Old SLR, any good?

[candide]

I had a lot of trouble getting my digital camera to focus well in macro mode, and it always seemed to wiggle so much even on a tripod when snaping the snot, I ended up with blury pics.

Well for whatever reason, it suddenly hit me that my Dad had won a really nice camera 20 or so years ago. I used to love playing with that thing out in the woods. It had a larger lense attachment as well, a 1:4.0 40-200mm (I think) with macro mode lense.

Turns out it is a Ricoh XR6/Sears KS Super SLR camera. Here is a link to the manual on line:
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/sears_ks-s ... -super.htm

Is this thing any good? It is manual focus, which took some getting used to again, but I think I got some great shots last night playing with macro mode. Boy gettings pics of fish that zoomed in takes some patience.

Also, what speed film should I get? I'm guessing 100 to avoid grainy shots. I blew through the 800 (ick) that was in the camera, and just as I got the 200 loaded the lights flicked off in the tank. Gonna get it developed today and see how it comes out.

What is a good fstop to use in macro mode? it ranges from 2 to 20something. I was using 11-16ish I think (before I realized what the heck it was )

Should I adjust the exposure adjustment any?

Last question, There is a shutter speed dial, I was using X, as A seems to be for the Flash which I wasn't using, and without it takes about, oh, 3 seconds to take a pic There is also L and B which I didn't see explained in the book. Anyone have an idea on that?

Thanks

 

[Len]

Film quality is mostly dependant on the film and on the lens. The body provides features that can assist photographers (sometimes in very signifcant ways), but old SLRs can work great. I've never used this camera, but I don't doubt it'll work.

For ISO, it depends on what you're shooting. 100 is the least grainy, but sometimes it is too slow for aquarium work (without flash). 800 is too grainy. 400 might be the idea solution for most of your shots. 200 is an in-between ISO that I prefer not to use.

There isn't one good fstop. It depends on what you're trying to capture and any artistic qualities you want to add to the photography (the most obvious is depth of field, aka DOF). In terms of technical quality, sually lenses do best between 5.6-11.

No idea about the buttons on your camera

 

[Anonymous]

A= auto exposure. You set the aperature, the camera sets the shutter.

X= non- dedicated flash. (other than the ricoh/sears model)

B= bulb. the shutter will be open as long as you hold down the button.

L probably = lock. Shuts off the camera


Did you put fresh batteries in the meter? that may be why "A" took so long to take pics.

B

 

[Anonymous]

Oh man, old SLRs rock! I got my best shots on an old Minolta (forgot the model *sheepish*...), and now Im working with my new digital, wich seems to produce as good of pics as the film cam!
I concur with Bingo on the buttons, especially the "bulb" one, as my Minolta had the same feature.
I like shooting with a 400 ISO, as its sensitive enough to use with a higher f-stop, and yet not that grainy if you want to blow it up (really only place you see grain is above your average photo sizes).
If you have a hot-shoe flash, you could always try bouncing the flash (if theres a whit wall and ceiling behind and above the tank and no more than 8 or so feet away in either direction) and using the "card trick" for some fill of the tank. (I just learned about that on the DigitalGrin :mrgreen: ) You angle the flash at the wall/ceiling behind and above the tank, usually about 45 degrees for absolutely level applications (i.e. tripod), and then tape a peice of very white card stock or stiff paper to the top of the flash head so that the paper is sticking out over the flash head, kinda like a shroud kinda thing. That way, you get the back-lit qualities of a bounced flash, and some fill in of the subject/foreground from the reflected light off the top (bottom of the card) of the flash! Very neat, just saw how all the pros use that trick on Dgrin!

By the way, I usually like shooting with no flash and at lower ISO values, so an f-stop of about 2.0 to ~3 or 4.0 is usually mandatory for it to expose correctly. That means, depending on exactly which ISO you decide to go with, that the shutter speed may initially need to be fairly slow too. For example, I usually shoot at and ISO of 64 on my digital; very hard to get the vibrance down right and the exposure correct (not even counting that tricky "OEV" function Im still getting down in full manual mode on my digicam... ARGH.) The shutter usually has to be set at about anywhere from 1/15 to 1/45 of a second, even with the aperture all the way open (very low numerical value on the f-stop scale)! But thats where film is different; the grain you get on digital is far worse than that of film! So go for an ISO of about 200-400, is all Im sayin!

Drop me a line if you need/want anymore help (I respect your right do watcha' want! Some people dont...)!