frugalphotography

It was a frigid morning the campus of Northern Arizona University (NAU). I was on a mission: shoot my assignment. Glamour. When figuring out which is the best tool for the job I instinctively reached for my trusty Pentax ME Super, circa 1979. A film camera? Yes! Film! But why?

Why indeed.

My first semester at NAU, I was looking for a fully manual camera (or as close as I could come). Before, I had been shooting with a Canon EOS 650 (an absolute MONSTER of a camera) which I’d inherited from my aunt. The 650 was big, complicated, and heavy. Though it was feature-rich, it was way too complicated for my purposes.

So I searched eBay and I came across the ME Super. After doing a bit of research, I finally bought it.  I have to admit, it was a bit of a disappointment the first time I used it. It wasn’t as manual as I had pictured, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use. The automatic exposure was what we called “aperture priority”  nowadays. It taught me the importance of depth of field control. I eventually bought a Canon EOS Rebel XT as I advanced farther into my photography minor, but I’ve always kept my Pentax close.

On this frigid morning, I affectionately held my Pentax. I picked it for this particular job because the Pentax has cheaper lenses, and I’m pretty cheap. That being said, the lenses for the Pentax are not bad by any means.

Today, I used a Panagor 135mm telephoto lens. The 85-135mm range (60-85mm for all the crop sensor users out there) is generally considered excellent for portraiture. Of course, in using this lens, I was forced to stand about 10 feet away from my model. For less than $50 I bought this lens. Canon’s 85mm goes for over $300. Is there really any contest? Film is still viable! Don’t be discouraged by the price tag of the latest digital cameras!

I’ll have updates when I scan my negatives.

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