I had the same experience even when film was being processed in higher
volumes. I'll never forget the last time I had film processed in a
local store. I walked in to get my film and discovered the clerk
cutting my film into strips and holding it between her thumb and fingers
with no gloves on... fingerprints everywhere.
For a while I sent film to Mpix who did a good processing job but their
scans on CD were only sufficient to make a 4x6" print at 250ppi (1.5MP).
I'd like to find a place that scans at 6MP so I don't have to scan
again if I can help it. But it hasn't been a priority since I think
I've only shot a couple rolls of film in the last 5 years.
But I do have a couple of new-to-me film cameras. Last week I saw an ad
in the local paper for a Minolta AF film camera and lens for $50. I
thought maybe I could add something to my shelf-queen collection on the
cheap. When I inquired I discovered there was more to the "package".
It includes a very large Tamrac shoulder/waist-belt bag (big enough to
hold everything), two Minolta Maxxum 5000s with Tamrac straps, an AF
Minolta 50mm/1.7, Sigma 28-70/3.5-4.5, Sigma 70-210/4-5.6, Sigma
75-300/4.5-5.6, a 1.7X "Photoco" AF converter and hoods and UV filters
for all. Also a Minolta right-angle finder, a set of 3 Cambron
extension tubes, +1,+2,+4 49mm close-up lenses, a Minolta 1800 AF TTL
flash unit (T20 size) with case & wide diffuser, Minolta 2800 AF TTL
flash unit, Vivitar 5000 macro ring flash and connecting cable, optical
trigger for remote flash, extra lens caps, a Minolta AF/T-2 adapter with
some sort of T-2 telescope adapter screwed into it which I don't
recognize and, finally user's manuals for most everything.
I learned something about Minoltas with this acquisition. Minolta/Sony
AF cameras use a non-ISO standard hot shoe. What I hadn't realized was
that the earliest Minolta AF cameras still used a standard ISO shoe.
That means that my late model Minolta MF TTL flash unit, the 360PX, will
also work in these AF 5000 bodies (I think). But these 5000 AF bodies
are a bit strange. They have only two exposure modes, program and
manual. No aperture or shutter preferred auto modes.
I know the 2800 AF flash unit works because I have some AA batteries for
it but the Vivitar 5000 appears to be dead (rats!!!). Everything else
requires AAA or lithium 6V batteries which I haven't gotten yet so I
have no idea whether the bodies and lenses work at all. DX film
encoding also means no test without film.
The seller was a heavy smoker and the equipment smells it. Everything
could stand a good cleaning. The Sigma lenses seem to have rather loose
manual focus rings but maybe that doesn't matter for these AF lenses.
The Minolta 50mm though moves freely but precisely.
An interesting find. If nothing else I've gotten a huge Tamrac bag.
Chuck Norcutt
On 2/13/2012 11:22 AM, Johnny Johnson wrote:
> Your comment made me smile Chuck. I ran a roll of Ektar 100 through a new
> (to me) camera last week to check for light leaks, exposure accuracy, etc.
> I had the film processed by the local drugstore and was really disappointed
> with their quality control - scratches& dust on most frames. They were
> still doing a pretty good job when I last used them a couple of years ago
> but I'm guessing that they don't do enough volume now to keep people
> trained. Looks like mail order processing is in the cards for me if I do
> decide to shoot any more film.
>
> BTW, that was my first time for using Ektar and it shows a lot of potential
> - sharp, nice saturation, fine grained and scans as easily as positive
> films.
>
> Cya,
> Johnny
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "The fallacy with quotes on Twitter is that you never know the context that
> they were given in - or if they're even real." - Thomas Edison
> On Feb 13, 2012 10:44 AM, "Chuck Norcutt"<chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> Having purchased 5 rolls of film from B&H this past week (the first in
>> many years) I have suddenly become even less attached to it.
>>
>> Chuck Norcutt
>>
>> On 2/13/2012 10:00 AM, Fernando Gonzalez Gentile wrote:
>>> Hi Chuck, and all :)
>>>
>>> Yes, never left the list but turned to a lurking mode, defining this
>>> to myself as reading and learning rather than speaking. Sort of
>>> active lurking.
>>>
>>> Besides, explored dozens of other "photographic" websites.
>>> Amazed that in these days, billions of people considered themselves
>>> "photographers" - I'm just running out of another 'social network'
>>> named Diaspora.
>>> You know, maybe Facebook is not that bad, compared to the others I
>>> visited. Flickr qualifies as rather good enough, far above average
>>> (photo-speaking).
>>>
>>> Besides, I have not been shooting that much. Could add that among
>>> other things, sending film to Dwayne's for processing has put a more
>>> strict judgement about what I would be shooting to. And that this
>>> summer, I got a long lasting back-ache when trying to pick-up my
>>> medium weight Manfrotto out of my car's trunk :-(
>>>
>>> The more I wander through the internet, the more I become attached to
>> film.
>>>
>>> Fernando.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 1:48 AM, Chuck Norcutt
>>> <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>> Hey, Fernando is still here! :-)
>>>>
>>>> Chuck Norcutt
>> --
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>>
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