A little help...
Discussion
I've just inherited a Canon EOS850, yes the 1988 one.
It was my Grandfathers, but he passed a way in 2001 and my Granny has finally got around to sorting out his stuff.
It looks like a good camera and I remember he took great care of it, but what film do I need for it, I tried some standard 35mm in, but it was obviously too new as you have to pull the film across to the sprocket or summat like that.
Please help.
It was my Grandfathers, but he passed a way in 2001 and my Granny has finally got around to sorting out his stuff.
It looks like a good camera and I remember he took great care of it, but what film do I need for it, I tried some standard 35mm in, but it was obviously too new as you have to pull the film across to the sprocket or summat like that.
Please help.
It's kinda horrifying how quickly how what were once 'normal' skills have vanished into the mists of time. Yes, when loading film, you do have to pull it across to the other side and make sure the teeth engage so that when you wind the film on, it actually advances and doesn't slip. To be sure of this, you can take up any slack in the cassette with the rewind knob so you know it's winding on properly.
You can stick with it and learn the hard way, or bung it all on eBay
You can stick with it and learn the hard way, or bung it all on eBay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqmTmtbpClQ
On my Pentax A3 (which I still use and is also from 1988 incidentally) it works sightly differently, the film winds on in the other direction from the Nikon in the video and doesn't have a slot for the leader to go in, however, the film engages with the teeth really easy and only needs 3 or 4 perforations of the film to grab on positively, alowing me to get 2 or 3 extra shots per roll of film as I don't need to pull as much film out of the canister while loading. Not sure which way Canon used to work.
It's good fun using an older film camera to take shots as it forces you to think about your shots more and everything feels more mechanical. I'd say keep the camera and lenses!
On my Pentax A3 (which I still use and is also from 1988 incidentally) it works sightly differently, the film winds on in the other direction from the Nikon in the video and doesn't have a slot for the leader to go in, however, the film engages with the teeth really easy and only needs 3 or 4 perforations of the film to grab on positively, alowing me to get 2 or 3 extra shots per roll of film as I don't need to pull as much film out of the canister while loading. Not sure which way Canon used to work.
It's good fun using an older film camera to take shots as it forces you to think about your shots more and everything feels more mechanical. I'd say keep the camera and lenses!

Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff


