Question For Forrest And Amelia About Cameras.

[BrightStar]

Ok, So what would be a Good Black And White Camera type, and stuff for them? **

[BrightStar]

You both seem to always pick the best stuff, so I was wondering. Its for a Class, still though, I was wondering for after class also. **

[killerkat]

for a really good ,pretty cheap camera, go get a NIKON N55, i got one and i only use black&white film, you can get a "real low number"(slow) film for good quality.....

i used to want an vintage black&white (too?) ,but it's just easier and cheaper to get on of these there great with being creative there's like a billion different ways to set it up to do some things auto,and other manual or any thing in between.......it's a great camera

ohhh, did i mention it's an SLR , and it's NOT a digital camera,just incase your wondering............

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

I am not Amiela or Forrest and I am definately still in the shallow end of amatue photographyr, but maybe I can help a little. When it comes to cameras, I don't think there is a best camera, it really boilds down to a question of features you want vs money you are willing to spend. Just about any camera can get good black and white photos, it is just a matter f what you want.

The first camera I used regularly was a newer cannon someone lent me, auto focus, outo exposure ect. The only problem was I never learned anything about cameras on it, the camera did everything for me. If I hit any unusual situations I did not know how to compensate.

When I had to return the fancy camera someone gave me an old Nikkormat FT. It was a heavy beast of a camera, all manual, and a light meter that was questionable on a good day and didn't work with half the lenses I had for it.... OK I only had 2 lenses, but it wouldn't work with one. Later I purchaced a Nikkon FM model of some sort. I loved the crap out of that camera. It still uses the +/- light meter instead of numbers, but parts and lenses were innexpensive and easy to come by. Also I chose that camera because it could use my Nokkormat lenses (well really the other way around, but whatever. Unfortunately that camera and most of the lenses were stolen.

Currently I am shooting with a Cannon A1. Technically it is a more advanced camera, but the parts are more expensive and getting harder to replace. Also I just liked the feel of my Nikkon better. My next camera will probably be something new and probably a Nikkon, but I think I learned a lot starting with manual cameras.

Also, my only experience is with 35 mm. Larger format cameras can yield better results, but are much more expenive. You will want to spend some time thinking about what kind of photos you would like to shoot specifically. Even if the answers is I don't know yet, being able to tell people who know more than me that will help them advise you.

I think you can find a decent old slr for around $50 to experiment with, but hopefully one of the more experienced photographers on the board can give you a little shopping advice to help you determine if the camera is in good shape. I was lucky enough to have a really helpful camera store with a staff I could trust nearby, so I never learned what I needed to look for.

Hope that helps a little.

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

Oooh, stuff I forgot. To start out you will want a camera body. A 50mmish lense is a good all purpose lense, but I really liked my 80-200 mm for shooting portraits and such. If I recall correctly my first photoclass required a flash (I am still crap for picking a good flash), greycard and some sttuff for developing. The lenses you want will vary depending on what you want to shoot. A couple of books won't hurt either. My main book is one called Photo School and it covers all the basics. Unfortunately it was written in like 1981 and probably out of print so hopefully someone can recomend and up to date version or you can find something descent at a used book store. Also I recomend a book on the zone system, something I really have not studied enough and really really need to for black and white

This might be a helpful resource http://www.photolinks.com/resources....p4.camera.html

Good luck.

[BrightStar]

Thanks All. Anybody else have Camera Type Suggestions also? **

[killerkat]

that's the one i have............i only use black&white with it......so far...



that's kinda useless but thought it might,maybe, be helpfull.....

[ForrestBlack]

In gradeschool I had an interest in photography, but you needed a camera to take the class. I had moved away from my parents and I really didn't have much in the way of money or anything. My Grandfather was nice and sent me an Argus C3, which was produced somewhere between 1939 and 1958. All the other kids had new cool SLRs or whatever. I felt a little like Kenny at that time I must say. But it was cool. Very basic very mechanical. His thought was that if I could make that work, I could make anything work. If you really want to learn the art of it, don't just get something that is going to do all the work for you. You could miss a lot in the learning process.

[killerkat]

In gradeschool I had an interest in photography, but you needed a camera to take the class. I had moved away from my parents and I really didn't have much in the way of money or anything. My Grandfather was nice and sent me an Argus C3, which was produced somewhere between 1939 and 1958. All the other kids had new cool SLRs or whatever. I felt a little like Kenny at that time I must say. But it was cool. Very basic very mechanical. His thought was that if I could make that work, I could make anything work. If you really want to learn the art of it, don't just get something that is going to do all the work for you. You could miss a lot in the learning process.

mine pissed me off the first couple times i used it,it would just randomly do shit i didn't want it to, so i almost always have it on full manual, occasionally i'll lets it focus, but lately i've been doing some cool long-exposure,out-of-focus,shots and they look real cool......

[TheDeathKnight]

It all depends...

In some cases, you are better off just starting out with digital.
That way you can see if your images are looking cool or not.

The only problem is that in order to get a digital camera that will let you
do things manually, you usually have to shell out some cash. Most cheap
digital cameras are all automatic. So I suppose it may be good to just get
a cheap used 35mm SLR, and learn the basics. It all depends if you really
want to learn to be a professional photographer, or if you just want to
learn about taking cool pictures. If all you want to do, is capture interesting
images, and practice, a digital camera might be fine. But if you want to
learn all about focus, shutter speeds, etc, then a film camera is the way to go.

There are a lot of them on ebay.
People who used to shoot film, then went to digital, are dumping their old
film cameras...