UKC

Hi All,

I'm tempted to get rid of my SLR set; I have an OM-10 with standard lens and another lens, filters, manual adapter and loads of out of date but probably use-able film, shoulder strap and probably even the original booklet!

My question is, is it worth my while trying to flog it; it get's no use and is in top condition!

Would anyone here be interest? Just a feeler before creating a FS thread.

C

In reply to Chay:
check ebay for a valuation i guess it depends on how strapped for cash you are but film cameras unless collectable have very little value

In reply to koolkat: I think that's the theme of the advice I'm looking for; I mean, I don't really use it but I'm not desperate for £20 either.

I'll have a look at ebay..

C

In reply to Chay:

Ffordes is useful for getting an idea what shops are selling them for so you can get a rough idea what they go for in that environment and condition and adjust accordingly.

http://www.ffordes.com/category/Film_Cameras/35mm_SLR/Olympus/OM_Cameras

In reply to Chay:

I know what you mean - I've got an OM1n which I'd happily sell, as long as it's not for peanuts.

In reply to Chay: Trouble is, lots of us have OM-10's lying around and we're all too sentimental to get rid of them. Mine was my Dad's, I loved my Pentax, still have that as well.

In reply to Chay: Problem is you get so little for them I wouldn't bother selling it. Put it on a shelf somewhere as a decoration but buy a roll of film and marvel at what we all gave up going to digital before you do it though.

In reply to Hannes:

Maybe someone will make some sort of digital 35mm cassette thingie you can drop in and use the camera to record digital images. I have got an OM1 of my own plus two of my father's and various lenses, which I would enjoy using again.

In reply to wilkesley:

They have, it's called a film, just send it to a man or woman who will put the pictures onto a CD for you. It takes about 3 days from sending it to getting your digital photos back. The best thing is that you'll take more care over the pictures you take and so they'll be better....

In reply to Chay:

I'm in a similar situation, got an OM-1n, plus a 80-200mm zoom, and a 28mm Wide Angle lens, and apart from the camera case it's in excellent condition.

But the running costs are quite - very? - high compared to the convenience of a digital SLR where you can see the results instantly, and take hundreds of shots in an hour (and delete all but the good ones)

My brother-in-law also has 2 or 3 Nikon bodies and a few lenses, but they appeared to have almost no second-hand value, when I looked a year or so ago...

I'd love to try them out, but I'd like to know a couple of things...

A) Would it be better to shoot on Slide Film, or normal (negative) - and get a negative / slide scanner?

B) Who is the best film processor lab to use? I don't have my own darkroom, or the space to set one up, or the money to do so.

c) Will a film processor lab just develop the film, and scan them to CD / DVD for you? If so, which one?


sorry if that lot is a bit off topic, but I'm looking at a way of making some fairly reasonable 35mm equipment slightly more cost effective in a digital age...

In reply to Dominion:

Transparency film was always the 'gold standard' but there are some fantastic negative films out there - the only problem with 'professional' film (e.g. Kodak Portra) is that it's breathtakingly expensive.

Good labs - there are a lot out there, from Digitalab in Newcastle to Photofilmprocessing (Fuji in Burnley - though their website is currently infected with a trojan horse, it seems), to the big places like Spectrum in Brighton and Metro Imaging in London. Oh, and Peak Imaging too. Ooh, and Ilford do B&W develop/scan/print too.

Darkroom equipment comes up for free surprisingly frequently on Freecycle, and chemicals and paper to start developing can cost well under £40 to get going.

A film processing lab can definitely just do process + scan, at selected resolutions.

In reply to George Fisher:

Well said

(still clinging to the film dream here in Tall Clare world)

In reply to Tall Clare:

Ta, thanks for the info.

||-)

In reply to Dominion:

For chemicals and paper, Silverprint are good, as are A G Photographic.

In reply to Dominion:

Regarding bodies and lenses, I ended up with a haul of Nikon lenses that had been given to my dad for some obscure reason. I'm not a Nikon user so I sold them through a dealer and made something like £700, which paid for a flight to New Zealand - result! The only particularly unusual bit of kit was a tilt-shift device.

In reply to Dominion:

A, go with negative film, it is good enough for most things.

B, look at the starter kits for developing at ag photographic. As long as you aren't printing them but only developing the film you don't need more than basically a bucket or two and you don't have to develop many rolls before it pays for itself.

C, they usually scan at paltry resolutions and you are better off getting a dedicated negative scanner and doing it yourself. Check ebay for used ones as they come up often since people buy them to digitalise their photo collections. Again it pays for itself quickly.

Financially film doesn't make sense, however the images you get out of film has a very different feel to it and I think personally that images of people look far better when using film. The look is somehow much more organic and likeable rather than sterile. If you were to get one roll of film just to try it out buy a roll of Kodak BW 400CN. It is developed with the normal colour developing process (the developing process depends on the film) and any photo lab can do but is black and white with a hint of sepia and gives really attractive results, here's a link http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/bw400cn-35mm-36-558-p.asp . I've seen it for sale in my local boots. I'm not saying you should convert to film, it is awkward and expensive unless you shoot infrequently, but rather to have a go. Maybe I have romantic notions about the loveliness of film once it has been developed but I miss shooting with it every time I reach for my DSLR.

In reply to Chay:

To the OP - your kit is worth about £40 tops if you find the right buyer.

To whoever has an OM1-n, the body is about £35 these days.

fujifilmprocessing as mentioned by Clare have a standard scan resolution of 3000 * 2000 - kind of 6MP-equivalent. All their scans are sharp and clean Neg film d&p and 3000*2000 scans cost about £8. Slide film is disproportionately expensive

Sorry, a slightly rushed message there with an absent full stop and a rather vague comment about slide film. I meant that fujifilmprocessing (which I use and recommend for neg film as it is excellent value) is not so bargaintastic on slide processing / mounting / scanning.

dek of this parish uses some place in London that I have yet to try out and I have forgotten their name

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Genie something, if I remember rightly - Genie Imaging?

In reply to Tall Clare:

That rings a bell. Probably them, aye

In reply to Tall Clare:

Genesis Imaging? I have them on my list and they're in Fulham.

In reply to Removed User:

One bit of poststalking later: http://www.genieimaging.co.uk/