The camera is fully manual (although it has basic light meter) and you don't know what you've got until the film is developed. I have set myself a rule to not edit the digital versions of the film shots (apart from maybe a minor straighten) so they are generally straight out of the camera.

I'd like to get a medium format camera next I think...

[Yakumo]

So cool and what fantastic shots you are getting with it. In the likes of Hard Off over here you can buy classic cameras like that for not a lot of money. I'll take a sneaky pic of the hard off selection next time I'm down there for you.

[Ginger Tosser]

I'd like to get a medium format camera next I think...

I'd recommend one, they are great fun (though heavy if you get an old Mamiya TLR).

[Yakumo]

Charlesr, how are you liking the GX1? Those shots you took look very nice indeed. Is it what you imagined or better or worse?

[MartyG]

Some nice shots there Garf - using film really does change how you think about your photography, although when I'm shooting with it, I still habitually end up looking at the back of camera

[Yakumo]

just got back from a 267 mile drive to Aso with the family. We stayed in a 5 star Mitsubishi members only hotel (My wife works for Mitsubishi) so I was the poorest bastard there Of course I took the camera with me. Pulled off 170 keepers plus a few cool driving videos which I'll put on to YouTube at some point as well as a 1080p scenic video. The GH2 can pull of some amazing video that wouldn't look out of place on TV. Take a look at this one I made a few months back.

[smouty]

Yep, I am giving film a go - currently using an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic from around 1970 :


Excited... by GarySmith70, on Flickr

Really enjoying it so far, a totally different experience to digital photography. The camera is fully manual (although it has basic light meter) and you don't know what you've got until the film is developed. I have set myself a rule to not edit the digital versions of the film shots (apart from maybe a minor straighten) so they are generally straight out of the camera.

I'd like to get a medium format camera next I think...

I 'learned' what little I know about photography on a similar camera, a Chinon CEII which did have a semi-auto mode but was on the whole mainly used manual.
It had a beautiful 50mm f1.4 lens which I tended to use most of the time.
I recently bought my daughter a D3200 and wouldn't know where to start to use it manually but I have seen some M42 to Nikon adaptors so will be looking out for some cheap, fast lenses.

There is a whole group on Flickr based on that cult Chinon lens - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh12345...7629149882057/

[MartyG]

Be aware that the Nikons won't focus at infinity on these lenses. Also, the entry level Nikons won't meter either so you'll need to use the sunny 16 rule for exposure.

They're a lot of fun to play with though.

[smouty]

Thanks MartyG. I had read that but for what I want I can't see it being too big an issue
As you said it will be just for playing about with.

[fishbowlhead]

Few from Sunday, man i love my 35mm prime, such a versatile bit of kit.


hangon.jpg by bigfishbowlhead, on Flickr


up in the air.jpg by bigfishbowlhead, on Flickr


surfsoff.jpg by bigfishbowlhead, on Flickr

[Garf]

So cool and what fantastic shots you are getting with it. In the likes of Hard Off over here you can buy classic cameras like that for not a lot of money. I'll take a sneaky pic of the hard off selection next time I'm down there for you.

Yeah, cheers, would love to see that.

I'd recommend one, they are great fun (though heavy if you get an old Mamiya TLR).

Ha, a TLR of some variety was on my shopping list.

Some nice shots there Garf - using film really does change how you think about your photography, although when I'm shooting with it, I still habitually end up looking at the back of camera

Yep, same here Am enjoying using film, just the process of slowing down and thinking more - still getting a lot of duff shots though !

[Garf]

Few from Sunday, man i love my 35mm prime, such a versatile bit of kit.

Cool shots, the second is quite abstract - is that Chalkwell by any chance ?

[charlesr]

Charlesr, how are you liking the GX1? Those shots you took look very nice indeed. Is it what you imagined or better or worse?

I'll add some thoughts when I can actually think (jetlag), but my initial impressions are:
Outdoors - amazong.
Indoors - way better than my Ixus, although it can come up with some really wacky colours while attempting to deal with the low light - playing with the whitebalance helps, but I've yet to understand how to consistently get that right.
Touchscreen is mega.
Intelligent Auto seems to work most of the time.
Still struggling with the slightly unintuitive controls when in the more manual modes. Well different controls to canon anyway....

Picture quality is in the main exactly what I was looking for.
And for anyone searching for the best camera bag for the Panasonic Lumix GX1 with 14-42 X Lens, check out this Lowepro Dashpoint 20. It's an absolutely perfect size, although there's no space for spare battery etc, but for lugging it around while on holiday, and charging over night if necessary, it was a great bag, with fast opening zip access. Just remember to load the camera into the bag while holding the grip so it's easy to remove too.

[fishbowlhead]

Cool shots, the second is quite abstract - is that Chalkwell by any chance ?

It is are you a local lad Garf?

I've pondered getting my old Minolta slr out a few times but I'm well out of practice with film, plus I keep forgetting to actually buy some, in the end it's just so much more convenient with a dslr.