Engraved Helga Plumacher Leica IIIa

[Godfrey]

Most older mechanical cameras are limited to a minimum shutter time of 1/1000 or 1/500 second. Many have a maximum shutter time of 1/25 sec (eg: Leica II series); Leica III have a slow speed gear train that allows timed exposures up to 1 second. For this reason, the rule of thumb I've used is to shoot films with ISO 40-100 for daylight and ISO 200-400 for indoor situations. This has been a reasonable rule of thumb since the 1960s.

Cameras with electronically timed shutters generally have an expanded range of exposure time settings and are thus more versatile about what film speeds they can use in broader circumstances.

G

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Modern color print film has an amazing "latitude", ie forgiveness for making mistakes in the exact exposure. The rule of thumb for bright, sunny days- with the lens set to F16, set the Shutter Speed the same as the ISO speed of the film. With a camera with 1/1000th second fastest speed- you can "open up" to F8 and use 1/1000th second with Kodacolor 200. These are estimates. When the subject is in a shadow, open up one stop- if you were at F8, open to F5.6. If the subject has shadows behind, stop down 1-stop, from F8 to F11. That's what I learned 50+ years ago.

As far as film loading- The Minolta is much easier than a Leica or a Contax. With your Pentax: when you load the film, Gently use the rewind knob to "take up the Slack" in the film. Then- watch the rewind knob turn as you advance the film. If the rewind knob never moves, your film is not moving through the camera. Nothing is easier than a Polaroid SX70. Load the pack, get the picture as soon as you snap it. If the picture does not come out, you know it.

 

[Godfrey]

Modern color print film has an amazing "latitude", ie forgiveness for making mistakes in the exact exposure. The rule of thumb for bright, sunny days- with the lens set to F16, set the Shutter Speed the same as the ISO speed of the film. With a camera with 1/1000th second fastest speed- you can "open up" to F8 and use 1/1000th second with Kodacolor 200. These are estimates. When the subject is in a shadow, open up one stop- if you were at F8, open to F5.6. If the subject has shadows behind, stop down 1-stop, from F8 to F11. That's what I learned 50+ years ago.

...

{polaroid] ... truthfully, about 45 minutes later ... 😉

This is all true. But, personally, if I'm shooting color, I'm using a digital camera (or a Polaroid) nowadays, and any time since about 2003.

Of course, chromogenic B&W film (Ilford XP2 Super processed in C41 chemistry) has the same latitude and forgiveness as color neg. Only problem is that then requires C41 process, which I've never invested in learning to do at home.

As far as film loading- The Minolta is much easier than a Leica or a Contax. With your Pentax: when you load the film, Gently use the rewind knob to "take up the Slack" in the film. Then- watch the rewind knob turn as you advance the film. If the rewind knob never moves, your film is not moving through the camera. Nothing is easier than a Polaroid SX70. Load the pack, get the picture as soon as you snap it. If the picture does not come out, you know it.

My first cameras, past the Minolta 16-Ps, a Brownie Hawkeye, and a couple of Kodak Instamatics, were an Argus C3, a Rolleiflex MX, and a Leica IIc. They never seemed to be all that difficult to load to me, I never experienced a loading failure. The same trick with the rewind knob on the Pentax or any other 35mm camera works just as effectively with almost any other 35mm manual-rewind camera. It was one of the first things I learned when I was given the Argus in 1965. I was 11 yo... Yeah, I'm old. 🙂

G

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I had the Minolta 16-II, and rest of the Minolta 16mm line- easy to load and had a Pressure Plate for the Cassette. I still have a few cassettes, easy to reload.
To bad the Kodak 110 did not have a similar pressure plate.

 

[neal3k]

I've really enjoyed reading the posts in this thread. I'm one of the Barnack shooters. Learning to load took a little time but it is easy after a while. I seldom shoot close ups, shoot outside in daylight, use sunny 16 for exposure and zone focus, and it's a fast point and shoot to use. The vast majority of my photos are quite decent and I enjoy the small size and shooting with so much history wonderful.

 

[Keating]

You can shoot any DIN/ISO/ASA that will accommodate your camera/lens combination and lighting conditions & personal preferences. When these camera were first manufactured, the film speeds were a lot slower like 10/25/50/64/100 with some intermediate speeds.

Reference comparitve sesitivity ISO, DIN,

Film speed - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Oh I don’t know film has the speed, thanks for teaching! Film speed, is it how much time it need to take to record the image on film during we take photos?😀

 

[Keating]

I had the Minolta 16-II, and rest of the Minolta 16mm line- easy to load and had a Pressure Plate for the Cassette. I still have a few cassettes, easy to reload.
To bad the Kodak 110 did not have a similar pressure plate.

Interesting, I don’t know it has the pressure plate for the cassette , it’s good design!!
I think all old stuffs very cool! 😀👍🏻

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Speed of the film is how sensitive to light it is. Higher ISO speeds means using a faster shutter speed and stopping down the aperture more than a "slow Speed". ISO 200 film is a good all-around starter for most classic film cameras. ISO 100- considered "slow" these days. ISO 400- fast enough to shoot indoors without flash.

 

[Keating]

Speed of the film is how sensitive to light it is. Higher ISO speeds means using a faster shutter speed and stopping down the aperture more than a "slow Speed". ISO 200 film is a good all-around starter for most classic film cameras. ISO 100- considered "slow" these days. ISO 400- fast enough to shoot indoors without flash.

Ah.. it also related the shutter speed, photography should be a subject at school in hk!!so next time I should buy iso 200 right? 😀

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Get your start taking pictures outside in natural light- ISO 200 is a good choice for your Pentax. Get some experience with that. Indoor portraits by bright window light will also come out. Indoors without flash- move up to ISO 400. The most important thing for now- get out and shoot, get the pictures back, and decide how you did. If you have a digital camera, bring it as well. Digital does provide instant feedback, and might be useful for judging how well you did with film.

 

[Keating]

Thank you for your teaching, I go to buy iso 200 film first, my home no iso200 films!
Should I buy the flashlight? My Pentax no flashlight! 🤔🤔

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Wait on buying a Flash, best to get some pictures by natural light first. Learn shutter speed and f-stop first.
With Flash- you will want an automatic unit with a built-in meter of its own. Wait on that until you get a few rolls of film done.

 

[Keating]

Wait on buying a Flash, best to get some pictures by natural light first. Learn shutter speed and f-stop first.
With Flash- you will want an automatic unit with a built-in meter of its own. Wait on that until you get a few rolls of film done.

Oh u are right! I need to practice control everything ok on natural light! This Saturday I can practice!! Can’t wait!! 😬😬