CHOOSE YOUR FIRST FILM CAMERA

Find the right one for you

INDEX
WHO AM I ?
INTRODUCTION
THE THREE FILM SIZES
35mm
Medium Format

Large Format
THE FOUR TYPES OF CAMERA
SLR

TLR
Rangefinder

Point and Shoot

WHERE TO FIND YOUR FIRST CAMERA
MY SUGGESTIONS
SUMMARY
 WHO AM I ?
My name is Vincent Moschetti and just like you, I am not a
professional photographer. During the week I work in an office and
use photography as a hobby to tickle my creativity. I came to
photography by accident a few years ago. During the preparation of
my trip to Japan in 2013, a friend thought that it could be a good idea
to bring his camera with me. After spending 10 days with his Canon
350D it was time to give it back, not without regrets! After annoying
my girlfriend day and night, she gave up and offered me my first
digital camera a few weeks later.

I quickly understood that it would take a while to get the most of it but
I was getting encouraging results. Those first pictures lead to few
successes and awards over the last years, but even if I was having
good results, there was no excitement. After a while, I start losing
interest and found myself not giving much attention to my camera.

During a trip to Iceland in 2016, I brought in my bag a disposable

camera just to have fun and remind us of the good old times. Back
from this trip, even if I had brought back some amazing pictures with
my digital camera, my interest was in seeing what this film was hiding.

After seeing the results, came a radical decision: I sold all my digital
equipment and switched entirely to film. It completely revived my
interest in photography and I feel more inspired and motivated than
ever.

Of course, from this decision, came a lot of questions. That’s why I

thought that it could be interesting to bring you along in this journey,
Picture by Mirko Rufolo

to share my progress and struggles. We can progress together and

participate in the comeback of film photography!

Vincent Moschetti
INTRODUCTION
Choosing the right camera is like choosing a partner. You are going to spend a lot of time with, bring it
everywhere and put your hands on (you can touch your partner with what you want but for the camera, we
will stick with your hands ! ). As your partner, the camera should complement your personality and not
oppose it. For example, if you are a discreet person you might want to stay away from heavy and large
camera/lenses that would drag too much attention on you. If like me, you like to travel light*, then a
lighter camera will be more suitable for you.

If you are reading this, you probably have made some research before but feel overwhelmed by the
amount of film camera that you have found. I was there too not so long ago and still remember how it
feels. It took me weeks to decide, when I was searching for my first analog camera, but looking back, my
choice would have been different if I had a clear understanding of each type. Since then, more cameras
were added to the collection bought and nowadays barely use the first one I got, which is a shame
because it's a very capable piece of gear that is now on my shelf catching dust. The reason is simply
because it's super heavy and not easy to shoot handheld with. Each type of camera will suit different styles
of photography. Having an idea of what you want to capture the most, will determine which one is the
best for you.

That's why I decided to create this short guide to help you save time and money, which both can be
invested in something more useful in your journey into the analog photography world. I will do my best to
explain in simple words how to differentiate the types of films and cameras you may encounter in your
researches.
THE THREE FILM SIZES
35mm, Medium Format, or Large format
35MM
This is the one that most photographers use. It takes its name from the size of the film. It is also known
as 24x36, which is the size of the picture on the film. If you are familiar with digital cameras, this is the
equivalent of the Holy Grail that we call "Full-Frame". You know, those expensive cameras that all
aspiring photographers are willing to sell their mother in exchange. Thanks to analog cameras, you can
jump into the "Full-Frame" world and keep your family all together! How cool is that ?!!

This size of film hasn't always been the norm and was created after the Medium Format (we will get
there in a minute). The idea was to have a smaller sized film which obviously would bring smaller
cameras to the market. It helped the popularisation of photography when it was introduced. That's why
you will find an incredibly large choice of 35mm cameras. Each roll contains either 24 or 36 frames.
Ideally, that’s what you want to start with if you have never shot film before.

24mm

36mm
MEDIUM FORMAT
Also know as 120 film, again because of its size. The principle is the same than 35mm but with a bigger sized film.
The main advantage over its young brother is quality. Here you work with a bigger negative so the resolution of
your picture is much higher. There are more details, less grain but it's not as easy to work with. One important point
is that all Medium Format cameras won't produce the same negative size. The most common are 6x4.5 (645) 6x6,
6x7 and 6x9 cm. The film size will impact a number of pictures you can get per roll, which goes from 8 to 15
exposure per roll, depending on the camera size. From time to time you will see cameras that work with 220 film
but you should stay away from them. It's simply a longer film however they are very difficult to find and develop.

Due the bigger size of the film, the depth of field is reduced. I could show you some complicated calculations or
sketches to demonstrate this but let's keep it simple. Anyway, nobody understands anything of that stuff.

The point is that as you are working with a shallower depth

of field, you need to close down your aperture in order to
increase your focal plan. This means that if you close your
aperture, you need to compensate with a slower shutter
speed to let more light in. And I'm sure some of you
already guessed: slow shutter speed means more chances
to have a blurry image! That's why Medium Format
cameras are often used in studio or with a tripod. There are
of course Medium Format that are meant to be shot
handheld but you get the idea. Again, for your first camera,
I'm not encouraging you this way as it requires a bit of
experience to get things done right.
LARGE FORMAT
This is the biggest as it can get in terms of film size. Here we don't work with roll but with sheets of film. You can
only take one picture and then swap the sheet holder to take another one. This is of course very expensive to shoot
and you must be sure of what you are doing because each mistake will cost you big time!

With Large Format film comes large cameras. You've probably seen those photographers from the past hidden
under a black cloth. That's what they were using in the early days of photography. The quality that comes out of
these pictures is incredible and it allows to make extremely large enlargements.

I'm not going to develop too much on them because I don't think that's what you are looking for at the moment.
THE FOUR TYPES OF CAMERAs
SLR, TLR, Rangefinder, or Point and Shoot
SLR (SINGLE-LENS REFLEX)
This one is the most common among analog or digital. Basically, when you look through the viewfinder (the small
window where you put your eye on) you are looking through the lens. This is possible because there is a mirror placed
right behind the lens which reflects the image through a prism, right into your eye. This allows you to see exactly what
will be on your picture but when you press the shutter button to the picture, the mirror flips up to let the light through.

"Ok that's very interesting but what is it good for?"

From portrait to landscape, you can shoot almost everything with this type of camera and they are also very easy to
use. That's why they are so popular and often praised. They are fairly inexpensive, solid and offer a wide selection of
lenses.

The downside is that they can be heavy and their lenses too. This is due to the body that needs mode space to include
the mirror and prism. Also, they are not very convenient when shooting from a low angle as you will have to lay down
on the ground to see through the viewfinder. Few of them, like the legendary Nikon F3, allow you to remove the prism
on top and swap it for a waist-level viewfinder. You've probably seen guys looking down to their camera, that's what at
waist-level viewfinder is.

"I just want to take pictures of my cat, landscapes during my

next holidays and maybe sometimes a bit of street photography"

Then go for an SLR, it's the perfect camera for you and will satisfy 99% of your
needs. In general, they also include a light meter which can be very useful when
starting.
TLR (TWIN-LENS REFLEX)
This is the ancestor of the SLR. It has a strange look with its two lenses on top of each other. The one on top is for
looking at your scene and the bottom one is taking the picture. Back in time, they were very popular and the most
famous are probably the Rolleiflex, which is like the Rolls Royce of TLRs. With these, you have to hold the camera
on your chest and look down in order to compose your image.

Another particularity is their format. They are only, to my knowledge, square format also known as 6x6 in reference
to the film size. The type of film is in general Medium Format even if some rare models use 35mm.

The major drawback of these models is what we call parallax error. Basically, it means
that you don't see exactly what the result is going to be. This is because you are not
looking through the lens and the angle of the bottom lens could be different than the
top one. You will mostly face this issue when shooting very close to your subject but if
there is a reasonable distance between the camera and the subject you won't notice
any difference. Also, they are usually slower to operate and most of them don't
include a built-in light meter so you will need to rely on an extra equipment to
measure the light of your scene.

"What do you use it for then?"

Mostly for portrait, studio, landscape or fine art. You don't want to use such a camera
with a fast moving subject. I would not recommend it to beginners as a first camera,
as it requires some experience and because they are 100% manual.
RANGEFINDER
Their name come from the focusing mechanism they use which is also known as "Telemeters". Like TLRs, you are not looking
through the lens. Instead, you look through a window on the left side of the camera. Inside you will see in the centre, two
images of the scene and you have to align them with the focusing ring on your lens to get it in focus. The most famous are
probably the Leica M series which were often used by photojournalist and street photographers.

The most common use 35mm film but you also find some medium format rangefinders. One major advantage is their small
size. Thanks to the focusing system that is much smaller and also lighter than SLRs. The lenses are also taking advantage of
this construction and come in a compact format.

"What are these cameras good for?"

They are praised among street photographers mainly for two reasons. One, the rangefinder allows you to see outside the
frame. This is very useful when shooting street as you can see what's coming inside your frame so you don't need to take your
eyes off the camera to see what’s happening around like you would have to do with an SLR. The second reason is their
discretion. Their small size drags less attention and they are also much quieter than SLRs. Here you don't have the noise of the
mirror flapping up and down when taking the shot, which can be a major advantage in some situations.
But not everything is perfect with this system. Like with TLRs, you may be subject to
parallax error with close subjects. That's why shooting portrait is not ideal for these
cameras. Another point is that viewfinder window is often partially masked by the lens
on the right-hand corner so you have to be careful when composing your image.

If you are mostly interested in street photography then it might be the right type of
camera for you. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that you can't shoot
portrait or landscape with it but it might not be convenient as it would be with an SLR.
For example, many photographers use polariser filter when shooting landscape. To see
how the filter will affect your picture you must see through the lens otherwise you will
have no idea about the effect of the filter.
POINT AND SHOOT
Also knows as Compact cameras. I kept this type for the end because there isn't much to say about it.
Everything is in the name, you just point the camera at your subject and shoot. You have a very limited to
no control at all on the exposure and focusing. The only thing you have to do is to load the film inside and
it will take care of itself.

"Why would you buy such a camera?"

These cameras are very good to bring to places where you don't want to worry about your gear like in
parties or to the beach for example. They are usually built in plastic so they won't hold a grudge after you
if you drop them a couple of time in the night (try to avoid the bowl of punch on the table). What's also
interesting is to see people's reaction when they see such a camera. Nowadays everybody is taking
pictures with their smartphone so you'll be sure to bring back good memories to friends when you'll blast
your flash into their faces!

If you are not sure that you really want to commit to film, get
one of these, have fun with it. Once you are convinced, you
can move on to a more advanced camera that allows you
more control.
WHERE TO FIND YOUR FIRST CAMERA
WHERE TO FIND YOUR FIRST CAMERA

There are plenty of places where you can look for. You
should start by your parents or grand-parents basement.
Some of them are hiding little gems that deserve a second
life. You can also try a flea market but where you will get the
largest choice is probably eBay (that's where I got most of
my cameras) although you should be careful when buying
something there.

If you are willing to pay the extra buck and make sure that
your camera is in great condition, you can rely on
www.keh.com. They have a solid reputation on the second-
hand market and always provide accurate description of the
equipment's condition. If there’s something wrong, it will be
clearly advertised as such, so you know what you are
buying.

In any case, some of these cameras may be older than you

so before making your decision, here are the important
points to check:
WHERE TO FIND YOUR FIRST CAMERA
Fungus: This is basically mushroom that has developed inside the lens. It is caused by humidity and it is very complicated to remove
so unless you have watched all the episodes of MacGyver, I would suggest staying away from it. To check if a lens has developed
fungus, just detach it from the camera, point it toward a bright element (lamp or white wall) and look through. If you see that some
parts are a bit hazy or foggy, chances are that fungus has developed inside. Don't confuse fungus with dust, it's a very common thing
especially with old lenses. If you see minor dust spots then don't worry, it shouldn't affect much your image.

Lens mount: If the camera has a detachable lens, then the lens mount is an important element. If you have the camera in hand,
check to see that there is no play between the camera mount and lens when it's mounted. If there is the tiniest bit of light passing
through, it may ruin your images.

Focusing and aperture ring: These are also key elements of the lens. Make sure they operate smoothly and that there is no catch
on the course. If you feel abnormal resistance at some point, it may be an indicator that something is wrong inside so stay away
from it.

Shutter speed accuracy: Most of these cameras are mechanical, which mean that the shutter speed may be deregulated with time.
There are some apps for your smartphone that help to check if the shutter speed is accurate. They use the microphone from your
device to record the sound while you operate the camera at each different speed. They may not be 100% accurate but it can be a
good indicator to see if a camera should be serviced.

Light Meter: In my opinion, you should buy a camera with a built-in light meter. This will be very useful especially when you begin.
You can, of course, work with an external light meter or even an app on your smartphone can do the job. But that's just another
piece of equipment that you have to rely on. Light meter works with a battery so make sure that the connectors are not rusty, same
goes with the camera's battery if it needs one.

CLA: This term stands for "Clean, Lubricate, Adjust". If you are looking for an expensive camera like a Leica or Rolleiflex for
example, you'd better buy one that has been CLA'd recently. Depending on the user, they should be sent for service between every
10 or 20 years. The cost may vary from 150$ and 300$ in average so if the seller mentions that he has sent the camera for CLA, you
are most likely quiet for a couple of years.
MY SUGGESTIONS
MY SUGGESTIONS

Even with all those explanations you are still not sure where you should look? No worries, I
figured that it would not be so easy!

That’s why I have made a selection for you. I have picked ten cameras with solid reputations so
you can’t go wrong with any of them. We will focus on 35mm and Medium Format as I don’t
have experience with Large Format yet.

These are suggestions based on my personal opinion and if someone has recommended
another model/brand it may be a very good camera too. In the end what makes the difference is
the person holding the camera, so don’t worry too much about not having the top of the line at
the very beginning.
 SLR 35MM

CANON AE-1 NIKON F3

Very easy to find, large selection of lenses and reliable Legendary, stunning design and interchangeable viewfinder

$ $$$
 RANGEFINDER 35MM

CANONET LEICA M6
Very cheap, fast lens , exists in 28 and 40mm Fully mechanical , incredibly solid, great viewfinder etc…

$$ $$$$
 SLR MEDIUM FORMAT

BRONICA ETR-SI HASSELBLAD 500CM

Not so famous so relatively cheap, solid and quality lenses Modular camera, built to last and top nocht lenses

$$ $$$$
 RANGEFINDER MEDIUM FORMAT

FUJI GW690 MAMIYA 7

Cheap for a medium format, excellent lens, large negative Next on my bucket list, incredible lens and very portable

$$ $$$$
 TLR MEDIUM FORMAT

LUBITEL 166 ROLLEIFLEX 2.8

Russian brand, cheap lens, Lomography look Built like a Swiss watch, Carl Zeiss lens, unique render

$ $$$$
Summary
SUMMARY
You are now able to identify the 3 sizes of films and the 4 types of cameras that we can still commonly find
nowadays. We’ve also talked about the traps to avoid when buying a camera. It’s now up to you to decide
what you want to photograph the most.

So to sum up:

You are a beginner still wondering if you want to get into film, go for a Point and Shoot

You are confident with a camera and want to be in control, go for an SLR or Rangefinder

You like to travel light and want to remain discreet when shooting, go for a Rangefinder

You like square format and are confident to use an external light meter, go for a TLR

You are a quality freak, want to get a better image than the average, and not worried about weight, go
for a Medium Format SLR or Rangefinder

You are completely cracked, cameras have no secrets for you, have a lot of money to waste spend and
obsessed with quality, go for a Large Format camera
Goodbye

All good things must come an end! I hope you have learned something from this introduction to the world
of film cameras. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me a message at
oneyearwithfilmonly@gmail.com and I will do my best to answer it.

Remember that we all start somewhere…like those trees, they were once seeds which became tall and
strong. Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Vincent
 Published by Vincent Moschetti. Copyright ©2017 One Year With Film Only

Version 1.0

Requests to the publisher for permission to reproduce or use in any transmitted form should be addressed
to Vincent Moschetti at oneyearwithfilmonly@gmail.com