Hey I'm planning on shooting film sometime when I get round to it, and I need some advice

First thing: I tried to clean my old Olympus, because i can see a small hair and some dirt when I look through the viewfinder. I used an air rocket but to no avail. How would I remove this, if worth the effort?

Second: there is a plus minus scale, for the slider to go in-between the + and - I must use settings which would overexpose the picture to the point where it is white. What is this used for?

Third: Should I be looking at something like ASA 200 or 400 film for standard outdoor shooting?



Thanx

if u see something in viewfinder it doesent mean it would show on film.

that -+ scale is same kind of light meter that u got in your dslr and its used the same way

iso depends on how clear the day is, bright day light u should use 100 iso film, if u use 400 iso on bright daylight you need to use like f10-f22. look what iso you use with dslr, its all the same

great thanx mate, ill just ignore the debris then.

the light scale seems to be really off, it says i must use f1.8 and 1/10 to get a properly exposed picture!!! The camera does take a small battery, and maybe it will work better then.

where did u test it and what iso setting are on camera? most film cameras can go to 10iso and if there is no film inside(most cameras can read what iso film is inserted) and no iso indicator it might be set to 10iso. If it doesent have battery in it would sound weird that it would give eny reading on the light meter. If its really old camera and havent been used in long time could be that the light meter is just broken, hard to say enything without seeing the camera. What model is it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_M-1

Im pretty sure i had it set to 100 ASA


oh and is it possible to develop film meself cheaply somehow, instead of taking it to a shop?

This post was edited by doyleo on May 10 2009 01:27pm

b&w film is easy to develope yourself, you just need developing tank, developer and fixer. I developed all but one roll of my b&w films myself and you dont need lab or enything for it, i do it in my bathroom floor. Developing tank with 2 reels(takes 2 films) costed 35€, 0.5l developer costed 20€ and 1l fixer costed 20€ allso. Tank takes 0.5l liquid and for that u need 0.5dl of developer and 1dl fixer, developer can be used few times(but you cant store it), but after each developing you need to use it bit longer, so its not that accurate so i only used it once each time, fixer you can use atleast 5 times and you can store it for some time, i dunno exactly how long but i have used bit over week old mix of fixer. So developing them yourself is what you should do.

Developing color film yourself can be done, but its way more complicated and needs more chemicals, those i suggest you take to shop.

If the exposure meter says f1.8 and 1/10 sec in clear daylight then you should try it with new batteries and if it still does that then its most likely broken. You can take the metering with your dslr or then just get new camera. Eos 300 is really cheap and you can use your canon ef(naturally ef-s lenses like the kit lens wont work) lenses with it. You should remember if u need to buy new camera that camera doesent really matter other than terms of usability, it has no effect on iq, only lens and film does.

developing yourself sounds awesome. Ill probably end up taking most photos to get developed at a shop, but id like to try myself one day.

If the exposure meter is broken there is no chance of me getting another film camera, i seriously love this camera and i know roughly the correct settings for different environments, and as ya say i might just take the 450 along and get it to read for me if im unsure.


cheers again for ur advice mate

np

imo if your even little serious about shooting film get yourself developing set, its way easier to develope yourself than walk to shop where they develope them, not to mention its much faster doing it yourself, allso its cheaper. I can make a tutorial for you if you get developing equipments

You should be ok shooting negative film, even with a busted meter. They usually have a wide latitude meaning even if they're over or under developed they should be fine.




Cheaper to develop the film, but if you want prints you're better off going to a shop.

yea but you get best resoults when its properly exposed, allso it depends on iso of film, with 3200 film underexposed you cant get much out of, but you can get really much from 400 iso film. Film has really wide tonal range compared to digital. You can take your self developed negatives to shop for printing ofc