Basic 35mm SLR camera.
The 35mm camera used to be the standard around the world. Whether it was a single-lens reflex (SLR) or rangefinder, the 35mm camera was used by everyone from tourists to pros to capture everything from family picnics to news to fashion. Digital came along and many people switched, but there is nothing like using a 35mm film camera.
Instructions
1. Buy a 35mm SLR or rangefinder camera. They used to be expensive, but since most companies stopped selling many at all, they have fallen in price dramatically. A Nikon, for example, once fetched $500 to $2,000, but now can be bought used for as little as $50. The same is true for lesser cameras like Pentax and Canon. Rangefinders---where the viewing lens is separate but coupled with the taking lens---died out before SLRs, but the Leica still is one of the best cameras around. Since Leicas tend to be sought by collectors, they are more expensive.
2. Choose at least three 35mm-style lenses for your SLR. The three main focal lengths that are the most useful are wide-to-normal zoom, normal and normal-to-telephoto zoom. There are many others to choose from, but these three will be the most useful. The normal lens is around 50mm and takes an image at the same size and distance as the human eye sees it. Wide-angle lenses push the image back so there is more to the image at the sides, top and bottom. Telephoto lenses bring the image closer while cutting out more of the periphery.
3. Choose the kind of film you want to shoot with. While choices are far fewer than in the past, Kodak, Fujifilm and Ilford still make a variety of color and black and white films. If you want to shoot black and white, you can develop it yourself or send it off for processing. This can be costly. An alternative is the black and white film that is processed like color. Kodak's BW400CN film and Ilford's XP2 both can be processed at the local drugstore in color chemicals, but deliver black and white negatives.
4. Take a variety of film with you and go out and shoot. SLRs allow you to see through the lens exactly what will be recorded on the film. Shooting on a variety of film will give a variety of results that you can compare later. You will not be able to see an instant version of your photos, because this is not a digital camera.
5. Try different lenses. The main advantage of an SLR is that you can change lenses in the middle of film rolls without exposing the film. There are both manual and autofocus lenses. Autofocus lenses only will work automatically on autofocus cameras.
6. Process your film---either yourself or with a film printer---and take it into the darkroom or scan it into the computer. Half the joy of film photography is working with the images after they have been shot. Legendary photographer Ansel Adams said that at least half of the look and feel of his photos was created in the darkroom.
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