Film Cameras

[AudioNut]

I still have the first "good" film camera I ever owned . . . A Zeiss Contaflex (I ) that my dad bought new in 1955. - In fact I'm "messing with it" as I write this post.

The Contaflex was the first SLR that Zeiss made in West Germany, and it was the first SLR ever made with a leaf shutter - A Synchro Compur - with speeds from 1 second - 1/500. It had a non-interchangable 45mm Zeiss Tessar F2.8 lens which was actually very sharp.




Everything on this remarkable 60 year old camera still works, and I have taken pictures with it during the past couple of years. I used it all through high school and college and took thousands of slides with it.

When my dad bought the Contaflex, I was "just a kid" but i was pushing him to buy a Kodak Retina IIIc (little "c"), which was a rangefinder camera of similar quality - because Kodak had better looking ads. I'm glad he bought the Contaflex because it surely has held up well to a lot of use.

Cost of the Contaflex in 1955 (as can be seen in the ad below) was $169.00 which in todays dollars would be $1360.36.

[AudioNut]

The Kodak Retina IIIc ad from about the same time as the Contaflex ad above. I guess my dad balked at the extra $6.00 that the Retina cost!

[W9TR]

Julian,
You sure have taken great care of your Contaflex - it's a fantastic looking camera even today! I wonder how long my D7000 will last. It seems almost disposable. My FE has lasted over 30 years and I see no reason why it won't make it further. One thing I like about film cameras is you get a free upgrade when a new film is introduced - like Fuji Velvia. Guess that will happen much less often now.

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by W9TR

John,
Here is an example of an unedited landscape from my D7000 with what I call "Velvia Mode" You can do a lot in-camera, and post processing it will take it further. - Tom

Thank you Tom, that's a great image!

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by W9TR

Julian,
You sure have taken great care of your Contaflex - it's a fantastic looking camera even today! I wonder how long my D7000 will last. It seems almost disposable. My FE has lasted over 30 years and I see no reason why it won't make it further. One thing I like about film cameras is you get a free upgrade when a new film is introduced - like Fuji Velvia. Guess that will happen much less often now.

I really haven't been following film all that much - when was the last time a new film was brought to market?

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by srosenberg

i've found film capture (large format) and digital print making to yield the best of both worlds. though digital capture is getting VERY good recently.

What are you using to scan the negative / transparency? Are you doing it yourself, or are you using a service?

Years ago, I went to a digital photo seminar led by pro (whose name escapes me). It was at the Apple store in Palo Alto, shortly after it opened. He talked about density - the digital cameras at the time simply didn't have the resolution
(not only xy but also color depth) to compete with film. He said "Capture on film, scan (tango drum scan) then manipulate/print..." Digital cameras have come a long way since then, but... I wonder if a DSLR is at the level of, say, 35mm ?

[DesW]

Originally Posted by JohnK

Years ago, I went to a digital photo seminar led by pro (whose name escapes me). It was at the Apple store in Palo Alto, shortly after it opened. He talked about density - the digital cameras at the time simply didn't have the resolution
(not only xy but also color depth) to compete with film. He said "Capture on film, scan (tango drum scan) then manipulate/print..." Digital cameras have come a long way since then, but... I wonder if a DSLR is at the level of, say, 35mm ?

Yes correct to a point Film can be scanned at up to 8000DPI resolution--the Highest Reso' Digital--in this case the Phase IIQ80MP is still stuck on 300 DPI-no commercial grade DSLR exceeds 300DPI at capture.

Des

PS Luv the Contaflex pic-- fine camera!

[W9TR]

John,
Velvia 50 was introduced in 2007. It is essentiually the original Velvia on a new film base. I don't know of any others introduced since then.

[Freestone]

I am using an old Polaroid.

[srosenberg]

Originally Posted by DesW

Yes correct to a point Film can be scanned at up to 8000DPI resolution--the Highest Reso' Digital--in this case the Phase IIQ80MP is still stuck on 300 DPI-no commercial grade DSLR exceeds 300DPI at capture.

Pretty sure the Tango Drum Scanner is capable of 11,000 dpi... but your message is spot on.

when discussing resolution, the size of the original should be considered - film or sensor (the sensor in the aforementioned Phase back has 2.5 times the area of a frame of 35mm film). to obtain the same effective resolution, you'd have to scan a piece of 35mm film at ~7,735 dpi to equal one frame from the 80mp Phase back. also, unless i'm thinking incorrectly (it is pretty late right now), isn't the 80mp back effectively at ~4,872 dpi? the area is roughly 1.59" x 2.12" so wouldn't 300 dpi only yield ~303.7k pixels instead of the 80,145,280 the back is capable of?