Suggestions / advice for new camera

[Bill Blackwell]

After reading your original post and skimming through the responses, I can feel compelled to add only a few comments.

First, stick with your gut as to what you like and/or suits you. If you like the Pentax K3, then go for it.

Second, personally after growing up with film photography and transitioning to digital, I would never go back to darkroom printing. It has its "charm" I suppose, but it is time consuming and laborious. And, unless you build a darkroom, you'll tie up a bathroom for hours at a time. So, if you opt with a film camera, send the film out for processing and invest in a film scanner. It's still time consuming, but you'll avoid the chemicals - and the other annoyances.

Third, consider your girlfriend’s advice carefully if she gives it - especially if you ask for it.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Digitizing, not "digitalizing" ... pedantic for sure, but using the correct names for things promotes better understanding. 😉

The disadvantages of scanning transparencies are specifically the disadvantages of slide film in general:

- limited exposure latitude
- contrasty, limited dynamic range which is difficult to encompass with scanner technology
- generally lower acutance (because transparency film generally has more emulsion layers than negative film)

The only real advantage to scanning transparencies is that you have the positive transparency image as a reference check to compare against the scan in order to evaluate how good or how bad the scan is.

The only big disadvantage to scanning negatives, either B&W or color, is that you have to learn how to invert them (and remove the color mask in the case of color negs) and obtain the full gray and color scale that they contain. Otherwise, they have more detail resolution, in general, and are lower contrast allowing scanners to accommodate them more easily, as well as far more exposure latitude.

G

In general, this is contrary to my experience. My Plustek film scanner software can be set for color reversal, B&W, or slide film scanning.

I've found scanning slide film to be almost as clean as scanning B&W film. If the slide/negative is over or under exposed, then it is harder to get a clean scan. I've found color print film to be the hardest to get clean/sharp scans from; specifically, without allot of tweaking they tend to scan slightly out of focus.

Kodachrome 64 - scanned with Plustek 8200 AI


Tri-X - scanned with Plustek 8200 AI

 

[Godfrey]

I would blame out of focus scans on your scanner. My negative scans are *always* sharper than slide scans, because negatives are by their nature thinner, simpler emulsions that carry more detail.

I have many many scanned photos uploaded to Flickr.com, but this one will do to illustrate sharpness:

Tree Leaves - Santa Clara 2023
Voigtländer Vito II
Fujifilm ACROS 100​

G

 

[Coldkennels]

My negative scans are *always* sharper than slide scans, because negatives are by their nature thinner, simpler emulsions that carry more detail.

...it's been a long time since I shot either regularly, but I always found I got a lot more detail out of Provia than I did any C41 stock, regardless of format. For what it's worth.

 

[Godfrey]

Even before digital existed, I mostly shot B&W film. I have thousands of slides and color negs, however, as that was "the thing to do" for a good time (late 1970s-middle 1980s). Color neg ... I seem to recall using a lot of Kodacolor 100 and maybe a bit of 200. I haven't shot any color film in decades now, since about 1995.

In slides, I never used Provia ... I mostly used Kodachrome 25 and Agfachrome, an occasional Kodachrome 64 and Ektachrome 200 as well. Kodachrome 25 was always the highest acutance slide film I used, by a long shot ... so I can't say anything about Provia. But Panatomic-X (ASA 32) and even Plus-X in Acufine (ASA 320) always produced more detail than even K25. Kodacolor 100 is very sharp too ... I wonder if I have any negs to scan and compare against..? Certainly, but I'm going away for a week and will see if I remember when I return. 😉

G

 

[silvershadelynx]

Hi again, thanks for your new suggestions!

I finally managed to get the Pentax S1a mirror working! I added a little sewing oil on a small gear somewhere at the bottom of the camera, I'm aware this is advised against because of wrong viscosity. But at least it seems to work fine again. So I have to find out if I have to replace the foam sealings as I see some remnants in the top front corner of the mirror box, it's almost gone. I can't find any info about the mirror damper foam for the Pentax S1a - only for different models. Not sure, if I have to replace it? (the current damping foam is almost completely gone)