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I decided to take a few photography classes at Orange coast College and a prerequisite to the digital classes is that you take the basic film class. I was very reluctant but signed up anyway. Man, I can’t even describe how interesting it has been so far! And it’s pretty inexpensive. I just bought off Craigslist an old-school Canon AE-1 with a 50mm lens, a grip, an autowind, a flash unit, a fisheye lens, a 70-222 macro lens, a teleconverter, and five new filters for $125! The polarizing filter alone – which will fit on my 30D's EF lenses – is worth more than what I spent on the entire lot! Anyway, I am going to shoot some black & whites at a car show this weekend. Here is my new-to-me toy!
Very cool, Rick! I'll look forward to seeing what you do with it. I think it's great that the film class is a requirement, too.
Mark
I think it's great that the film class is offered, but I don't know how I feel about it being a *requirement*.
There's nothing you can learn about the art of photography with a film camera that you can't learn with a digital SLR in "Manual" mode, except for the mechanics of actually developing the film, which is kind of moot if you're going to end up shooting digital later anyway.
It's true that digital makes it easier to fall into bad habits, like getting lazy with composition, knowing that at least one picture out of a hundred will be passable by sheer luck, but that's just a bad habit - not an inherent drawback of digital cameras.
I think after a generation has passed, we'll start seeing students learning on digital from the start, and they won't be any worse for it.
Typing students no longer mess with correction fluid and manual typewriters, painting students aren't required to mix their own pigments to make paint, and sculpting students don't have to make clay out of raw minerals and binders.
There are applications where film isn't going anywhere soon, like high-end portrait and landscape photography, but 35mm isn't the best choice for that anyway - most of the serious portrait and landscape photographers are shooting medium-format and large-format film. Most of the remaining portrait and landscape photographers that ARE still using 35mm have gone to digital.
For the applications where 35mm is the best choice, digital has just about eclipsed film. For some applications, like photojournalism, the tipping point occured several years ago.
Heck, if anyone would like a near-mint Nikon N55 35mm film SLR with a 28-80mm zoom lens, let me know - I'll give it to you for the price of shipping. You can even have my leftover film - since getting my Nikon DSLR, the only pictures I've taken with the film camera were the ones I took to finish off the roll that was loaded.
Here's a stock photo of the Nikon N55, but mine looks just the same:
The OCC program is serious, not the personal enlightenment variety that's offered at most schools.
Be that as it may, I still maintain that other than the mechanics of developing your own film, I can't think of anything significant/useful that you can learn with a 35mm film camera that you can't learn using a decent digital SLR that has a "Manual" mode.
Things like composition, lighting, aperture, focal lengths, shutter speed, depth-of-field, white balance, exposure compensation, etcetera etcetera etcetera are just as relevant with digital photography as they are with film.
Fine, but an entire course? Do aspiring writers have to complete an entire course using a manual typewriter before they can use word processors? Do drawing students have to make their own paper for their first semester?
And if you're worried about "foundation", why use 35mm film? 35mm film is about as far removed from the "foundations" of photography as a 1955 Cadillac is to the "foundation" of automotive engineering.
If you want to learn about the foundations of photography, why not go back to the beginning and use home-made 8" x 10" (or larger) wet plates? That'll teach you something about exposure and lighting! Or at the very least, use 4" X 5" large-format film for the class, since that's a medium that will be around longer in professional use than 35mm film.
The 35mm film class is a prerequisite because that's what the faculty and instructors grew up with. Once that's passed, the situation will change.
The *true* foundations of photography (the nature of light, exposure, lighting, contrast, composition, perspective and the effects of lens optics, to name a few) are media-independent. They're just as important whether you're shooting 35mm, large format, medium format, 126, 110, digital, or any other format.
Photography is an art, and the art isn't in the equipment.
Congrats on the "old world" purchase. My first learner camera was a school-supplied Canon FTB... a few years earlier than AE-1's. While you're at it, take it off auto and use the meter.
Amazing thing about photography is that the basic science of knowing how shutter speed and aperture relate (and long vs. short lenses and when or why to use each) is vastly more simple than any of today's cameras with their myriad "auto" functions.
You can also find pro-level film cameras at give-away prices. Hope your photo classes are B&W! Not only is the chemical-based darkroom a lot of fun, but previsualizing photos in terms of black and white is a great discipline and adventure.
__________________
2006 Bayerische Racing Green/Black JCW MCs,
1969 Chili Red/Old English White Morris Mini Pick-up MMC #514
Will you be developing your own prints, that is a lost art which few know, I have been doing that for a few years now, and want a didgital despratly
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No Options, All the fun
Will you be developing your own prints, that is a lost art which few know, I have been doing that for a few years now, and want a didgital despratly
Hawg... What are you saying? Digital is so anesceptic! You can't get your fingers dirty in the chemicals... No stained fingernails, no soul! --just kidding.
Having experience with digital and analog will enhance anyone's understanding of the media. I love both. I also love/hate both!
Have fun with it.
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2006 Bayerische Racing Green/Black JCW MCs,
1969 Chili Red/Old English White Morris Mini Pick-up MMC #514
I also have a new Canon 30D with a good collection of lenses. As much as I love digital, this class is making me LEARN photography out of economic necessity if nothing else. Digital photography is cheap. I don't give much thought to snapping a hundred shots in the hope that one turns out. With the cost of film, paper and other film processing materials, I am NOT going to snap a hundred shots! I give MUCH more thought to composition, shutter speed & aperture settings, lighting, and composition. I plan out each shot rather than just snapping and hoping.
Congrats on the great find, Rick! I think my dad still has the AE-1 I used in high school. It was a rugged old beast, for sure! Interesting that it was released in April of '76, the same year I was! (Er, born, not released from prison or anything ) I remember a girl I worked with on the yearbook had the higher-end AE-1 Program, and I was quite envious. Those were the good old days; we had a small dark room where I would develop a lot of my own film, too. I enjoyed that, but digital gives you *so* much more flexibility and instant gratification. I've never felt the need to go back to film, but it might be cool to get my hands on that old camera and set up a dark room in my basement...
There seems to be a polarization in photography - digital has essentially replaced the professional market while film is preferred by artists
Amen! The key word is artist I shoot what I call "Origional or Classic" cameras and I so love that film click. I borrowed my daughters kick butt digi and hated it. Not for me. Its all about preference.
With the camera you have you can shoot Infrared without fogging. I shoot IR with a Pentax K1000. If you have a B&W red filter (#25 Teffin is what I use) all you need is a roll of Kodak HIE and you are set. Look at the IR pics in my gallery. o_o
Digital has essentially replaced 35mm in the pro world, but there's still plenty of pros shooting with medium & large format film.
Shooting with medium and large format digital. Current top of the line pro capture rigs are up to 39 megapixels and mount on both medium format cameras like H'blads, Fujis and Mamiyas, as well as on medium and large format view cameras.
I expect that 35mm digital like the Canon 1DsMk2 and 5d will be where a lot of the development will be. I can't wait to see what the next generation of pro 35 digital cameras will offer.
For myself, I just can't give up the precision of digital capture. What you see is what you get.
You forgot to mention the need for a super dark room or film-changing bag so you don't fog the film.
Here's one (clickable) example of my infrared pics.
-J/C
I didn't forget, I was gonna give him all the specs (dark loading ,IR settings, chemicals and processing) if he was interested in trying it. Most people rethink HIE when they see the price per roll. Thank goodness its 36 exp.
I've been at this a while, but good for you to mention that.
Happy hump day! PB
You make me blush. Thank you Rick. I LOVE IR, have a roll in my Pentax K1000 right now. And I have to promote Wales any way I can. IR is indeed a pain, you either love or hate it, but everyone should give it a shot (silly pun) I'm working on IR pix of my Mini now. I've added alot of exterior chrome since I got him so the next should have alot of sparkle.
Happy Hump Day, PB
I have the same camera, it was my dad's. He got it because the one that it had replaced was left on the roof of the car when we were on vacation in florida. Ah, the memories.
It is a GREAT camera!! I have many lenses and accessories for it. The shutter speeds are a bit off but I know what it can and can't do. I love to shoot black and white with this camera.
My first SLR's were a couple Ricoh Singlex's in the late 60's. Love B&W darkroom work. I REALLY miss Panatomic-X, a ASA 32 B&W film from Kodak that was just amazingly rich in tone and SHARP. You can find great deals on a lens for older cameras. Got a 135mm F1.8 for $30 bucks, and a Vivatar Series 1 500mm F6.3 long focus (not mirror) for $25. Back in the day when cameras were made of METAL!
My oldest camera is a Kodak 1A autographic from about 1908... I eventually started collecting cameras too. Not the high $ ones, but ones that have neat or unusual features.
__________________ 2005 MCSC: LSD, Aerokit, Alta CAI and 15%, Magnaflow Catback, Hawk Ceramics, TSW XBrace chassis brace, Kosei K1's w/ Goodyear F1 GS-D3's 1969 Westerly Cirrus: Kappa sails, 155% genoa :-) , CDI roller furl/reef, Yamaha 4 stroke, Interlux Polyurethane, West system Epoxies and glass. My "Open Motoring On The Dragon Video"
--just kidding.
) I remember a girl I worked with on the yearbook had the higher-end AE-1 Program, and I was quite envious. Those were the good old days; we had a small dark room where I would develop a lot of my own film, too. I enjoyed that, but digital gives you *so* much more flexibility and instant gratification. I've never felt the need to go back to film, but it might be cool to get my hands on that old camera and set up a dark room in my basement...
I shoot what I call "Origional or Classic" cameras and I so love that film click. I borrowed my daughters kick butt digi and hated it. Not for me. Its all about preference.
Hybrid Mode
