So handling the Bessa ... it's very strange ... There's nothing to do! If I leave it in A-mode, there's nothing else to look at (except the object of my interest) or change (apart from the focus) ... when I have my eye to the viewfinder, my thiumb still keeps looking for the E-P2's "focus assist zoom" button ... muscle memory ... it seems hard to keep the RF box centred and bright enough to focus, and I couldn't for the life of me find focus on my favourite pigs ... I expect that those will be practice-makes-perfect issues, as will keeping the gridlines in mind ... I had expected my first rolls to be all over the place exposure-wise, but now I suspect a lot of shots will be way off focus ... mind you, with XP2 Super and decent light, perhaps I can get away with leaving the aperture at f/8 and the focus racked open to infinity all the time ...
It does feel odd not being able to see through the lens ... it particularly means that I can't judge the degree of flare I might be getting when shooting towards the light (my Summicron is sensitive to flare), so I need to learn to be more conservative in my picture-taking habits.
What has slightly surprised me is how embedded the "digital mindset" has become ... I've almost found myself thinking of the Bessa and film as digital equipment, just means of exposing media to make images that will be turned into TIFFs that I can then process in LR ...
... this almost overwhelmed me until I realised the absurdity of it!
So, I think I'll just get my local 24-hour shop to develop & print 6x4s, and do their usual low-res scan to cd at the same time ... a develop & hi-res scan from a specialist lab seems to cost anything from £18-£25 for a roll of 36 ... which seems mad (6 rolls at that rate buys a decent USB scanner) ...
Paul,
You raise some interesting points. Curiously, some of these are thoughts that I myself have had.
I believe the main issue is the question of why, in this digital era, are you desirous of using a film camera. Only you can answer that, but in my case there are two main reasons: (1) the joy of using a simple and direct picture making machine; and (2) the look of B&W film, even when scanned.
As to the first reason, it ties in directly with your comment that in handling the Bessa "there is nothing to do." That's precisely the point. I have tried to teach my son the basics of photography, which (apart from artistic and compositional considerations) is basically the relationship between film (or sensor) speed, aperture, shutter speed, and focus. When I told him that a camera has three basic controls: focus, shutter speed and aperture, he asked where those were in his digital camera which, of course, had no direct control of any of the three functions.
Shooting with a camera such as the Bessa which requires you to, at a minimum, choose an aperture value, forces you to think about depth of field and subject (or camera) motion. Even if you use it in "A" mode, you should still think about how your choice affects the image. Of course, there is no reason why you should not do this with your digital camera, but the temptation to use "P" and let the camera think for you is significant.
I really enjoy having direct and tactile control of SS, aperture and focus, and that is one of the reasons for shooting with classic film cameras. Additionally, and admittedly this is a much more frivolous reason, there is also something to how the camera feels in the hand. I am sure that moving the aperture and focus rings on that Summicron is a very sensual experience. At the end of the day, it probably makes no difference to the quality of the photographs you take, but is an important part of the experience.
As to my second reason, I have found that properly exposed B&W film, even when scanned into a digital file, has a tonality and look that I cannot easily recreate with my digital cameras. You can see it on screen, and you can definitely see it in the prints I am making with my Epson 3800. I think if you go through my flickr stream, it would not be hard to identify the film shots from the digital shots based on the look alone. Of course, this requires careful scanning, which is not the most straightforward process in the world. I do not have the space for a darkroom, so wet printing is out of the question for me.
However, I do not feel the same way about color. I believe that, in most cases, digital is the way to go for color.
As to focusing the Bessa, give it some time and you will get the hang of it. It's easy and very effective once you get used to it.
I believe that if you are going to pursue film photography seriously, unless you intend to set up a darkroom, you should look into getting a decent scanner and doing your scans yourself. Unless things are different on your side of the pond, you will not get satisfactory scans from a 24 hour shop, and you will only get frustrated trying to fix them in post. In addition, machine prints will not show the potential in your negatives. On Barrie's recommendation, I recently purchased a Plustek 7600i film scanner which I have found to be excellent. Not very expensive, either. Prior to that, I had been using an Epson V500 which is not as good as the Plustek, but decent in its own right.
Keep us posted as you continue on your journey and please start posting some of your shots in the Fun with film cameras thread.
Cheers,
Antonio