nelmur

I was given a Hasselblad 500cm from a friend that has sat for months on a shelf in my living room because I don't have a light meter, and haven't had the courage to take a stab at guessing exposures without one.

 

After searching around in the forums for insight into which would be a good option, I decided to start my own thread to gather advice. I also shoot with a rangefinder and would like to find a great general purpose, standalone, meter (not a Lumu, please) that I can leave in my camera bag no matter what kind of shooting I am doing.

 

In the quick research I've done, it looks like you can easily spend $300+ on a new meter. Ideally, I'd like to spend less. Whether that means going a pre-owned route, or simply choosing an option that's got fewer bells and whistles, I am open to it.

 

Thanks in advance for any support the Photo.net community can offer!

<p>Thank you all for the responses thus far. I will certainly be exploring some new types of film based on your recommendations. It's also nice to hear that I've already used—and like—some of the types of film you all enjoy. </p>

<p>My high school only offered digital photography courses. By the time I became interested in taking my own photos in college, I jumped straight to digital. (I had a Nikon D40x, for those interested).</p>

<p>For my 25th birthday, I decided to buy a film camera–a lovingly used Olympus OM-1. I did it partly for fun, and partly because I figured that I'd learn some fundamentals that I'd skipped in jumping straight to digital. </p>

<p>All of this is to say, for the past four years, I've experimented with a variety of film stocks—and have definitely found some that I gravitate toward more than others—but haven't ever heard from other, more experienced, film shooters what they like and why. </p>

<p>For my first post here, I thought I'd list a handful of films I have used and/or heard of, and ask for you all to fire off your thoughts—this is what the internet is for, right!? Nothing too detailed, just qualities to expect in images (contrasty, likes lots of light, fine grain/heavy grain), and maybe some best practices for those of you who have shot with them (i.e. experiment with pushing it).</p>

<p>Ok, here we go!</p>

<ul>

<li>Kodak Portra 400 (I have shot with this, and like it a lot)</li>

<li>Kodak Portra 800</li>

<li>Kodak Ektar 100 (also like this)</li>

<li>Fuji Velvia 100</li>

<li>Fuji 400H (have heard I should try it if I like Portra 400)</li>

<li>Ilford HP5</li>

<li>Ilford FP4 (this has recently become a favorite of mine)</li>

<li>Ilford Delta 3200</li>

<li>Ilford PanF 50 (limited experience, prefer FP4)</li>

</ul>

<p>What others should I know about?</p>

 

 

<p> </p>