Topic: Good afternoon! (and by way of an introduction)

[circlesquared]

Hello!

I couldn't see an introduce yrself bit, so I thought I'd just come up to the front and say hello. My name is Si and I just got myself a 35mm SLR. The last time I had a film camera - an Olympus OM30 - was about twenty years ago. I used it a lot but once I discovered punk rock I got a bit side tracked and eventually sold it on for a fraction of what I got it for. I didn't think much about photography, except as a viewer and opiner, until I bought a d*g*t*l SLR a couple of years ago.

I'm tired of it. I'm not keen on the mindset it's fostered in me - that it doesn't matter if I just shoot away at anything because I can delete everything, or that I don't have to pay too much attention to framing and composition, or that the pesky light isn't quite right...I dunno. There is nothing wrong with it really. It's like whatever, who cares, do what you want...

I want something else now, something a little more tangible and thoughtful, if that doesn't sound too pompous?

After a false start with a Pentax MEF that unfortunately died on me I have become the proud user of a Minolta SRT102. I like it. Quite a lot actually. The battery compartment was empty when I bought it and I have only recently tracked down the right battery cell for the light meter, so I've been exercising my brain on sunny f16 and exposure values. It's great! I've really been enthused by the whole process. My pictures are still rubbish but I'm out there, living! 

Anyway, that's me. Billeted in the West Midlands for the foreseeable future, unemployed and getting on with it.

Cheers,

Si

[Francois]

Bonjour Si!

Welcome... somehow I feel you've come to the right place. Punk rock and photography rock many member's boat around here

[Phil Bebbington]

Si, welcome aboard and pleased to meet you.

[Blaxton]

My pictures are still rubbish but I'm out there, living! 

Hi Si,

I look forward to seeing some of your pictures posted here--maybe especially if they are rubbish.  In any case, welcome.

[Mojave]

Hello Si!

I'm new here as well. Everybody here is very kind and very helpful besides being wonderfully talented.

Looking forward to seeing your pix. Are you shooting black and white, color or both, and do you plan to develop your b&w film yourself?

Happy shooting!

[Late Developer]

Hi Si.

I'm also a newbie on the site and can vouch for the kindness and consideration displayed by the more established members.

I used to have an OM system and you can't really go wrong. Glass is everything and OM glass is right up there with the best.

Look forward to seeing your stuff....

Paul.

[circlesquared]

Thanks for the welcome!

Looking forward to seeing your pix. Are you shooting black and white, color or both, and do you plan to develop your b&w film yourself?

I'm doing a bit of both colour and B+W at the moment. A friend sent me a dozen rolls of assorted and out of date film, mainly Kodak but also Fujicolour Superia. I'm steadily plowing through all of that. Now and then I pick up some XP2.

I was thinking about developing my own negatives. How hard can it be? What do you need - a tank, some developer, some running water? If it's that simple I might give it a go. It'd be good to get away from Tesc*, even if they are incredibly cheap.

[Mojave]

I was so afraid to try my own developing before I did it and now I cant imagine anybody else doing it for me. For the b&w film only though. It is easy but plan on going through a few rolls before you get it right. The inversion type agitation takes a little practice. 

My total investment for initial supplies ran me around 250, 300 U.S. I think. I got it all from Freestyle Photo at a student discount. They are a good place to start if you're in the U.S. Not sure about the UK or elsewhere but Im sure others here could help you out with that.

[circlesquared]

I was so afraid to try my own developing before I did it and now I cant imagine anybody else doing it for me. For the b&w film only though. It is easy but plan on going through a few rolls before you get it right. The inversion type agitation takes a little practice.

That's encouraging. I used to do a little bit of darkroom work (well, quite a lot I suppose) as a teenager, but I think I concentrated on the printing side, as opposed to making a pigs ear out of my negatives. A friend is going to let me have her unused tanks and trays &c, so I shall definitely have a go.

Si

[Mike (happyforest)]

Si

If your friend is giving you all the equipment you need and you just need chemicals then it will not cost you the earth to get these.  Since your in the west midlands then http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ may be within travelling distance or by post.

For example a 1 litre pack of Kodak D76 will set you back 99 pence.
Fixer is more expensive coming in around £7 pounds.

This is all you will need try out to in home developing.  Once you have the bug you might want to add a stop bath (I still use plain water) and wetting agent (help to eliminate water marks).   Adding these will double your costs.

Good Luck and please do post results here good or bad and of course if you need more help the community here are extremely helpful.

Oh and welcome.

Mike

[Urban Hafner]

Welcome Si. In no time you will be buying and selling old cameras on eBay like everybody else here. Oh wait, that's just me

Urban

[Francois]

Yep Urban... it's just you   

[circlesquared]

the west midlands then http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ may be within travelling distance or by post.

Thanks happyforest- I'm in Worcester, so it's hardly very far. Thanks for the info - Ag Photographic looks like Santa's grotto, compared to the stark options here. We have a Jess*ps and an LCExchange here - the former isn't really worth considering and the latter, while it's staffed by some approachable and knowledgeable people, is a shadow of it's former self. I suppose that's to be expected.

Hello urbanhafner - I'm stoked with the camera I have at the moment, even if looking into the viewfinder is a bit like looking into the cylinder on a VAX vacuum cleaner (it's not quite that bad) and the 45mm lens is a clunker that vibrates as I close focus. The viewfinder I can live with. A new standard I should probably start looking for.

OK, how do I post my pictures?

edit: ah, I just took a look at the housekeeping section and it seems as if the best thing I can do is put a link to my blog. For what it's worth

irregulamania.tumblr.com

I thought I'd keep a diary of sorts...

[LT]

Hi Si


Li

(actually, it's leon, but Li seemed to fit better)

[LT]

OK, how do I post my pictures?

si

if you want to place a pic directly to you post, then either post the image URL using [img][img] tags or attach the file to the post from the post reply page.

Home dev is easy, cheap and will give you negs that are 100 x better for trad printing or scanning. I go a step further and hand mix my chemicals too. Yet another way to get the costs down. There's a wealth of experience here on the forum to draw upon if that is something you wanted to try. 

And Welcome

[circlesquared]

Thanks Leon!

Home development has got me by the throat. Another section to re-visit in The Ilford Manual of Photography.

[vicky slater]

Hi Si too :)

[Alan]

Welcome along Si,

This is a great community of photographers
and a wealth of information and help.

enjoy,

Alan

[circlesquared]

Hello Vicky and Aoluain  - thanks for the welcome.

[calbisu]

Hi Si!

I peeked at your blog, those lambrettas.... and the coal one, liked them!

By they, as Mr. Urban said your analogic nightmare has just started. Yes, yes, 35mm, that´s not bad, what about medium format? Nyum, Nyum, yep, that is something, wait, wait, POlaroid!! Tilt shift, Macro, Large format, Cross Processed, Wet Plates.... And WHAT camera? Usually others People cameras have higher definition, softer bokeh....  But all this makes analogue photography a marvelous and unique organic universe. Thats it 

[circlesquared]

Calbisu - 'ello!

I have to agree - operating on a shoestring budget and getting heavily enthusiastic about my camera is a bit of a nightmare. I will just have to cope somehow. I think it's best to really get to know what I have for the moment - an SRT102 and a 45mm lens. I want to get as much out of that as I can.

Thanks for the comment - I really like your Cambodia Lambretta too!

Si

[Francois]

operating on a shoestring budget and getting heavily enthusiastic about my camera is a bit of a nightmare.

Well... you get used to it. As for me, I've been on a shoestring budget for years! I've found that charity sales, garage sales, booth sales and the such can be a perfect place to find perfectly usable camera gear. Over the last year, I've found everything from processing equipment to nice SLR's at ridiculously low prices. Just haggle with the seller a bit and you usually can end up with a great deal.

[This-is-damion]

Si,

Hi,   West midlands? Camera? Punk Rock..... you sound just like me!

I'm over in Brum.   Also putting on a gig full of punk rock goodness....

Shameless plug to follow.....

Sept 19th - Scruffys -Birmingham.

Above Them
(http://www.myspace.com/abovethem)

The Magnificent
(http://www.myspace.com/massmurderonthestreets)

The Killerest Expression
(http://www.myspace.com/killerest)

The Fall, The Rise
(http://www.myspace.com/thefalltherise)

[circlesquared]

this-is-damion (can I just call you Damion?)

Hello!

Ah, the sweaty pit of scruffy murphys. Last time i was there was a while back - The Horror played I do believe, and The Shitty Limits - I had a fine old time.

If I can persuade my mate to come out I might just attend yr gig. I don't know any of the bands, although I'm sure The Killerest Expression rings a bell

[This-is-damion]

damion is more than fine.

Im sure i was due to go to that shitty limits gig, but it was my birthday weekend and i had been down in cambridge with a few mates (all dayer at the portland) , when i suggested to the wife i was off out again, well lets just say i decided to stay in instead.....

the magnificent in particular are amazing,   it was for them i put the gig on.   Killerest are from brum and used to play a load a few years back,    not done anything in a few years though.

The fall the rise, used to be called sist, another brum band.    should be a good one!

[circlesquared]

the magnificent in particular are amazing,   it was for them i put the gig on.   Killerest are from brum and used to play a load a few years back,    not done anything in a few years though.

The fall the rise, used to be called sist, another brum band.    should be a good one!

Yeah, I'm just having a listen to the myspace links - it's a neat line up. I'll definitely try to make it. Trains back to Worcester are atrocious but there are other options.

[jojonas~]

seems like you started the thread that you couldn't find, si

I'm new here too and since it seemed like a nice place here I feel I should introduce myself..

it all pretty much started a few years ago when I got a holga for christmas. good fun! but being unemployed and realising that I could find nice cameras that were often cheaper than paying for and developing a single roll. hence: slight GAS. so after buying a lot of 35mm oldies and crapcams, mf, af or ff (fixed focus) my interest for cameras led me to a contax rts that was given to me by my grandfather. it was a beauty but the thirst was not quench.. I got another slr, some medium formats and more 35mm pretties. but I have to say now that nothing compares to a tlr! just looking down there and feeling that steady weight against your chest~ haha! I think I might be selling of some of my collection now

for a while I've been developing my own bw film. I knew it'd be cheaper but it wasn't until a good friend of mine happened upon a darkroom that I jumped on and I've been rollin' along since~ I get decent stuff with rodinal now but making prints is still hard. specially since I moved and I'm trying to work with old papers.. a bit frustrating sometimes but I see some interesting possibilities!

I used to draw a lot and design some stuff while being a total nerd being excited by mechanical stuff. so I guess photography and cameras was the perfect way to string together my interests.
I'm still very much struggling composing interesting shots though, but I aim to improve!

...well, that ended up being more than I had planned to write 

[Francois]

Welcome JoJonas...
Nice to have some other people on the forum who know the meaning of "harsh winters"

(Yes, I'm from Canada...)

[circlesquared]

hello jojonas!

[roman]

hello and welcome 

[jojonas~]

hi all~ 

Welcome JoJonas...
Nice to have some other people on the forum who know the meaning of "harsh winters"

(Yes, I'm from Canada...)

you mean winters with actual snow haha I couldn't live without it!