GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I'm just as guilty as everyone else. I want more gear. I hope my DH gets tired of me spending $20 per roll to get CD, negatives, upload, and 4x6 prints at www.thedarkroom.com and allows me to get a digital SLR, or mirrorless. The price ranges are all over the place. When quality is at stake, and price is not necessarily an indication of quality, it looks like you might regret what you buy. I don't have an answer. I've been using my DH Canon EOS 620 film camera from 1987. It was top of the line (for 35 mm) in those days. It has only a zoom 100-300mm 1:5.6 lens, and that is all he has.
I think the $20 per roll is going to double soon. With inflation, and the cost of living, I don't see how www.thedarkroom.com can tolerate such a low price. IMHO.
So I am trying to enjoy the Canon film camera I have. Plus, thedarkroom company has a B&W photo portrait contest that I want to enter. The idea is to show a "lot of character" in someone's face. I am planning on seeing my best friend, Diana, this coming week and I hope to submit a portrait picture of her. I have B&W film in the Canon right now.
I seriously believe that the prices are going to tumble. And quality is going to tumble too. I banged the Canon on a chair. Not a big impact, but would a cheaper camera survive a bang? Even Amazon is selling " Accident protection warrantee" but is it worth 20% of the sales price? I would seriously wonder if you could even make a claim if you did buy the "Accident protection warrantee." I think you have to just accept that a "bang" is going to break the camera.

If Amazon is selling "Accident Protection warrantee" so blatantly then I guarantee these cameras are going to break easily. And the warrantee might not be available when you need it. I've had experience with added on warrantees. They don't exist after you buy them. I've been there. (For a TV and it happened to me in 1996 - it was a third party).

C6Joe Loc: NorthWestern Nevada

*Secret* there is: Don't buy 3rd party warranties. Factory warranty extensions are the only way to go, as they ***add** to the existing warranty period.

After market warranties start the minute you pay for them, IE: A 4 year aftermarket is only really a 3 year, assuming the product has a 1 year warranty. Or, if you buy an after market warranty on a Nikon lens, that comes with a 5 year warranty to the original purchaser, say, 3 years, you don't get any warranty. The store (Best Buy is a good example) says, "Oh, that will take care of any cleaning or adjusting needed" Really, a lens should never need cleaning, unless you bury it in the sand somewhere, or drop it in the drink while shooting fishies, etc.

GAH...

Same with auto warranties...buy the manufacturer's extended warranty, not a 3rd party rip off outfit!

Mobius Loc: Troy, MI

Develop the film yourself. You don't need a darkroom, just load the film onto the reel and put it in the tank in a changing bag, the rest is done in room light. Once developed, scan the negatives and go from there.

CO

Most cameras have a polycarbonate body. If you want a camera with a tough magnesium body you'll have to go to an advanced or pro camera. Some cameras have a part polycarbonate and part magnesium body. I have a Nikon D500 which has a magnesium body. It feels very solid as if it was machined from a solid block of metal.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Couple of comments: The average age here skews toward the retirement crowd with disposable income. You probably haven't been here long enough to see the frequency of brown trucks arriving ... Next, film is not cheap whether you develop your own or send out. In the world 2017, film is an extravagance, not a cost-saving approach ... With the holidays approaching, your interest in photography and a need to work within a budget, you should be shopping used equipment such as KEH or ebay. Most equipment is built to last. You'd have to drop a camera or lens onto a hard surface from a few feet. With KEH you have 2-weeks to evaluate and 6-months if there is a problem. If something is wrong, you'll know almost immediately within that 2-week period.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

*Secret* all extended warranties are third party, regardless of who you purchase from. Extended warranties are a major profit center for retailers and OEMs, since the vast majority of us never make a claim. The factory techs may do the repairs, but they are contracted by the warranty provider.

I used to sell extended warranties for desktop computers to direct marketers in the 90s. They would make more profit on the warranty than they would on the desktop system.

C6Joe Loc: NorthWestern Nevada

Not to mention that when KEH puts a condition report on the camera or lens, it is usually off a notch or two....skewed in the conservative direction. I have purchased lenses from them that are rated as [ex], when in fact, it was really an [ex+] or better.

Several years ago, I purchased a used D-200 for my D.I.L., it was rated EX. It was really a [LN- or LN] And, it only had 1500 shutter releases!

Needless to say, I trust KEH implicitly!

C6Joe Loc: NorthWestern Nevada

Having worked in dealerships all my life, (30 years) I can assure that is *NOT* true. GM, Ford, and Subaru maintain their own *factory* extended warranty programs. Can't speak for any other manufacturer, never worked for or owned one of them.

A good rule of thumb on extended warranties:

If you can take your car anywhere and have it repaired, it is an aftermarket warranty. If it has to be performed at a dealership, then it is a manufacture maintained warranty.

Now, if you are speaking of a used car warranty, then, yes, that *is* more than likely, a 3rd party provider. (With GM, if the vehicle is the brand the dealer represents, and is still under the manufacturer's 'out the door' warranty [ex: 3 year, 30k miles, etc.], and the vehicle has been certified as a GM certified used car, or you are the original purchaser of that vehicle, then a factory extended warranty can be applied. A good example where this comes into play is with the high dollar cars, Corvettes, Cadillacs, etc. Usually low mileage cars, still commanding big bucks. To be Certified, we had to do a 150 point inspection plus replace certain consumables, needed or not. IE: Batteries, all filters, spark plugs, drive belts that showed any wear, brake pads that were less than 75%, etc. Those exact amounts and other requirements for certification may have changed, I retired in 1989 after a drunk took me out by breaking my back in 5 places, after hitting me doing over 100 mph. I used to do all the Corvette work, (Hence part of the reason for my nom de plume. The other is that I own and drive Corvettes!) from trim through major component repair/rebuild. (We rebuilt everything back then!)

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Since you didn't use "Quote Reply", I have no idea to what you are replying {and I'm having trouble applying this to my interests}

C6Joe Loc: NorthWestern Nevada

You are correct. I apologize. Still not quite used to how this site operates... I was replying the below Comment to my post:



Again, sorry.

jcboy3

It's not GAS if you are thinking about getting a digital camera now.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

True. Six years ago we bought a new Whirlpool washer and dryer from Lowes. We never buy extended warranties, but we did that time. It was cheap. Four years and 50 weeks later, 2 weeks before the warranty expired, the washer died. Motor controller board crapped out. The service company that showed up was from Sears! The part was out of stock. Wouldn't be available for 5-6 wks. Lowes, instead of making us wait, sent us a check for the full amount we paid for the washer, including sales tax, with no conditions on where we bought new in order to be reimbursed. Bought a new one from them. With the extended warranty. We had it in 2 days and they took away the old one with no charge. Our one and only experience with extended warranties. Still won't buy an extended warranty on anything else.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

They sell the warranties "so blatantly" solely because the cameras don't break easily. The lack of claims is a money maker for them, as it is on most every other extended warranty.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Part of the issue is knowing what the extended warranty actually covers. Water has been a real problem for me. After we moved from Massachusetts, our realtor got sloppy, a pipe froze, and a river flowed from our bathroom upstairs to the basement by going through the first floor. By the time someone called him, it was because water was pouring out our basement windows. It turned out that our empty-house-insurance didn't cover "water from a pipe", and we are still recovering financially from that disaster. About that same time, the Nikon Coolpix I had purchased got wet and stopped working - and nothing from them covered that either.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

It's what drives this site. :(



Digital comes with it's own price tag too. Also, you can get your film developed, scanned, and printed cheaper than that. Willow Photo Lab is a great place for half that price.



it won't, not that I can see. TheDarkroom is pretty high priced but folks love them so they stay in business. There are a LOT of labs that do this sort of thing and it's easily done at home too.



Awesome! Post it here also.



From owning a ton of film cameras and also quite a few digitals, I can say that digi cameras aren't made as robustly as their film counterparts for the most part...that's a GENERAL observation for when folks here on the hog want to nit-pick my words and provide exceptions. I've dropped film cameras and digital cameras and the film cameras survived easily but I've not been so lucky with the digi variety. I just dropped a $10.00 Oly Trip 35 film camera to the concrete. I was heartbroken but it just got a small corner dent and nothing else, it worked fine. I've done that to my (now gone) Canon 5DMK2 that cost 250 times more and had to send it in for repair that cost me a bundle.

In any case, my thing would be to be happy shooting film, forget the cost, don't get the bug to join the crowd and buy gear...it's more expensive than buying film, take it from me. I've been down that road. I know I'll have a bunch of UHH'ers up in arms over that statement but it's a fact.

http://nathanjones.com/articles/the-economics-of-film-vs-digital


To me, the following quote sums up the advantage of film in the argument of film vs digital and G.A.S:

___
___
___