[Grewlybreekly]

Well i've picked up a cheap SLR camera to get some practice with before i splash out on a DSLR, and to pick up some techniques with, so basically where to i start?

i got:
-Minolta XD7 Body
-Minolta 50mm lens
-Minolta 28mm lens

how do i make sure i get the shutter speed right and not under or over expose pictures?

[Quiniacab]

Well i've picked up a cheap SLR camera to get some practice with before i splash out on a DSLR, and to pick up some techniques with, so basically where to i start?

i got:
-Minolta XD7 Body
-Minolta 50mm lens
-Minolta 28mm lens

how do i make sure i get the shutter speed right and not under or over expose pictures?

There are many online places to get Photography techniques. I think also going too the library and getting a couple of good books is best. There’s nothing like reading a good book to learn new and fun things. I love the look of film photography still. That’s why I purchased a Canon EOS 3 film camera even after I bought my EOS 10D. And for further exercise I also own a Completely manual Nikon F3.

Waremaster

[kmjbbT3U]

what do things like ASA etc need to be set at? it also has a little nob with -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 on it, what should that be set at?

[reaciciomarep]

ASA is your ISO number this needs to be set to the ISO of whatever film you choose to load into the camera. The -2, -1 numbers are for exposure compensation, so if you wanted to overexpose by one stop you'd set it to 1 and to underexpose by 2 you'd set it to -2.

First thing i'd do is get a roll of cheap film, any film you want, load the film into the camera and have a look through the eyepiece. You should see a lightmeter on one side when you depress the shutter slightly you should see an LED light up somewhere within the viewfinder next to a series of numbers. I'm unfamiliar with the system used in that camera but it shouldn't be too hard to find out how it works if you have the manual, or if you can find some documentation on the internet. (It might have a needle display rather than an LED but i'm pretty certain this camera was around the Pentax ME-era so it should be an LED.)

Essentially this read-out will tell you whether you have got your exposure right, by varying the aperture or shutter speed you will see the LED light change in order to tell you if your exposure will be correct, generally the LED will be green if you have got the exposure correct.

You should generally vary the one that you are least concerned with, for example if you're using a tripod you should change the shutter speed, because you won't be getting any motion blur unless you're photographing a moving subject. And if you don't care what the depth of field is like and just want a still image without any possible shake you could vary the aperture.

It probably sounds confusing but what you need to do is simply shoot a roll of film, you will get the basics in no time at all.

[brorialsibers]

well i got a roll on b&w iso 400 film for it, been out snapping yestarday, messing around with the DOF, this lens goes down to f1.4 far lower than my old s9500 so hopfully should get some nice results when i get them processed by my m8.

[wmzeto]

[QUOTE=ellipr97;404038] far lower than my old s9500 QUOTE]


Don't forget that the aperture in 35mm film cameras and s9500 is very, very different. The equivalent of the f2.8 in your s9500 is much smaller in the 35mm film cameras (I think f8-f11 or something like that).

[PaulCameron]

This will be a great read for you.