For my birthday, both my parents have agreed to contribute a sum of money towards a camera for me. At first, I had my heart set on a DSLR, but now I’m not so sure…
Let me explain. I’m as much of a computer geek as you can expect the average Comp Sci student to be, perhaps more so. I love my digital toys (or hate, depending on the situation). But for some (perhaps insane?) reason, I still prefer film to digital. My primary camera at the time of writing is an Olympus OM-2n, and it performs perfectly. Since starting out with the whole photography business, I’ve gained an interest in street photography. It’s great fun (although a teensy bit scary at times), and I love just randomly snapping pictures of interesting-looking people. I’ve been using my OM-2n primarily with the Zuiko 135mm f/3.5 lens I have for it, and I’ve generally been having great fun with it. However, I would much prefer to get closer to the subjects and get better shots that way, rather than shooting from a distance. For that method of photography, a rangefinder point and shoot camera is much more preferable and discreet compared to an SLR. Prime examples of rangefinder cameras that the average person may well know of include the Leica range of cameras.
Now, Leica cameras are a tad expensive (coming in at around.. £2,500 for the body only!), so I’ve been looking around at cheaper alternatives. The one which seems to most suit my needs is the Voitländer Bessa R3a. It’s a fraction of the price of the Leica (a “mere” £350), and seems to offer most of the capabilities of the Leica M7. It also uses the Leica M-mount for lenses, so if I ever did earn enough money to upgrade to a Leica (possibly a Leica M8 or M8.2 sometime in the distant future), any lenses I bought would for the Bessa R3a still work on the newer camera.
The Bessa R3a also has a 1:1 viewfinder, meaning that I’d be able to shoot with both eyes open (which would probably be kinda weird at first, but I’m sure I could get used to it). It uses aperture-priority for its “auto” mode, which is the same as my OM-2n. It has the ability to display two shutter speeds in the viewfinder: the shutter speed which you have selected as the user, and the shutter speed which the camera recommends. It produces outstanding results on film, with a resolution of 125lp/mm (line pair/mm). The only “downside” is that it cannot be used without batteries. I guess I can just make sure I keep spares with me at all times.
In my last blog post, I wrote about the advantages of getting film processed in bulk, buying film in bulk, and the use of film scanners to reduce the costs of photography. I believe that if I practice what I preach, I would be still be able to feed myself, whilst continuing to shoot film. (But only just…). Depending on what I decide I prefer to do in the long run, I would most likely invest in a double-digit or single-digit Canon DSLR or a Leica M8 of some sort. But this would all be in at least a couple of years, so I’m not going to think about that too much.
Now, this blog post may well be a tad pre-emptive: I’m not going to buy any new camera until I’m off my crutches. This will allow me to experiment much more thoroughly with street photography with my OM-2n and two legs. I’ll be able to get closer to my subjects, and keep moving whilst taking photos (which I cannot do at the moment). I want to be able to spend a good month or so shooting with my OM-2n on two legs before purchasing a new camera, so I’d be on the market around about late August or early September. We shall see what happens.
Tags: Bessa R3a, Crutches, Film, Leica, Olympus, OM-2n, Photography, Rangefinder, Street Photography, Voitländer
I’ve had a Leica M8 for a couple of years and really like it. The Leica lenses are also really good — I have had a 90/4 for a while, and just saved up for the 16-18-21/4 Tri Elmar, which arrives in a week. The main problem is of course with IR filters, but I wouldn’t give it up to go back to a Canon 30D (my previous camera), as it’s so light, compact and well-built in comparison. I would recommend that you keep saving, and if you’re ever in Berlin in the meantime, you can borrow mine
Getting a nice rangefinder with high-quality glass is one thing, getting the film sorted is another. If you get anything like a Voigtlander or a M7 do not skimp on a scanner otherwise it’s money wasted. Scanner development stopped years ago but the price of Nikons seems to hold well, mainly because people buy them usually for one thing, convert their film archive to digital and that’s it. I just went to ebay and found my purchase of a Nikin LS50 ED was a very good one. Got it 3years ago for £400, they’re going from £360 to 730! Wow. Software in Linuxwise? The sane project, despite being good, is largely useless for Nikon’s. Vuescan is the way to get things like ICE and all the other niceties that the scanners have.
Film processing. Ok this is where things can go well or bad. You have plenty of money and not interested in hand developing? Get it professionally done. C41 is pretty easy to do OK, E6 is another matter and may take a while to find a developer you trust. B&W silver? Well, it’ll cost you as not many places do it these days.
A bit poor? Get 100ft rolls of reliable BnW silver and use C41 for colour. Start off with cheap film and chems and get your development process down to a tee before getting fancier silvers. Personally I think Rodinal is the best chemical as it is one of the few that keeps once opened and is cheap. Although it will exaggerate grain sharpness is improved. If you do go this way dry negatives diagonally.
@jonno I was looking at buying a Plustek OpticFilm 7500i SE film scanner – reviews seem to be pretty decent.
I was looking into using Peak Imaging for my film processing, it’s a ProAm lab which has been recommended by a number of friends of mine.
The camera I’m looking at right now is the Bessa R3M rather than the Bessa R3A – even though it’s manual, it still has a TTL meter, so I’d be able to get the exposure right, and it would help hammer in the numbers.
I’m interested in doing the “one camera, one year” project – and just using one camera with one lens and one type of film for a whole year. Would probably opt for Ilford HP5, and shoot something like 10 rolls a month. (I’ll write a separate blog post about that though).
@David Thanks for the loan offer!
I don’t think there’s any way which I could afford a Leica M8/M8.2 within the next, say, 2-3 years or so without getting a job, so I’ll stick with a cheaper film camera to practice on before getting a digital rangefinder when I do my industrial year out of uni.
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