During the last nine months I have bought and have been using film cameras, primarily old Canon rangefinder cameras. My favorite film camera is a Canon P made in 1961. It's a sweet looking ride, but it doesn't have a built in light meter. This was common during that era. It's taken quite an effort to learn how to use film again and to do so without a built-in meter. I've learned a great deal more about photography in the process, though.
The primary equipment weakness, though, that I have with film cameras is regarding lenses. I own a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, which is awesome, and I have a few excellent Canon lenses that I use with it. For my Canon P, though, I have only one lens: a very nice Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 llens, but nothing compared to my Canon EOS L series lenses. The results of my film prints have been difficult to compare to the results of the digital images from my 5D MII. I realize that they're naturally different, but my limited lens choices (i.e., only one lower quality lens) limits my enjoyment of film.
Recently, though, I came up with a brilliant solution. Yes, I'm boasting here. But I can't get anyone I know to understand how cool this is: my friends aren't camera fans. So, I thought I'd mention it here, especially if someone else is considering trying their hand at film. I bought a Canon EOS Elan 7n (a.k.a. 30v outside of the U.S.) on ebay. I paid about $100 (€75 or £67) for it from someone in San Diego. It's in excellent condition. This model is basically the last film camera that Canon designed (it's about 6 years old). They still sell the EOS 1v, but that was designed before the 7n/30v. This EOS camera which I bought pretty much has the latest non-digital camera technology from Canon. Best of all, I can use my EOS lenses with excellent film camera, at an additional cost of only $100 (not including cost of film and printing). It's really cool. Check out the attached photo of the camera with a few of my favorite lenses.
russell_dyer_20100328_IMG_1132.jpg
The primary equipment weakness, though, that I have with film cameras is regarding lenses. I own a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, which is awesome, and I have a few excellent Canon lenses that I use with it. For my Canon P, though, I have only one lens: a very nice Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 llens, but nothing compared to my Canon EOS L series lenses. The results of my film prints have been difficult to compare to the results of the digital images from my 5D MII. I realize that they're naturally different, but my limited lens choices (i.e., only one lower quality lens) limits my enjoyment of film.
Recently, though, I came up with a brilliant solution. Yes, I'm boasting here. But I can't get anyone I know to understand how cool this is: my friends aren't camera fans. So, I thought I'd mention it here, especially if someone else is considering trying their hand at film. I bought a Canon EOS Elan 7n (a.k.a. 30v outside of the U.S.) on ebay. I paid about $100 (€75 or £67) for it from someone in San Diego. It's in excellent condition. This model is basically the last film camera that Canon designed (it's about 6 years old). They still sell the EOS 1v, but that was designed before the 7n/30v. This EOS camera which I bought pretty much has the latest non-digital camera technology from Canon. Best of all, I can use my EOS lenses with excellent film camera, at an additional cost of only $100 (not including cost of film and printing). It's really cool. Check out the attached photo of the camera with a few of my favorite lenses.
russell_dyer_20100328_IMG_1132.jpg
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