Many users cropped cameras often complain that it’s difficult to get a good picture from such a camera and that you must use full frame. Many people just drool on full-frame camerasthinking that they can do something improve their photos. And if you really want to shoot a full frame, and at the same time invest a little bag of money to purchase a camera, then this article is just for you.
Any good photography is based on the desire and skill of the photographer, everything else (including photographic equipment) is just a distraction from the main goal. I am often reproached for advocating to shoot with cheap equipment. I don’t actually do that, I advocate the idea that you can get a good shot from any camera if you want. Of course, the better the technique, the easier and faster the result can be achieved. Those who want to get good pictures get them from anyone, sometimes even the cheapest technique.
Therefore, if there is a key aspect - desire, then for only 240 cu can:
Shoot with a full-frame SLR camera, with fast automatic focus, good serial shooting with a huge frame buffer, a huge optical viewfinder, nice controls and at the same time take pictures at 28 MP.
The secret is very simple - just use a film camera.
Many readers may think that the film camera is something terribly ancient, incomprehensible to manage, morally obsolete and unsuitable for use in the era of modern monsters Nikon D4 and Canon 1DX. In the expanses of the CIS countries such an impression people have it from the fact that in the Union and on its territory not a single SLR narrow-camera camera with automatic focus was released. Seriously, the old Zeniths do not cause any interest among young people, the main reason for which is the complete obsolescence of technology.
But in other countries long ago let out pretty autofocus analog volatile DSLRs with interchangeable lenses. Moreover, using such a SLR camera is no different from any modern amateur DSLR camera. Nikon D3200 or Canon 600D.
I conducted an experiment, which cost me quite inexpensively, as a result of which this kit was assembled here:
- Nikon AF N8008s (also known as Nikon AF F801s) - 400 UAH
- Cosina MC 19-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 (AF) - 700 UAH
- AA Batteries * 4 - 20 UAH
- 200-frame Fujifilm Superia 36 film roller - 27 UAH with free development
- Epson Perfection V330 Photo Scanner - 650 UAH
- Shipping of the camera, lens and scanner - 80 UAH
Total 1877 UAH or 235 cu In fact, I could save on the lens and batteries, since I have both. The camera, film roll and scanner cost me some 140 cu
As a result, I got:
- A full-frame camera with a shooting speed of 3.3 frames per second. Some amateur cameras have approximately the same shooting speed. Nikon D80, D70s, D3000, D3100, and some professional CZK for 500 cu they shoot even slower, for example, Fujifilm Finepix S5 Pro.
- Maximum frame buffer makes 36 shots, for example, Nikon D7100 with the highest quality has frame buffer only 6 shots (RAW, 14-bit, lossless compression).
- My camera can work out super short shutter speed equal to 1/8000 seconds, which even can not Nikon D600 и Canon 6D.
- A huge optical viewfinder that never dreamed Canon 70D for 1500 cu Yes, and in itself Nikon AF N8008s very good and durable camera.
- My Nikon AF N8008s it works easily with manual optics - it correctly measures exposure, has an electronic range finder, which very accurately tells about focusing. Even Nikon D5200 for 600 cu can't measure exposure with AI-S lenses.
- Very nice LCD in JVI, its brightness is physically (not electronically) dependent on the light source. The brighter the source - the brighter the LCD, which allows you to always clearly see the camera settings in JVI. For example, on many CZKs, I don’t see the LCD at all on a bright day or when shooting in backlight.
- Camera control is almost the same as that of any other Nikon CZK. When shooting, you don’t feel any difference, the whole setup is on a monochrome display.
- Lens Cosina MC AF 19-35mm 1: 3.5-4.5 I just bought it for fun. 19mm at full frame can be safely attributed to an ultra-wide range of focal lengths. The lens focuses terribly fast, and with it you can create amazing pictures. To get the same viewing angle as this cheap lens gives out, on Nikon cropped cameras you should use the expensive Nikon 12-24mm F / 4.0.
- A scanner in the house is also useful, for example, to digitize old photographs for an album. For example, you can scan your school diaries, and share old memories on social networks. In any case, the scanner will not be redundant.
- The scanner allows you to obtain images with 48-bit color depth. This means that each channel is encoded with 16 bits. Most 'cool modern cameras'can encode a channel using only 14 bits, and receive 42 bits at the output. Theoretically, with my scanner, you can get 64 times more shades than with any DCC.
- Of course, my set has more disadvantages than advantages :), but I’ll keep silent about them in this article.
The following describes where I got 28 MP from the old film camera.
Of course, the 28MP figure in the article is a duck. But you can still get this figure in this way - the film has a physical frame size of 24mm * 36mm. Let's find the area of the film in square inches, since the parameters of the scanner are indicated in inches.
1 centimeter = 0.393700787 inches
1 square centimeter = 0.15500031000062 frame inches
1 square centimeter = 100 square millimeters
1 square millimeter = 0.0015500031000062 cpi
As a result, the film area is24mm * 36mm * 0.0015500031000062 = 1,339202678405357 sq. inch
The area of the film is 1,339202678405357 sq. inches. My scanner scans at 4800 pixels per inch, or 23 pixels per square inch. From 040 square inches of 000 pixels per square inch, 1,339202678405357 23 040 pixels are obtained, which is approximately equal to 000MP.
If your scanner has a different DPI, then the number of pixels when scanning a film frame can be calculated using the following simple formula:
DPI * DPI * 1,34
Some scanners in specifications have different DPI in height and width, for example, 4800 * 9600 is indicated in the specifications of my scanner. In fact, I can only scan at 4800 * 4800 or 9600 * 9600. The last option is half interpolation. The 'maximum possible DPI' is often indicated, for example 128000 is simply bloating the final image using a mathematical method of interpolating pixels, these numbers should not be paid attention to.
The simplest scanners with a slide adapter have 1200dpi, as a result, such a scanner can be squeezed out of one film shot:
1200 * 1200 * 1,34 = 1 929 600 (total about 2 MP)
I indicated '28MP camera' in the title of the article, since my Epson Perfection V330 Photo cuts off the edges of the frame a little when scanning and we end up with images not from the entire area of the film, but from a slightly smaller area. For example, a scanner often creates images like 6639 * 4319 pixels. Those who are chasing megapixels have already realized that from such a simple set you can squeeze these (or not these?) megapixels almost as much as Nikon D800 (a D800 costs almost 3000 cu).
By itself, for serious work, such a set is no good. But the task before me was quite amateurish. For 240 cu I can enjoy a full-frame camera with convenient professional-grade control, an ultra-wide-angle lens that helped me out well on vacation and in addition I have a scanner that is convenient for scanning mail invoices :). I do not advocate fussing with a film camera, but once again I want to emphasize that there is absolutely no difficulty in working with a good analog camera. And instead of being discouraged that someone full frame, you can easily and simply shoot a full frame yourself.
More sample photos (1400 pixels long)
Conclusions:
All of the above applies not only to my set. I brought my film set as real worldly example. Now buy used Nikon or Canon's autofocus analog camera is easy, the same goes for good-old lenses. The same story with the scanner.
Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment.
Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.
The article is interesting, thank you for your work. I am the owner of about 50 film cameras (FEDs, Zenits, Sharp, Kiev, Canon, Konica, Pentax and others). I have been shooting on film for 6 years (recently more on s / f), but I have never worked with Nikon - and the option with F801 attracts me very much, especially the reliability of the camera. In addition, the presence of a shutter speed of 1/8000 significantly expands the possibilities of sequential shooting on high-aperture optics without the hassle of ND filters. I'll try to buy it in Moscow tomorrow. Of the automatic film cameras, I really love the Canon EOS 650, but the 2CR5 format batteries are very stressful, in Moscow, of course, it's not a problem to find them, but in the regions it's not so easy - another plus for Nikon. And, of course, the viewfinder, it is simply gorgeous) As for the availability of analog photographic materials, there are no problems in our time, you can buy anything you want - sea films. And if you yourself have mastered the development, then this is a unique pleasure to go the way: shooting, developing, printing and everything with your own hands. Thanks again for the article!
I had a chance to buy a non-working device without a battery holder block and internals filled with electrolyte, for 400 rubles. for another 400 rubles. I bought a MB-10 batblock (not counting delivery), the repair cost 1200 rubles, well, I had a 50 mm G fix ... now I snap off the first test film - I will know .. but already the sensations from the device are excellent !!!!
I don’t understand: do you have a choice of used cameras so small that you had to take a non-working one? We in Ukraine are full of second-hand filmmakers in the range of 200-500 UAH (approximately $ 7- $ 20), moreover, for 500-800 UAH. come across already with standard optics. I took my F80 a couple of years ago for 150 UAH + delivery from other cities (≈ $ 6 + $ 1.5 shipping), then for 550 UAH. (≈ $ 20) took F65 + 28-80 / 3.3-5.6, the F65 carcass sold for 300 UAH ($ 11). All working, cosmetic condition 4 out of 5.
I dreamed of this in the early 2000s. But I think you will play around and return to digital. The visible, real resolution, in the given photo, will not exceed 1..2Mrh. Probably it's all about a high-quality scanner, I had better negatives from Zenit (V30 scanner, if I'm not mistaken). True, you need to pull them very hard (wait, you just don't have it at hand). It's just that this picture is far from better than my old, cropped, D50, which was discussed at the beginning: “Many users of cropped cameras often complain ..“. Now, if at the place of exposure, attach some kind of matrix (such as a back for conversion).
If you mean to attach a digital back instead of a film, then we will get an ordinary CZK, if a back for scanning a film, then we will get a reshooting of the film, which can be organized like that.
I did a blind test, laid out the pairs with the numbers ff and these. No one chose the film))).
Let's face it, the quality is very, very mediocre with the film, low resolution, strange color.
For lovers of color film, I strongly recommend that you study the problem of color stability in it and learn how to develop it yourself, and then scan it on normal equipment. Then maybe the quality of the picture will creep up to ff figures for $ 200 ...
So the film is different.
There is deshman for 250-300 rubles per video, but there is KodakEktar, Ektachrome, Vision 3. Fujichrome Velvia / Provia.
Good films like the above with good lenses will give a sharp, clear picture. FF resolution for such films up to 26-30MP. Moreover, the camera is not important, the main thing is newer. From medium format 120 films, you can stretch up to 80MP (!) From one Japanese on a flickr seen.
Well, let's not interfere with bananas and oranges?
The grain on the film, more precisely, its size is directly related to ISO. Not related to pixels.
Pixels are obtained by digitization and depend on the quality of the scanner.
The colors on the film are realized by chemical reactions on the emulsion layers and are not directly related to resolution.
The colors on the film may vary due to the state of the emulsion, temperature conditions and the quality of the REVIEW of the film.
As a result, we get that when using a film on ISO 100, 200 it is not known where and under what conditions it was stored, when developing in a lab where no one really controls the quality of the solution, when scanning for a scan for $ 100 or $ 200, getting a competitor to the figure is very unrealistic.)) )))
Really.
To avoid soapography is simple:
1) Do not buy expired film.
Fresh bulk.
2) Do not buy cheap film.
3) Do not use budget darkrooms.
4) It is advisable to use modern cameras like F65-F75 at least.
5) It is desirable that the camera was operational and had an accurate exposure meter. You can not put iso above the dx code of the film. If 400 is written, then we set 100-200.
6) In Moscow there are enough laboratories that are shaking for the client and working well.
When scanning, you can ask that the frames are not in jpg, but in Tiff.
Not everything is so rosy.
Shelf life is important but less important than storage and transportation conditions. In other words, you can buy a fresh film and get a floated color. The problem is familiar to everyone who has worked a lot with any color film, even the coolest brand.
Regarding the lab. There, the solution is by no means poured onto one film and not only for you. Developing boys do not shine with special knowledge. Despite the fact that films are now showing little, solutions may not change for months. And in the lab they can scratch the film (micro scratches during broaching) and / or leave spots on the emulsion layer.
In other words, filming on a film you get a process where the important part is not controlled by you in any way and with an unpredictable result, labor-intensive and expensive.
Well, of course, optics. The higher the resolution of the optics, the higher the resolution of the frame, not to be confused with the size, which depends on the digitization scan.
If you want a resolution comparable to mark 4 - put the lens no worse, that way for 2000-4000 $$.
To compare the resolution of Mark 4 and a film SLR with optics for $ 2000-4000 is how to compare bananas and oranges. Mark4 is not able to improve optics or replace optics in any way, because this is just a carcass with a matrix.
Indeed, first of all, how many “megapixels” we get depends on the resolution of the optics. With cheap lenses, this usually comes down to 8MP (and even then, only in the center). This does not mean that it is enough to simply shoot on an 8MP matrix, because if there are many megapixels on the matrix, then after reducing to 8MP there will be fewer debayering artifacts compared to a picture from an 8MP matrix.
The resolution of the film is approximately 100 lines / mm (pairs of black and white lines, which is almost comparable to 200 pixels / mm), and sometimes more. With a frame size of 36x24mm, we get almost 35 megapixels. Mark 4 30 MP. The numbers have their own advantages, but with regard to resolution, the film does not really lose.
Finding a good laboratory is another matter. It is still possible to find it, since many people work with mail transfers. Digital scanning may be needed only in low resolution in order to select frames suitable for printing on the Internet. Printing in normal laboratories is done directly from film, without the use of scanners or other digital equipment, while the quality is noticeably superior to digital printing.
I would also add to the article that although the film costs a lot, if you do not shoot very much, one “film” per month and print 100 photos per year, then the cost of the FF CZK costs will approach only after 5 years and this spending is gradual ( can be stopped at any time), while for FF CZK money must be laid out all at once.
Unfortunately, things are bad with labs now. I don't know how in the capitals, but in a large regional city you still need to look. A couple of years ago I handed over two films to different labs - both were screwed up (the films were fresh). There is no time to bother with the development itself, and it is not particularly interesting - we went through this twenty years ago. Well, digitization is also a question ...
“For 240 cu You can: Shoot with a full-format SLR camera "The question immediately arises: how much can you shoot with a medium-format or (God forgive me) with a small-format SLR camera? And on the half-format?
Fixed
Yuri, a question for you! Please tell me which film I shot and where I showed it?
Rather, not Yuri, but Arkady. sorry of course!
Photo signed: Fuji Superia 200.
Mb someone had experience shooting on film Canon EOS 50E?
What problems does he have besides the back cover latch?
I can’t decide whether to take it with a battery grip or a Nikon F65 with a battery grip.
I have an F65 with a battery grip. Better F100, and even better F6. What is good about the latest generations of Nikon film - full support for modern lenses with G, AF-S, VR, but certainly not AF-P and E (electronic aperture), and are compatible with all native flash units. I can not say anything about Canon, it is necessary to study the issue of compatibility. And they shoot film cameras almost the same way. The only difference is in focusing and exposure systems.
I will not say for F100, but F80 with SB-900 does not work in TTL. Latest supported flash - SB-800
Yes, the 900th does not support TTL with cameras without CLS. And SB-600 - supports TTL.
Taki bought a Canon EOS 50E with a BP-50E battery grip.
I already had finger batteries (I bought it for Fuji Protroyke).
It looks outwardly perfect, with a battery grip almost perfectly sits in the hand.
Checked - Tokina 28-70 / 2.6-2.8 focuses where necessary.
The focus is tight of course, and even up to 1Ds_mk2 as to Japan on Zaporozhets. But it gets to the right place.
3 (three) focus points :-)
The controls for the film camera from the 90s are impressive. At that time, probably just space.
The body is fictional plastic, the most dumb detail of which is the back cover latch, which they say often breaks. I regretted a little, I thought that I should have taken EOS 3 or EOS 1, but in a tidy condition they will be 3 times more expensive. I wanted to take Nikon F80 / N80, but with battery grips, they are something expensive and owners with cameras want to sell something else unnecessary, inflating the price.
Congratulations on your purchase! What type of film are you planning to shoot?
Thank you!
Yes, on the usual narrow color 135th.
In the second half of the 90s, I shot on a soap dish and Olympus Mju was a dream, and I never dreamed of a film SLR. Yes, and they were rare in my city then.
In the 90s and early 00s, he shot on the most budget-friendly color Konica, Fujifilm, Kodak, less often AGFA.
Now Kodak and Fujifilm are still alive from the brands I know. Like before Kodak GOLD.
I think now I’ll start with him slowly.
Negative? Try on a slide.
I forgot to add - the viewfinder is unusually large. Very comfortable and light.
Today, it was possible to buy EOS 3 in excellent condition in very good condition and load EOS 5 in good condition.
In the Five, the handle sticks - a disease like on Fuji Heap and D200.
I will still sell the five - there are no batblocks for finger batteries for it.
And 2CR5 are becoming more exotic.
In general, the sale of the EOS 50E and EOS 5 will pay for the purchase of a troika with a block. Three more than enough.
The EOS 50E has a slightly blind AF module, but it did a good job in the dark - there are not many defects. The center point works best. A very friendly camera that cost about $ 90 in Japan in the mid-770s.
As a result, EOS 5 and EOS 50E were sold, I continue to shoot on film on EOS 3.
The EOS 3 with an 8 AA battery grip is subjectively heavier than the EOS 1Ds mk2 or EOS 1Ds mk3.
EOS 3 liked the AF module - tenacious and many focus points, somewhat similar to the one that stands in units - 1Ds mk2 / 1Ds mk3.
Tried the Kodak GOLD 200 today for the first time in many years. And the photos were disappointing - grain and narrow DD, as well as low detail. In terms of DD and color (as well as detail), we liked the Kodak Vision3 50D, 250D, and 500T cinemas so far.
I also managed to try Kodak Aerocolor 125 - a film that is crazy in colors and contrast. DD is also very good.
Hey! I am writing almost a year after your comment. In March 2021 he took over a Canon EOS 50E. For 40 euros in good condition. I haven't loaded the film yet - but everything works and I like how it sits in my hand. Focusing with 50mm STM is fast and tenacious.
I will experiment.
Narrow DR on color negative film? Or you do not know what it is - dynamic range?
According to GOLD200 - it seemed at first that yes.
Now it doesn't seem so anymore.
Then nuances surfaced: at least one video was overdue, at least a couple of times it was scanned not very well in the lab, and there were also small exposure errors on my part.
Igor, if you shoot on film, can you tell me the address of the lab, where they develop and scan with high quality?
In terms of DD, I began to like Kodak Portra more.
Unfortunately, it is expensive and has become rare.
And another thing is that the quality of developing and scanning is highly dependent on the lab and especially on the working staff.
Alas, it already happened that 3 videos were simply exposed or burned (with chemistry), another time something was chemically mixed and the colors floated, and unnaturally strong - 4 or 5 videos were ruined.
Most of these offensive stocks - in the Moscow environment (and there, by the way, a permanent recruitment).
In my opinion, in the 90s and early 00s, labs worked better.
Of course, the quality is better. Films were mostly fresh, chemistry too, and most importantly - a mass order. Now the client should already thank you for doing something.
So what is the best lens to use for this camera? Not very expensive, fast lens. What about the Tamron 28-105 f2.8?
If you find normal, then just right