Begginer's talk

[Permanent]

Well it started off with 'an old camera' I found at my granny's. I always liked photography and I just feel LUST for old things like that and thought to myself: "I'm so gonna bring it to life." Heh, like it would be something special.. Anyhow, it was some time ago. Now I've already figured it is a FED 3 type B with some kind of N-61, 2.8/52 lens[Yes, I do live in a post-SSRS country^^]. Don't know much about it, even tho I read whole bunch of forum threads, topics in various internet sites..

So basicly, I know the theoretical part of how to use it and what do the controls do, but that's not fair enough. I'm very serious on getting full equipment to work with it. Maybe some decent film scanner.. I don't know where to start

Maybe people here could help with what should I get first and basic information as what film to use, where to take or not to take photos et cetera. I know people like me are annoying with not knowing anything and crappy English.. But I got potential, I'm really into trying it in all ways. Just need to get some grip on what's going on

 

[nzeeman]

hello and welcome to rff!!!

if you like old things - maybe a good combination with your camera would be efke films. they come in 25,50,100 and 400 ASA. they use 50s emulsions which goes great with those old lenses. lens you have is industar 61 *older versions of it were called industar 26 and later industar 61 l/d) since you are from post sssr country you probably can find some cheap zorkis or fed cameras with other lenses. (zorkis and fed have compatibile mounts and share their lenses, and kiev cameras have different mount). you could search for jupiter 8 lens. it can be found very cheaply and its a great lens. that stuff would be enough for start. maybe you can only can find some developer and fixer and and developing tank develop your own film(it is cheaper than to develop it in shop), and print it somewhere until you get enlarger.
i hope you will like using your fed.
wish you all the best!!
srdjan

 

[moretto]

Hi, Permanent, and welcome.

Fed 3 is a nice piece of equipment, and the lens is a Industar 61 (the N is reverse,i guess...cirilic to I as in Industar). Nice contrasty glass. Basically, You go out and SHOOT 😉). If you are having trouble with exposures, maybe it would be good to use a lightmeter..In post USSR maybe you can easy find a good working Leningrad.
Full equip....I'm not sure what you think by that...
Lenses, basicaly m39 mount (LTM), for sterters:
http://www.rus-camera.com/lenses.php?lens=fedzorki&picture=fed_lens.jpg

Of course, for any other than 50mm, You will need a viewfinder, because Fed has RF for 50mm..

Film is really NOT an issue: except if You want to go BW and develop it yourself..scanners..hm..if You are not aiming for professional, there is a bunch of flatbed with negative film features on the market...I have a Canon.

Don't worry about crappy English...as You see my location, my English is also crappy, but people on this forum are very tolerant and understanding.

You can see a pic here taken with Fed 4, Industar 61, and scanned with Canon.

Best luck and good light !

 

[Permanent]

Oh, thanks for a warm welcome.

Efke films.. Gotta write it down^^ Hopefully I can find some around. And the film number gives you what? I know it has something to do with the light. The bigger the number - the better light you need. Or I just got something wrong..

Yes, you're totally right. I can prolly find some cheap lenses. And I will, thanks for the advice

But I doubt on getting the film developed by myself. I'm a pretty busy man and I'll have not more than 3-5 films taken a month and those tanks/chemicals seem hard to get. Not to mention I'd need a whole darkroom to enlarge/develop them.[once again, sorry if I got something wrong]

Is it possible for me to get films developed at a lab and then scan the film with a film scanner at home? I want my photo retouching skills get involved into this actually🙂 Of course, I have to admit that developing and enlarging pictures myself would be way more charming.. But maybe someday

 

[moretto]

Well, I don't know about Your location, but I usually develop it in a shop...for about 1,50 €, and scan it at home...colour films, that is..I use Efke and Ilford films for BW, as Srdjan suggested, but it is hard to find a shop that will develop it, so I do it myself. Today they are mostly "Digital studio", so for manual BW development, You will have to do it at home.

And Yes, higher the number, higher the sensitivity of the film.. but for this basics, You will have to Google a little bit..😉

Okay, some basics..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_speed

 

[Permanent]

Hey moretto. Thanks a lot, it helped. I'm about to look through some native internet shops. They usually have USSR stuff going really cheap.

I said 'full equipment' just because I have no idea what do I need to get ready^^ Heh. And yeah, I had a flatbed scanner in mind by saying that. I think I'll go for canon too, with a decent DPI..

You know, I'm sorta an artist at the theater and I find it similiar to photography. You just don't do it for a result.. Other way you'd get a cheap digital camera which would do 'a picture' too. But it's in the process.. Trying new things, experimenting, doing mistakes.. It's all in it. Of course you might come up with something nice, that's why we're all here^^ but it's just an extra piece of the cake. So basicly I'm not aiming for a best picture in the world^^

Btw, people here are really nice. I've been looking around here for a while.. The people is just why I decided to post here

 

[Permanent]

Yes I know Moretto, I had done the googling part before I posted^^ Heh, just knowing it from googling and trying it for real are two different things.

Well, here[in Lithuania] labs develop films for ~1euro or less with [some kinda] C41 process and they do [some kinda] 'hand made develop' for 2euros. Not sure what is it, but I think you can develop BW for those 2euros.

 

[RayPA]

Get some C41 film (color or b&w), shoot it, and have it processed and scanned to CD, before going out and buying a scanner, b&w film, and a processing kit. Learn how to use the camera and how to expose film first. If you don't have a meter, learn about the sunny 16 rule and how to use it, or buy a cheap meter. Don't put the cart before the horse. You might like photography, but not like the analogue process. Good luck.

🙂

 

[moretto]

O, that's very good. C-41 is the process for colour films..i can almost say..all of them. But BW developing for 2 euros is very good..so I can suggest You get some Efke films if you can. Cheap and old fashioned. Produced in Zagreb, in Croatia...I dont know if they are exported to Your country. But there are others, not so cheap, but better and more modern..Fuji Acros, Ilford-all of them, Agfa.... the alternative is to use colour film, and, once scanned, You can easy convert to BW...however..it's not the same thing..

 

[biomed]

Welcome,
Your english is very good. You might check out these web sites:

http://www.thepeaches.com/photography/Basics.htm

http://www.ctlow.ca/Photo/Photo.html

http://www.rosengren.net/photo/basic.htm

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basics_of_the_Camera

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

There a lots of web sites dealing with photography. Just remember to enjoy yourself. You might want to check out Stephen's site too. He has a wealth of information about rangefinder cameras.

http://cameraquest.com/

Best of luck,
Mike

 

[Permanent]

Thnx RayPA, nice tip. I have some original russian instruction of a film. It has the kind of chart with the sunny 16 rule explained. I just have to find it again^^

I'm not buying stuff right away and I won't untill I'll be certain about it🙂 Several months have passed and I'm still thinking of it..

 

[Permanent]

Eh, I've never seen them around Moretto. Maybe just coz I was not looking good enough. But I have to find a more professional shop than my last one^^ The shop assistant could only pick the exact film off the shelf

Thanks Mike, I'll truelly check them out.

 

[MartinP]

If you want to try black and white, may I suggest trying to find a C41 black and white film, instead of using the normal b+w process. The reason is that it should be harder for a lab to mess up processing C41 (the equipment is automated and the process is standardised) but developing fragile old emulsions, such as Efke, in what may be a 'one-time-fits-all' b+w development-time may end up as a lower quality and less consistent too.

The Kodak C41 film has an orange cast, like colour neg film, which may interfere if you want to do wet-printing from those negatives in the future. The Ilford version is fine for wet-printing and I am not sure about the Fujifilm possibilities (is there a C41 Fuji film ?). Both versions, and colour negative film, apparently scan very well.

As a short term idea, you could possibly remove the colour from scans of colour negative film, using your computer, if you wanted b+w results.

 

[Spyderman]

moretto: what a beautiful place. where is it ? I'd love to go ther someday...

 

[nzeeman]

moretto: what a beautiful place. where is it ? I'd love to go ther someday...

it looks like croatia coast to me. and aandrej - it is not important where it is - when i was a kid - before our war i went to croatia caost many times. i can tell you one thing wherever you go to croatia - it is beautiful - you just cant go wrong. 😀

 

[nzeeman]

and to get back on main topic- permmanent - i didnt know you are absolute beginner in photography. i thought you need fsu and similar stuff info. i think its best to buy some c41 film in next few days and go out and shoot. then you will see how do you feel with your fed in your hands - do you like it or not. i think you will have great fun 🙂

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

The Ilford version is fine for wet-printing and I am not sure about the Fujifilm possibilities (is there a C41 Fuji film ?).

MartinP: There is a Fuji C41 mono film, but this guy is unlikely to find it as it's UK and JP market only. It's called Neopan 400 CN, and is made for Fuji by Ilford. All the photos in my Mono album at RFF are with this film.

Permanent: Start with regular color film because it's a quick turnaround process at any minilab place. Buy whatever ISO the shop suggests for this time of year (perhaps ISO 200) and try others later.

Develop and prints may seem the way to go, but actually develop and scan (no prints) works out a lot less expensive. You just get to take home your negatives and a CD which you can look at on your computer. If you decide you want prints the shop will do them individually or you can do them yourself from your computer to your printer.

 

[Spyderman]

it looks like croatia coast to me. and aandrej - it is not important where it is - when i was a kid - before our war i went to croatia caost many times. i can tell you one thing wherever you go to croatia - it is beautiful - you just cant go wrong. 😀

I've been to many places in Croatia (you can look here), but the town with harbour in the photo is just gorgeous. 😎

 

[rbiemer]

Permanent,
To start I would suggest (as have others) that you get some film. You have a good camera and lens--the FED3 and Industar 61 are both very capable tools--so the next thing is film and processing. If you don't want to process your own, then your film choices are not so many but there are still good options. If the local shop will process C-41 film and scan the negs for you, then you can concentrate on using the camera for now. As you get more interested and experienced, you will know better what you want to do with your photography and that will make decisions about further equipment easier, I think.
For myself, I use two films almost always: Kodak UC400 for color and Kodak BW400CN for black and white. Not because I think they are the "best" films but because using those two works well for me and my hobby. I don't develop or print at home and both of these are C-41 process films so I can get them processed and scanned to CD fairly easily/cheaply. And I have also started to learn what I can do with them. In your case, you will know best what films are available to you locally (or not?) and I would say to pick one and shoot that one film exclusively for a while as you learn your camera and what it is capable of.
Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy the ride!
Rob

 

[usagisakana]

Not meaning to hijack this thread, but I found a Zorki 4 with a jupiter 8 on ebay for what looks like a reasonable price, and in very good condition- is this a worthwhile combination for someone starting out with a rangefinder?