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Just get a refurbished film camera like the excellent Canon AE-1 Program and enjoy film photography. The chemicals used for developing color film are bad enoug

Just get a refurbished film camera like the excellent Canon AE-1 Program and enjoy film photography. The chemicals used for developing color film are bad enough already, no need to add pollution by single use plastic to the problem again.

ghaff 2y ago
I wouldn’t do color though. B&W is super-simple. Need more gear for printing blowups obviously. Stating with color is probably a recipe for frustration. Back in the film day pretty much no one started out with color.
- taylodl 2y ago
  No one started with color - and most people kept it that way! Color is a real pain in the ass to work with in a traditional dark room setting. Having started my photography career in an actual dark room, I understand why newbies are interested in the process and there should definitely be community resources available where they can learn the ropes of film and paper photography. But then they need to move on. Yes, I fondly remember my days working in the dark room. No, I don't want to go back to working in the dark room and always smelling like fixer afterward. Hmmm...thiosulfate smells good! NOT!!!
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Personally I don’t disagree but I’m also not going to tell people what they can and cannot do. But other than processing a roll or two of B&W film, much more than that gets pretty frustrating in the absence of a properly kitted-out darkroom. It’s not something I’d make a personal investment and I doubt anyone doing this has the spare room at home. I’d probably start by trying to find a local camera club that probably has some camera gear to loan/rent.
    - taylodl 2y ago
      That's why I was thinking a community resource would be nice. A fully kitted-out darkroom available to lease out in 2 hour chunks. Lessons available for new people. I do think everybody should do it a few times. Also there's a few times I'd want to use an actual darkroom for some projects, but like you say, I'm not dedicating the space and funding to a darkroom. But I'd gladly pay, say $50, to use a darkroom for a couple hours. Heck, I'd pay to lease out some cameras. It's been a long time since I've used a Hasselblad medium format!
ryukoposting 2y ago
Having owned two AE-1s (one of which was an AE-1 Program), I'd avoid them. I know every TikTok/YouTube influencer will disagree with me, but they're not actually that good of a beginner SLR. AE-1s are notoriously fragile. Their light meters break pretty easily, and then there's the shutter squeak of doom. Plenty of more reliable SLRs can be had for less money. Then there's the price - they're stupidly expensive, in part because of the influencers causing beginners to flock to them on eBay. I find the AE-1's shutter priority mode less useful than aperture priority on other cameras. If you already have an AE-1 and you like it, don't get rid of it because of my comment. If you haven't bought a 35mm SLR yet, take a good look at the Canon T70, Minolta X-700, and Nikon N2000. All of them match or beat the AE-1/AE-1P in feature set, all can be had for cheaper than an AE-1, and all of them are better-made.

ghaff 2y ago

I wouldn’t do color though. B&W is super-simple. Need more gear for printing blowups obviously. Stating with color is probably a recipe for frustration. Back in the film day pretty much no one started out with color.

taylodl 2y ago
No one started with color - and most people kept it that way! Color is a real pain in the ass to work with in a traditional dark room setting. Having started my photography career in an actual dark room, I understand why newbies are interested in the process and there should definitely be community resources available where they can learn the ropes of film and paper photography. But then they need to move on. Yes, I fondly remember my days working in the dark room. No, I don't want to go back to working in the dark room and always smelling like fixer afterward. Hmmm...thiosulfate smells good! NOT!!!
- ghaff 2y ago
  Personally I don’t disagree but I’m also not going to tell people what they can and cannot do. But other than processing a roll or two of B&W film, much more than that gets pretty frustrating in the absence of a properly kitted-out darkroom. It’s not something I’d make a personal investment and I doubt anyone doing this has the spare room at home. I’d probably start by trying to find a local camera club that probably has some camera gear to loan/rent.
  - taylodl 2y ago
    That's why I was thinking a community resource would be nice. A fully kitted-out darkroom available to lease out in 2 hour chunks. Lessons available for new people. I do think everybody should do it a few times. Also there's a few times I'd want to use an actual darkroom for some projects, but like you say, I'm not dedicating the space and funding to a darkroom. But I'd gladly pay, say $50, to use a darkroom for a couple hours. Heck, I'd pay to lease out some cameras. It's been a long time since I've used a Hasselblad medium format!

ryukoposting 2y ago

Having owned two AE-1s (one of which was an AE-1 Program), I'd avoid them. I know every TikTok/YouTube influencer will disagree with me, but they're not actually that good of a beginner SLR. AE-1s are notoriously fragile. Their light meters break pretty easily, and then there's the shutter squeak of doom. Plenty of more reliable SLRs can be had for less money. Then there's the price - they're stupidly expensive, in part because of the influencers causing beginners to flock to them on eBay. I find the AE-1's shutter priority mode less useful than aperture priority on other cameras. If you already have an AE-1 and you like it, don't get rid of it because of my comment. If you haven't bought a 35mm SLR yet, take a good look at the Canon T70, Minolta X-700, and Nikon N2000. All of them match or beat the AE-1/AE-1P in feature set, all can be had for cheaper than an AE-1, and all of them are better-made.