Affordable Photo:
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Buying Equipment Film, Development, Printing, Scanning |
Buying Equipment
There is a lot of extremely affordable, decent photo equipment out there. Read a bit about used Russian rangefinders, for example; you can get a serviceable FED-4 for $30, and a set of Jupiter lenses for $25 to $75 each. Or you could opt for medium format (just like Holga) and get a Lubitel for about $10-$25. It's simple, affordable equipment that lets you have fun on a shoestring budget. Just be sure that you get the instruction manual with your purchase or that you can download it from the Internet. This is true not just for cameras, but also for lenses and accessories such as flashes, light meters, etc.
- Camera Review
- Alfred's Camera Page – an excellent starting point to learn about vintage cameras.
- Matt's Classic Camera Collection
- The Camera Site
- Buying and Testing a (Used) Classic Camera – on Karen Nakamura's page
- eBay :: Cameras & Photo
- eBay Canada :: Cameras & Photo
These days, you can also find a large choice of new point-and-shoot 35mm cameras of high quality on clearance sale for very cheap (in the $25-$75 range, down from $100 to $400). This is because the main clientele for this type of camera now prefers to buy digital equipment. Check at decent-sized camera stores (i.e., not at little hole-in-the-wall counters or at Walgreen's) for what's on sale.
Finally, see also our Holga info and links.
Film, Development, Printing, Scanning
In addition to initial equipment (and accessory) costs, you may want to factor in the on-going costs of film, development, printing, and scanning.
- On initial purchase, the cheapest film per frame shot is almost always 135 (35mm) colour-reversal print film in mid- to high ISO ratings (100, 200, or 400 ISO), which is often sold in bundles ($7 to $10 for six rolls of 24-exposures in many stores).
- For 135 format, rolls of 36-exposures are cheaper per frame than rolls of 24-exposures, but more and more "consumer" print film is being sold in rolls of 24; slide film (e.g., Fujichrome Sensia, Agfa Optima, or Kodak Ektachrome) and "pro" colour-reversal (print) film (e.g., Fujicolor Portrait NPS, Ilford Delta, or Kodak Portra) is usually sold in rolls of 36.
- For medium format, rolls of 220 film (which are twice as long) are cheaper per frame than rolls of 120 film.
- Film that is past its expiration date can be bought on sale at half-off or better. It's ideal for practicing new techniques (just don't rely on it for you prize-winning photo contest entries.)
- Colour-reversal print film is usually cheaper — and faster — to develop than transparency (slide) film nowadays.
- Colour film is usually cheaper to develop than black and white, whether print or slide.
- Scanning is, again, cheaper for print and more expensive for slides. However, the highest possible digital image (best resolution and saturation) you can get is by scanning a slide. It's even higher than a picture taken with a good quality digital camera.
- Medium format (120 or 220) is more expensive per frame than 135 on all counts: film purchase, development, printing, and scanning.
- Even though it may look more expensive at first glance, it can often be worth it to have your film developed at a professional lab, with a much higher quality of work. For example, photo processing and printing is the same price at Kits Cameras or at Main Photo Service, but the quality is better at the pro lab (Main Photo Service), the slides or prints are shipped directly to you, and can be overnighted; you have the luxury of specifying whether too "Push" or "pull" a roll at development, to ask for snip tests, etc. Meanwhile, Kits Cameras (or any other quick-development mini-lab) will still have to ship anything except colour prints out to a pro lab, which can lead to two-weeks turnaround times and much less control over the results.
- Better yet, if you have a pro photo lab in your town, it may be even cheaper than mailing your film to an out-of-town lab. Price Photo, in Seattle, charges about 2/3 the price of either Main Photo Service or Kits Camera to develop and print 120 film.