I am Amateur....please give me advice........

S

swangga

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Sep 28, 2009
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Dear Mr. Hicks... I am a poor hand at photography and i want to start learning photography with RF cameras. I have some RF cameras but i don't know how to use it. So please give me advice to make a good picture with it, about the focusing, lighting, angel of view, diaphragm, EV (what is that??), exposure, speed, deep of field, aperture, and everything about photography,especially RF camera.....
I have Canonet 19, Canonet QL 17, Canonet 28, Yashica Electro 35, Minolta 7s, Eastar S2, Seagull 203, Ricoh GX 1, and Seagull 205. Maybe there are some tips and tricks for these cameras...
Thank you sir for your advice....
 
yes, i posted same question on other thread.... I am really an amateur on photography, not only for RF cameras... I need advices because i'd tried to capture some picture but the result was so bad.... I don't know why my pictures were so dark and out of focus...... and my picture were not sharp as i want....
 
i would make a trip to your local library and head to the photography section . i learned a lot from THE JOY OF PHOTOGRAPHY and THE TIME LIFE SERIES ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY . these books were from the 1970 and 1980 era and will be able to answer all you questions . good luck .
 
swangga said:
Dear Mr. Hicks... I am a poor hand at photography and i want to start learning photography with RF cameras. I have some RF cameras but i don't know how to use it. So please give me advice to make a good picture with it, about the focusing, lighting, angel of view, diaphragm, EV (what is that??), exposure, speed, deep of field, aperture, and everything about photography,especially RF camera.....
I have Canonet 19, Canonet QL 17, Canonet 28, Yashica Electro 35, Minolta 7s, Eastar S2, Seagull 203, Ricoh GX 1, and Seagull 205. Maybe there are some tips and tricks for these cameras...
Thank you sir for your advice....
Click to expand...

That's a huge collection of cameras for someone who claims to be an inexperienced amateur. The information you ask for has taken most of us many years to accumulate and the amount of information is not appropriate for posting due to its extent.
I second the advice to search out some instructional books and read them. Another suggestion, since you invoked the name of Roger Hicks, is go to his (and Frances) website where you will find, free of charge, a huge amount of information and answers to just about everything you've requested. Read it there!
 
One advice. At least have one camera from your collection that you know it is working properly. You local camera repairman should be able to tell you. Or with a tiny bit of research, you should be able to tell yourself. Or buy a cheap Nikon FM10 or some fairly modern, guaranteed to work full manual camera. If you don't know what you are doing AND you don't know if your gear is working, it's really hard to move forward.

Then learn from books, the web, local community college photography class. Once you get a grip, it's not hard at all.
 
Keep It Simple

Keep It Simple

swangga said:
Previously I've been a camera collector... I like to collect them because of its unique shape... But I rarely use my cameras.... So it's just for collection.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36631212@N04/sets/72157622388295934/
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I see what you mean - a very interesting collection although some don't look to be in great shape. I presume you're in Indonesia or Malaysia?

Anyway, the advice above to select one camera that you know is working properly and get to learn on that before continually changing cameras is good advice. If you have one in good condition that you also have an instruction book for - even better. If you have no instruction books, many are available to download from <http://www.butkus.org/chinon/index.html>
Just check the list of camera brands on the left side of the page and you may well find what you need.
 
Check out the following books :

The Picture , An Associated Press Guide to Good News Photography

or

Leica Rangefinder Practice M6 to M1
 
I think the poster hit the nail on the head when his post wondered about the "angel of view" originally.

Surely to take great pictures one needs a touch of an angel, and to be touched by an 'angel of view' encompasses all these compositional, finding good pictures etc artsy qualities. Great insight, poster!

Thank you, poster, to be so enlightened in your approach to great art all by yourself. Nobody can help you more than your angel to find, see and take good pictures. Any camera will do when touched by an angel.

End of advice, or: self advice is always the best, good sir.
 
If you come across a copy of the "Golden Guide to Photography", very easy to read, and really covers basic use of cameras.

Any and all basic books can be useful, examples of common errors and successes are good to see.

And, do find one good working camera to stick with until you get some results you feel are satisfactory to you.

I can see today especially, that there might be so much information as to be overwhelming.

Equipment may well be secondary at this stage, just so long as it works.

Regards, John
 
Swangga,

Welcome to RFF.

What part of the world are you located in? That will have a lot to do with how you might go about learning how to use the beautiful cameras you have.

The suggestion of picking one, making sure it is working well and sticking with it for a while is a great one.

There are lots of great books from all over that can help. While it may sound silly, I found a book on basic photography from National Geographic geared towards teaching kids photography a great basic book. Check out a local library for books from the 1970s was a great suggestion. Old army training manuals often have way too much info but if you pick and choose parts they are treasures of great stuff.

Start with learning about the basics of exposure and camera handling. Enough so you can feel comfortable you will get something back when you send your film in. Learn about electronic flash and existing light. Learn what fast shutter speeds will allow you to do and what slow ones are good for. Understand what different f-Stops will do (other than just let in less or more light) and about the angle of the sun to your camera.

From there perhaps composition and different lenses. Look at all the table top books and art books you can find. See what you like and understand why you like it. Go out and try to take what you've learned you like an apply it in your own pictures.

Let us know where you are and we will give you some input.

Again, welcome to one of the best places on the Web.

B2 (;->
 
Leigh Youdale said:
I see what you mean - a very interesting collection although some don't look to be in great shape. I presume you're in Indonesia or Malaysia?

Anyway, the advice above to select one camera that you know is working properly and get to learn on that before continually changing cameras is good advice. If you have one in good condition that you also have an instruction book for - even better. If you have no instruction books, many are available to download from <http://www.butkus.org/chinon/index.html>
Just check the list of camera brands on the left side of the page and you may well find what you need.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for your advice.... Btw, how did u know I'm in Indonesia or Malaysia?? Yeah..I'm Indonesian.....

By the way...Thanks for all about your advices....It should be useful for me...
 
This may be heresy on RFF, but the best way to learn about photography now is digital camera and one of the books recommeded above.

Buy a used DSLR, like the original digital rebel, and put a simple prime lens on it. Then you get immediate feedback on how the various settings impact our photography. Sell the DSLR down the road when you are ready to switch back to rangefinders and film.
 
BillBingham2 said:
Swangga,

Welcome to RFF.

What part of the world are you located in? That will have a lot to do with how you might go about learning how to use the beautiful cameras you have.

The suggestion of picking one, making sure it is working well and sticking with it for a while is a great one.

There are lots of great books from all over that can help. While it may sound silly, I found a book on basic photography from National Geographic geared towards teaching kids photography a great basic book. Check out a local library for books from the 1970s was a great suggestion. Old army training manuals often have way too much info but if you pick and choose parts they are treasures of great stuff.

Start with learning about the basics of exposure and camera handling. Enough so you can feel comfortable you will get something back when you send your film in. Learn about electronic flash and existing light. Learn what fast shutter speeds will allow you to do and what slow ones are good for. Understand what different f-Stops will do (other than just let in less or more light) and about the angle of the sun to your camera.

From there perhaps composition and different lenses. Look at all the table top books and art books you can find. See what you like and understand why you like it. Go out and try to take what you've learned you like an apply it in your own pictures.

Let us know where you are and we will give you some input.

Again, welcome to one of the best places on the Web.

B2 (;->
Click to expand...

Thank you very much Mr. Bingham for your advices and welcome mat for me.. I am located in Indonesia, South East Asia. In my country, RF cameras are just considered as an out of date camera, so I could get it on cheap price.
Now, I'm trying to learn about RF photograph on websites and I hope I can get much. I will also often visit this forum to improve my skill.
Regards.....
 
swangga said:
Dear Mr. Hicks... I am a poor hand at photography and i want to start learning photography with RF cameras. I have some RF cameras but i don't know how to use it. So please give me advice to make a good picture with it, about the focusing, lighting, angel of view, diaphragm, EV (what is that??), exposure, speed, deep of field, aperture, and everything about photography,especially RF camera.....
I have Canonet 19, Canonet QL 17, Canonet 28, Yashica Electro 35, Minolta 7s, Eastar S2, Seagull 203, Ricoh GX 1, and Seagull 205. Maybe there are some tips and tricks for these cameras...
Thank you sir for your advice....
Click to expand...

To the other advice for reading matter, I will add The Camera by Ansel Adams. Adams was not only a fine photographer but one of the great technical writers on the subject. This very readable (if technical) book pretty much tells you all you need to know about how cameras work and how to operate them.

Do, of course, get some basic tips about exposure and go out there and shoot rather than spend too much time reading. Practice. In particular shoot before you spend too much more time reading things on this site, enjoyable though it is.

Tom
 
I learned most of what I know from reading and researching on the internet... the basics, I learned by purchasing "Photography for Dummies." :D Cheap book and widely available. Occe you get the basics down, answers to intermediate and advanced questions are readily available via this forum (among others):)
 
swangga said:
Btw, how did u know I'm in Indonesia or Malaysia?? Yeah..I'm Indonesian.....
.
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I looked up the Flicker site you mentioned to look at your collection and noticed some Bahasa words. I am now a retired safety consultant but did quite a lot of work in Indonesia over the last 10-12 years.

I think some of the guys giving advice here aren't very familiar with conditions in SE Asia and are writing from a Western/Northern Hemisphere perspective so some of the suggestions might be a little unsuited at this stage. I repeat my suggestion to visit Roger Hicks' website where there is just SO much information available in the one place. After you get started on that and learn the basics you will inevitably have more specific questions. If it's about anything on Roger's site I'm sure he'll be happy to answer it, and if it's anything else then people here will undoubtedly offer suggestions (bear in mind many of us are strongly opinionated! http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
 
I strongly recommend reading through some beginners books. This forum cannot help as much as a book until you have attained some understanding of the basics.

Once you have looked thru the book, you will decide whether you are interested main in B&W or colour. You can then take it from there.
 
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