boz

Well, its sometimes called Zenit, sometimes Zenith.Ive always known them as Zenith.(I prefer the old ones that have cyrillics on the camera)

My TTL is not working properly i have discovered, the mirror doesnt flip up for every shot so can expect some blanks! Pity cos i love using an old banger!

Well, this has been an interestng discussion, and everyone seems in agreement here!

you want to learn photography, get a manual camera.How many people started with Zeniths? I did, and I know a few others did too!

(I recently aquired a free Zenith TTL which was the first SLR i ever had and as a kid I was amazed by its complications,lol)

 

My current camera is a Canon EOS300(RebelG?) and tho it has lots of toys, it stays in Av mode mostly and I use MF most of the time now(the novelty finally wore off)

But I love it because it allows me to be creative with its 9 multi exposure capability and auto bracketing etc, and its so bloody light you forget you have it in your bag!

wow, the Canon A1, i still lust after that camera!

While at college last tuesday, one of the students got her camera out

and wanted some tuition on how to use it(she has just found the

manual)

The tutor was trying to explain how depth of field works and I took

over the job of showing how the aperture/shutter speed was changed as

the tutor wasnt used to the camera(a Canon EOS300, same as mine)

She was used to cameras like the Pentax K1000 where everything is

changed seperately with big dials, and to be honest I would prefer

that too.(love that new Contax RX II!) Anyway, me being familiar with

that camera made it easy to explain.

It turns out that the pupil uses it on the auto mode(green box) and I

said that while that turns out good results you dont learn anything

and really you could do with an old style of camera and learn the

basics. Having been in photography a good few years I could see the

importance of this!

Once youre competent and understand what exposure compensation and

bracketing does you can get away with auto modes and using exp. comp.

buttons if you need to be quick.

But having a fancy camera full of toys, and an auto mode, and not

knowing what youre doing to me is a waste of technology and time,

you'd be better off with an old Zenith!

Anyone remember their first camera, and have you tried using one

again? My first camera was a kodak instamatic 177x. I cant find one

but do have a 50x somewhere(film , hmmm,could be fun!)

 

My first SLR was a Zenith TTL and thanks to a firend on the AP site I

have one again,even tho the mirror is sticky at times.

 

So, what about you lot, what were your first cameras and do you still

use one?

 

Larry

I also have an EOS camera,but the thing is its the same with any AF camera i presume (maybe not Nikons)the lenses are electronic,the aperture being set by the cameras controls.not the lens so when you take it off the camera it opens to the widest aperture and my camera's viewfinder says 00 where the f number is,so if you want to reverse a standard lens onto a short tele lens then buy a cheap secondhand standard lens(any make,doesnt matter as long as its a MF lens) and use that.

I want to try that too,reversing an old russian standard i have onto my 75-300 zoom,giving a maximum magnification of 6x!

Well i guess a lot has to do with location.If you're living in the country where the air is cleaner you might not notice so much difference but if on the other hand you live near a city there may well be considerable difference due to all te muck in the air.If for example you were on the outskirts of a city and most of the factories were found when looking west youd see more dramatic reds/oranges at sunset.