theduke

I've always been interested in photography in my mid 60a would like to learn the basics,just bought an Argus is it still possible to take and develop photo's with this camera?any advice or feed back would be greatly appreciated thx

JoAnneK01 Loc: Lahaina, Hawaii

Aloha theduke and welcome to UHH. This is a great place to learn photography. As for using a film camera it definitely is possible. My 2nd camera was an Argus back in the early 60s. I don't know what you have available in your area but here on Maui film is not readily available. Thus I've gone to shooting strictly digital. I also used to process my own film but became allergic to the chemicals so by going digital I've still have my darkroom within my computer. I do know that film is available at many places on the mainland. You can also try eBay. I do encourage you to learn how to use your film camera. It is definitely an art that few of our younger generations will only read about as Digital is definitely taking over. I wish you the very best. Go out take all your pictures, have fun and enjoy.

john901 Loc: Lancaster, PA

Duke, I don't know if you sent this as a joke, but will answer it as a serious submission, but will, also, be quite blunt.

If you go to any of the camera trade or swap meets, you will usually see cartons containing old, cheap
film cameras like your Argus with signs saying, "Free", "Help yourself" etc. I hope you didn't pay more than $3.00 for it. If you haven't heard, we are now deep into the digital era. Film photography is dead except for some limited professional use or by a hobbiest who enjoys playing around with it.

Film is not readily available except from a few speciality dealers and is expensive. Processing is, even, more scarce and extremely expensive. If you intend to try developing your own, there are no packaged developing kits available at all. You'll be on a desert island without a paddle.

If you really want to get into photography, there are excellent digital cameras and lenses to fit any budget. Come off of your desert island and smell the flowers.

John S.

whitewolfowner

Yes, you can use film and get it too. Your probably best shooting B & W to start out; color is a lot more complicated for developing the film and quit frankly printing color is boring and a pain in the butt if you don't have a commercial processor available. It's possible in a drum but takes forever. B & H last i heard still sells all the supplies if you don't have a camera store near you. Another source of supplies and advise is the Rochester Institute of Technology's book store. It is manned by students who if are not busy are glad to talk to you. You will need a darkroom, fully stocked and the darkroom has to completely light tight; no leaks. To test for that when you think you have it light tight, stay in there for 20 minutes and then look around from all angles for leaks. Leaks will fog your film, even on a bounce off a wall indirectly.

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Is this guy for Real. ILMAO

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

And if he is a true pure novice who happened to pick up a working C3, are you still going to be laughing your ass off or just stand there looking like an insensitive ass?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

You can still buy film and have it processed, so it's just a matter of how well the camera is working. I bought an old Argus C3 on ebay, but I combined it with several other oldies to make a lamp. What model do you have?

WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio

Yep.

sinead

Welcome! A lot of good information here. Forget the insensitivity here and sarcasm. Consider the sources. Hope you have a good experience with your adventure in photography. Keep coming back!

rrkazman

Film will range in price from around 3 dollars for a Kodak 200 ASA color, 24 shot roll to 12 dollars for a high end 36 shot high end B/W. Processing is not available in most areas over the counter any longer, it gets sent in or you can send it in yourself. Processing will cost around 15 dollars for a 24 short roll, put on CD it goes up from there. If you want prints, it is 1.00 each. So a single roll of 24 shots is total $48.00, 2 dollars per print. You can get a reasonable all in one Digital for around 400.00 it eliminates the hard cost of film. The best part of digital is that you can shot nearly unlimited shots. You can get instant feed back, and improve your skills very quickly. You just look at you shots on the computer and delete them when you are done if there not what you expected. I have thousand of hard photos on files that I rarely look at but my digital pix's scroll endlessly on the three computer screens at work and at home. Put the Argus on the mantel and let people admire it. Spend as much as you can afford on a digital camera. Good tools will yield good results when used correctly. I been shooting pictures for 30 years. I gave published work and gallery work as well as industrial shots which is my specialty. Happy shooting.

royden Loc: Decatur, GA

Hey Jerry. Can I see a pic of your lamp?

And theduke, if you want to shoot film, go right ahead. It's still a free country.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog Duke, enjoy.

glenmarshall

In addition to my digital SLR, I still use my old Nikon and Minolta 35mm cameras for some shots. The quality of modern films is very good. However, the quality of processing -- and the conversion to JPEG -- is if-fy.

As others have said in this thread, film is not widely available nor is processing. I get my film via Amazon.com and processing via TheDarkroom.com, so please check with those websites. It is comparatively much more expensive to shoot film than digital.

I strongly recommend that you start with a low-end digital camera. I use a Sony DSC-W830 for quick shots, as well as my smart phone. Both are 20MP+. You can also get a basic digital photo editor (there are several to choose from) for cropping and exposure adjustments. Then take photos and share them, get constructive feedback, and get comfortable with your skills.

The next steps depend on your comfort, choice of subjects, and budget. So many choices...

FWIW, I'm attaching a shot taken with my Sony and cropped & adjusted with Photoshop. It is ~4x reduced-size from the original.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Welcome to the group Duke, enjoy! You might want to think hard about film and it's ultimate cost vs. digital.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Assuming the OP is genuine the above advice re: dead film usage is absolute nonsense. If you want to shoot film, go for it. In many schools students often start with film cameras. As many film cameras are totally manual it's great way to learn the basics. I believe that nost of us here also started out with film. B&H and Adorama are great places to find film and chemicals if you want to do your own B&W work. Best of luck in your new adventure.