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September 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

A creative way to get a camera system with no money

I know that older film cameras aren’t that expensive, but for many in these lean times, money is very tight. If you’d like to get a film camera system or darkroom setup without laying down your hard earned money, what can you do?

Barter.

One place you will often see some pretty nice photography equipment is craigslist. Most of the people are looking for cash. However, these people will often express a desire to trade if they can’t sell their gear.

Or if you just want to have people come to you with their trades, then put an ad in the barter section and offer something of value for cash or trade for an SLR.

Here’s an example.

A few years ago, I bought a compound bow like you’d use for hunting. I just wanted to play with it. I’m not a hunter at all. So a couple of weeks ago I got tired of seeing the thing in my house. I offered it on craigslist for $75 or an SLR camera. I specified that I wasn’t interested in plastic point and shoot cameras. I was contacted by someone with a Pentax system and a Konica. My choice.

So I get to clean out the house and get a new (to me) camera. What’s not to love? And if you get good at this, maybe you can even create a second income by buying and selling cameras.

Just make sure when dealing with people that you keep your safety as your top priority and that you’re getting a good value for your trade.

September 6, 2009 | 0 Comments

How To Inexpensively Expand Your 35mm Lens Collection with Lens Adapters

Shhhh. Here’s a secret we don’t want everyone to know.

You can use inexpensive older lenses with new cameras. Maybe even lenses and cameras from different manufacturers.

Yep. Just get an adapter.

Here’s a video with someone adapting a beautiful old Minolta Rokkor 50mm 1.4 lens to a Canon EOS 5D. There’s no sound. But there doesn’t really need to be.

You can also find adapters that will allow you to use old screw mount lenses with most cameras. How beautiful is that? Got a beautiful old Super Takumar SMC that you want to use on an old school Minolta XD-11 or the upcoming Canon EOS 7D or a Nikon D700? Get an adapter.

Here’s one of a Jupiter M42 screw mount lens being used with a Pentax K Mount camera.

Since new digital camera bodies may be bank busters for you, and you might have thought you couldn’t afford a camera system, now you can get some good old glass or use the camera lenses you already have with your new body.

Caveats, well, yeah, of course. So some adapters might not allow focus to infinity. You might need 42mm for Pentax and 39mm for Leica, but that’s not that hard to figure out. Some lenses might run too deep and hit your mirror. That would be a no-no. Oh and worst yet for the modern picture taker, your auto everything mode probably won’t work so you might have to use that thinking thing that’s on top of your neck and use it in manual mode. Oh the horrors.

In any case, there are some wonderful old lenses in most people’s houses that aren’t being used. Just don’t tell everyone our secret. I like buying old lenses cheap. Then again, I’ll probably use the film camera that goes with it.

Here are some searches that will get you started.

M39 Adapters on ebay

M42 Adapters on ebay

Canon Adapters on ebay

Leica Adapters on ebay

Minolta Adapters on ebay

Nikon Adapters on ebay

Olympus Adapters on ebay

Pentax Adapters on ebay

September 4, 2009 | 0 Comments

Canon EOS 7D camera features and videos

Canon is upping the ante on Digital SLRs. The new Canon EOS 7D is an 18 megapixel camera with 8 FPS continuous shooting thanks to dual digic 4 processors. That’s 18 megapixels at 8 FPS . Ya gotta love it.

This camera also has a 19 point all cross-type AF sytem with 63 zone dual-layer metering sensor. This comes in a magnesium body with a 150,000 cycle shutter.

Also, thanks to the dual Digic 4 processors, it will record HD video at full 1080p resolution at 24, 25 and 30 fps.

This camera sits between the EOS 50D and the EOS 5D Mark II.

I want one of these now. This is a very capable looking system with a great price point. Here are some quick shortcuts to keep checking for its availability.

Quick shortcut to Amazon’s lowest price for the Canon EOS 7D:
Canon EOS 7D

Quick shortcut to Ebay for the Canon EOS 7D:
EOS 7D on eBay

If you get one of these, don’t forget to get extra UDMA CF cards. You’ll need them to try out that 18 Megapixels at 8 frames per second:
UDMA CF Card Required for Canon EOS 7D Camera

Yes, I’m mostly a film geek, but believe me I love them all for different reasons and it looks like Canon’s newest digital camera will be very nice indeed.

And here’s the treat for today… Here are 6 VIDEOS of the new CANON EOS 7D These are perfect for showing off all the new features

Video #1 is an introduction to the EOS 7D. This is the weekest of all of them. Kinda Boring. Keep going. They get better.

Video #2 Ahhhh. Much better. Development of the EOS 7D.

Video #3 EOS 7D 18 Megapixel CMOS Sensor. Digic 4 processors. 8 FPS demo. Check out the metering sensor and the 19 point AF sensor.

Video #4. EOS 7D 100% viewfinder and all the information available in the viewfinder. Live view. HD Movie creation.

Video #5 – EOS 7D customization that you can use and auto lighting optimizer

Here is video #6 on the EOS 7D accessories such as the Canon WFT-E5 Wifi transmitter.

Oh, you say you want some sample video from this beast. OK. Enjoy it.

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