The last place closed about a year ago
I find the cheapest online to Melbs is Decisive Moments. If I canāt get film there I get Walkens. Dev at Hillvale or Film Never Die, get them to scan or scan my own. Film Never Die scan higher res but cost a couple dollars more. Good if you like to get croppy. The free film Digi Direct is only good if you donāt mind shooting with bog standard film with completely random ISO. Prefer to chose my own film.
I use BH for film, did use digidirect for years then Tye guy moved to hillvale so I followed him over and hillvale quality greatly improved, now hillvale are too busy and quality has slipped so I ho to WIP Lab and Brock is great and really worth supporting.
Film never die is a cult and his business ethics are a little odd.
Ikigai and walkins are also great and worth supporting but I shoot a lot of film and need to get it as cheap as possible.
I go to Sydney Super 8 in Newtown for film/developing/scanning etc.
Previously tried Photoland in the city and Vision Image Lab in Redfern and wasnāt all that impressed. Have heard Rewind are great but I donāt go to Glebe very often.
Sydney Super 8 develop + print + scan 35mm at approx 3000 x 2000 pixels for $25. Plus theyāre a friendly family business. They even smile when you talk them, itās great.
Ha yeah I understand that vibe. Gary has always been an OK dude to me. Heās definitely into building a club/community. His second hand cameras are defo on the pricey side. Never been on one of his photowalks, not my kinda scene.
Forgot about WIP, remember seeing info before they launched. Will check them out. Good tip.
Have recently been using a Fuji xe3 as itās compact for outdoors stuff and has pretty decent jpeg profiles that can be used as a starter to get good results straight outta the camera. Deliberately bought this over a more expensive x-pro or xt3. Donāt really like lugging super xpenno gear on climbing trips for instance. Feels a little dirty shooting digi but can get some of the analogue feel using a manual focus lens like the 35mm 7Artisans I picked up.
The X-E3 would be a great cameraā¦ Tiny and very capable. The 7Artisans lenses are very popularā¦ how are you finding it?
Yeah good camera. Bit of an underdog I reckon.
So far the 7artisans is itās fun. Has a bit of character and adds some analogue feeling to the shooting process. Great for a tiny walkaround lens at the price. The Xe3 also has good assisted focus tools. I have focus peaking set on the rear scroll wheel.
Iād use the kit 18-55 if I anticipated moving objects. With the recent cashbacks on Fuji products there were some cheeeeap primes. Might eventually get a longer tele for climbing trips.
I have the 18-55. Itās such a good lens for what it cost meā¦ a couple hundred with the cashback. I have the 35mm 1.4 as well which is really nice.
Whoa nice. Cheap cheap. Yeah the 18-55 is pretty damn good ay. If I wasnāt curious about third-party lenses and stuffing around with manual focus Iād have gotten the 35 1.4. I think the 7artisans can be had for about 150.
Havenāt used a Fuji system until the xe3. Am very happy with the APSC coming from film and micro 4/3rds.
I tend to travel with film but itās fun to have a run-and-gun digi camera. Itās cool being able to crop and have the flexibility of a raw file.
Recently travelled Korea with my Fuji Klasse W full of Cinestill, my FM3A for general duties and the Xe3 just absolutely spraying shots. The Fuji Klasse is sick but Iām always a bit challenged by wide lenses.
I have the Helios 44-2 and 44-M for mucking around on with the X-E2. Bokeh monsters.
Rad. Swirly. Havenāt delved into the world of old USSR camera gear. Looks like a fun time.
Show us some pics?
Those Ultraromance shots a few weeks ago of a Rivendell, with an old long prime, were spectacular.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br4JJBvFfAK/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=e43gqd94wf6h
Got me thinking about the idea of old Fuji X lenses on a modern camera, e.g. an X-T20 or X-E3. Those bodies arenāt cheap, but would be fun experimenting with lenses.
One of the first things I bought on ebay in 2001 was a Zenitar 16mm Ę2.8 fisheye from the former USSR
I donāt have many on handā¦ here is one that was with the 44-2.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Biu4eWrluIF/
This one alsoā¦ but it wasnāt shot too wide open if I remember.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BioF2Edl-25/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjUM6_sF6Is/
Oh, and this oneā¦ just mucking around in my backyard one arvo.
Oh and this for my brother in laws instagram account for his car. Nothing amazing - middle of the day shot outside of my house. But he wanted to get a feel for my camera as he was thinking about buying one. He got the XE3 the asshole.
Some more from the Helios, itās a pretty good lens for around $50-$100
Looking good, Adz.
I moisturise erry day.
Very nice.
I get the impression that the Fujis are the best option for this kind of thing, i.e. playing around with vintage lenses, wide apertures, and some film simulation modes.
Iāve never gotten into interchangeable lenses, because of the size of a typical SLR, but these new mirrorleess models are pretty tempting.
Is the X-E3 the most compact / best option out there? I realise thereās the X-A3 etc but they seem a bit compromised unless youāre a vlogger. And Iām not sure the OVF on the X-T20 is worth the extra bulk.
Correct, the X100T introduced me to the FujiFilm system ā with that you get the film simulation modes which spit out some very nice jpegs which is what I use 90% of the time when I upload to instagram. Having the EVF has been crucial for me to understand how settings have an impact on the image. When I picked up the X100T I had zero understanding of ISO/aperture and Shutter speed. Now I feel confident enough to assess the light and pick what I need to do to achieve the sort of image I want. So since I have been able to gain that knowledge and use the camera as a learning tool, I have a strong connection to the FujiFilm brand.
So in saying that. YES. The X-E3 (or the X-E2 / X-E2s for that matter) are a great compact way to produce some amazing images with the flexibility to buy into the FujiFilm lens system, or buy adapters and try out the older lenses. Now I will say that I donāt have any experience with an X-A3 and your thoughts about the X-T20 are correct. Itās bulk you donāt need.
This was just a quick google which shows a size comparison between the X100F and the X-E3.
Because of the way I donāt like to spend money on the latest and greatest. Before you jump into the X-E3. Check out some second hand prices of the X-E2 and X-E2s. Both a still amazing cameras.
The only real thing that I wish the X-E3 had, was a flippy screen like the X-T20. Really good for those low angles.
Shout out if you need any more advice.