Best time to shoot Film

[brmill26]

It has to be the best time to shoot film ever right now. Film is still quite cheap, as is processing, and the equipment nearly jumps into your hands for little more than a song. Point in case, I wanted to get another TLR to compliment my existing Ricohflex. I typically keep the Ricohflex loaded with Velvia, so I wanted another camera that I could have a B&W film option as well. So I searched eBay and found a very rare geared lens "Firstflex" TLR in excellent cosmetic and working condition. Picked it up for the large sum of $38.

Secondly, I have a friend who's leaving in a couple months to spend a year in France. She likes photography a lot, but since she's trying to pay for all that, a DSLR was out of the question. Well, again I jumped on eBay got her a barely used Nikon N75 for $30. That's 90% depreciation in 5 years. I didn't know much about Nikons, but after some research, that camera has every feature you'd find on mid-level DSLRs today; it definitely has more features than entry level DSLRs. I could hardly believe it. Basically it's as good as or better than a D40/x/D60; it just shoots film. It's really amazing.

The prices on top notch equipment are really unbelievable. 35mm stuff is probably the cheapest; I saw a Nikon N90s go for $36 - it was over $1,000 when new. Of course 35mm film is still very cheap and very available, as is processing and scanning. And even most MF gear is unbelievably cheap. All in all, it's a fantastic time to shoot film. You can get any equipment you want for a steal, and you come in so much cheaper than digital, you can shoot and process years worth of film before you begin to catch up to the cost of digital. And of course, my favorite part, digital simply cannot replica the look of Velvia or of true B&W film.

[photophorous]

Definitely. Shooting film is much cheaper than shooting digital, at least for the first couple of years...assuming you're not a machine gun style shooter. I had an N75. My only complaint about that camera was the lack of manual film speed settings. Otherwise it was a great camera. I'm kinda sad I got rid of it, because it was so small and light.

I recently found a Contax 35mm SLR with a Zeiss 50mm lens for $45 because it had a few minor problems that where easy to fix with a little googling. That's just my most recent steal. I could go on and on. The biggest problem is running out of room to store all your film gear.

Tell your friend she has to shoot some B&W in Paris. It's a rule (says the guy from Texas).

Paul

[drg]

Definitely. Shooting film is much cheaper than shooting digital, at least for the first couple of years...assuming you're not a machine gun style shooter. . . .

. . .
The biggest problem is running out of room to store all your film gear.

Tell your friend she has to shoot some B&W in Paris. It's a rule (says the guy from Texas).

Paul

Good old Tri-X is a great film to shoot in Paris. Night shots with film in the 'city of lights' are just about mandatory.

I decided that I have run out of room for more film gear. I've got way more film bodies than I will ever wear out, particularly at my current rate of film consumption.

The cost of film vs digital is a little more complex than simply it is cheaper. Per image it is actually a lot more costly as there continues to be a fixed cost (film and processing) forever. It can be budgeted to a manageable level and some things are hard to beat.
In the summer of 2004 I traveled extensively with both film and digital and if I had to choose now, digital would easily win. I knew immediately if I had the photo I wanted, built in camera tools (histogram and over/underexposure indicators) also aided in evaluating the quality of the image, and there was not the concern of the film getting damaged prior to processing. I more than paid for both of the compact Canon G-series cameras I was using most of the time that summer in processing costs alone. And I'm not a spray and pray shooter.

I have seen several pro model SLR's at rock bottom prices in the past few weeks. The MF compacts I've been seeking from Fujifilm have skyrocketed in the collector market to a range that isn't practical. They may come down or not.

If you do shoot film 'one more season' get that camera Cleaned, Lubed, and Adjusted to be on the safe side and give yourself one more change to capture those fleeting moments.