Using Film Cameras Part 1

Taking a Camera on Holiday, everybody takes a camera with them to make a record of their holiday. These days most of you will use a digital camera, depending an how serious a photographer you are will determine the size and weight of the camera of choice. The more sophisticated digital cameras are very bulky, all Rely on batteries that can run out inconveniently, and you forgot to recharge your backup one last night didn’t you! - Aha! - in your bag is a vintage folding camera that when folded takes up very little space, the 120 roll film that it uses will give much higher quality images, while digital cameras will give an image quality as good as you see in the glossy magazines you brought with you to read while hanging around at the airport or whilst travelling. The image quality from 6 x 6 or 6 x 9 cm format when printed to A3 size from an inkjet printer will completely outclass the image from most digital cameras and at the fraction of the cost (£40-60 for a good 6 x 6 folder). There is a review of various film cameras here.

Using vintage Cameras. There are quite a few advantages to using a film camera, they are very robust, the almost terrifying frailty of modern cameras is entirely absent. A large number of different types are available second hand, a folding camera that uses 120 roll film is a good choice, avoid other film types apart from 35mm as they are obsolete, there is a review of some good examples here, and some examples of photographs from film here with some details of the cameras they were taken with.

There is a glossary of photographic terms here.

On the next page are full instructions on how to use various film cameras

Viewing the image. If you use a digital camera there are many ways of viewing the end result, as a paper print, on a television or computer screen or one of those newfangled digital picture frames on which you would also be able to show images from film once they have been scanned into your computer.

Scanning Negatives. There are a number of flatbed scanners that can scan 120 role film in 6 x 4.5, 6 x 6 and 6 x 9 cm formats, they have extra illumination in the lid to light the opposite side to the scanning sensor, the film being held in a holder supplied with the scanner. I use an Epson 3200 PHOTO, now discontinued but there are many others currently available. For 35mm film a dedicated scanner is much better, I use a Plustek OpticFilm 7200. Examples of images that have been scanned in to a computer can be seen here.

You need to have some consideration for your computer, when scanning in a 6 x 6 or 6 x 9 cm negative, the file size ought to be in the region of 80 to 125 megabytes in order to obtain the best image quality, your computers memory needs to be at least 2 Gb, images are memory hungry. You will then be able to produce an inkjet print of very high quality from colour or black and white and if you use a pigment ink printer the resulting image will last for at least 50 years using archival quality paper.

Purchasing a Vintage Camera. When purchasing a camera there are a number of details to be aware of, the general condition is not always that important, a scruffy looking camera can function superbly, after all if it is 70 years old it has a right to look well used and there is a certain satisfaction to be derived from using a camera that old, that frequently will give an image quality equal to or even better than a modern digital camera! (depending on lens quality).

There is more information to come here.

Using Vintage Cameras With Black and White Film, Part 1.