I have always, until relatively recently, been a keen photographer. I have a small collection of digital cameras – Canon and Fuji compacts, a Fuji bridge, and a pair of Olympus DSLRs – and in my 35mm days I even took a small SLR outfit on backpacking trips. I still have an extensive 35mm SLR outfit, based on the excellent Minolta X-700 but, to be honest, it’s too heavy to tote.
The trouble is, the sicker I’ve become, the more my interest in photography has waned (in almost everything else too, to be honest). I needed something to regenerate my interest, and also to get me out of here more than just going to the pub. So I bought a new camera.
As I already have the 35mm SLR outfit, I thought I’d go with medium format, and bought a used Bronica ETRS, with the standard waist-level viewfinder. Then decided I really liked it, and splurged on the prism cum exposure meter you can see in the pics, which not only displays the image upright and the right way round (the waist-level finder shows in laterally reversed – a mirror image – not too surprising as you’re actually viewing it in a mirror). As with 35mm cameras, the prism corrects that. It converts the camera to an aperture-priority fully-automatic exposure SLR.
Click to view full size, Back button to return.
The pics should displayed as one row of three, plus one in the centre. Some weird WP snafu will let me place them appropriately, but won’t actually display them that way. Sorry, folks, no way to fix it.
It takes 15 photos on 120 film (film is widely available, processing less so, but it’s there if you look), giving a negative size of 4.25cm x 5.51cm, and film backs are available for 220 film (if you can find it!), 35mm and Polaroid. There’s a huge range of accessories and lenses too (lenses are well priced, compared to the stratospherically high prices of many digital lenses). Aperture setting, focus and film wind are all manual – hardly onerous – the inter-lens leaf shutter is electronic, and powered by a silver oxide 6v battery. The auto-metering runs off the same battery, but as it’s only switched on for a fraction of a second as you trip the shutter, drain is minimal. Film wind is by crank. (No jokes please!)
It’s fitted with the standard 75mm f2.8 lens, which is in perfect condition (you do need to check for fungus and scratches on old lenses (see below), and has a depth-of-field preview lever.
Of course, buying second-hand, you need a trustworthy supplier (of which, I have no doubt, there are many, but not eBay!). Over the years I’ve bought my used cameras and lenses from Ffordes. Their classification system for condition is reasonably accurate, and they note any defects, such as lens fungus or scratches, and any other damage. The digital cameras, in particular, that I’ve bought from them have been immaculate, including the Canon Ixus 860IS that I used to take the pics above. One has had a slight light and contrast tweak, the others, apart from cropping, and resizing for the web, are untouched.
I’m hoping, then, to take it to the local woods as soon as Autumn kicks in properly. It’s begun to show slightly here – Wirral – but on Tuesday, in Edale, it was still high summer, which is odd as Winter tends to linger in the Peak District, and Autumn kick in earlier than here. Still, with the current weather, all bets are off, though I heard on the radio that snow is forecast for October in the south-east, and we all know southern jessies just can’t cope with a bit of the white stuff! 
Is there a downside? Well, sort of, it’s a bit of a monster, and weighs 3½lbs. On the plus side, I’ve had a slight intention tremor as long as I’ve had ME/CFS, and the weight will damp it out nicely, and it is nicely ba.
I’ve bought a few rolls of colour film (ISO400 Fuji Superia), but I’m also thinking of trying B&W film, which I haven’t used since my 20s, when I had my own darkroom. It’s easy to process, not needing any special facilities, and I can scan the negs into my computer, without the hassle of sending the film off for printing, a useful blending of old and new technology.
If anyone’s interested, it’s cost me £341 for the camera + waist-level finder, leather case, strap (knackered, but that was expected – I just wanted the fittings for the authenticity), and a base plate (there are electrical connections on the base that need protecting), plus the prism finder/exposure meter, and an exposure meter for when I want to use the waist-level finder. This, or a twin-lens reflex, are the cheapest ways into medium format. Digitally, you’re looking at around £10,000, even second-hand!
Watch this space for piccies.
And here are the only two pics I thought to take at Edale (I was rather distracted by my companion – very nicely, I hasten to add).
Edale church, except in Winter, is almost totally obscured by trees, which just reveal odd flashes of stonework, as here. The Olde Nag’s Head is the archetypal walkers’ and backpackers’ pub, wooden furniture, stone floors, no-one cares how muddy or wet you might be. It’s also just a few yards from the start of the Pennine Way (or the end if you’re a Scot walking South). Brilliant when I first discovered it in 1971, less so in the mid eighties, and deeply crap in 2006, it now seems to have recovered its lost form, with excellent beer. Well worth a visit. As, indeed, is The Rambler at the other end of the village – just don’t have the fish and chips. That used to be superb, but now it Hoki, arguably the most tasteless fish available – avoid. I would have far rather have had a smaller portion of cod, or even coley or pollack, than the large portion of this rubbish south Pacific import. Avoid. Oh, and considering the poor quality of the fish, the price of £10.95 was entirely too ambitious.
See also http://ronsrants.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/a-new-camera-addendum/
Looks good! I have to confess I’m very ignorant about photography, but I’ve recently worked with a professional protographer so have learned some interesting things.
As for not coping with snow down south, it’s the councils here that can’t cope with it – we regular mortals in the south are fine with it, (it’s quite a novelty!) but somehow people who work for the council seem to cease to function, despite claiming that their invisible gritters are working round the clock putting invisible grit on unspecified roads….hmmm
The best way to learn about photography is with a manual 35mm SLR fitted with a standard 50mm lens (auto-exposure is OK if the camera lets you see what it’s doing and allows you to make changes – some don’t). It’s a quick way to learn the relationships between film speed, aperture and shutter speed, and to learn vital techniques, like differential focusing, as well as composition. I had to go up a private drive a short way so that the angle of the church wall, bottom left was reflected in the church building. Or get a book on the subject, there are lots about on the second-hand market.
The problem with digital photography is that we now have a generation that’s never used film, and so has no idea of the fundamentals of photography – essential if you ever want to move out of Auto or Scene modes as they still apply as thoroughly to digital photography as they ever did to film. And the technology that makes it all so easy, also gets in the way of learning the basics. Film, in a manual camera, doesn’t – it pretty much forces you to learn.
Ffordes, by the way, have some 35mm cameras for silly money, like this rather nice Praktica MTL50 for £35 http://www.ffordes.com/product/11080909192481
Or they have an excellent Minolta X-700 at £85 http://www.ffordes.com/product/11012617183381
Note – WP has screwed up my pic location. They’re offline so I’ll fix it when they’re back.