The current world economic crisis is being felt by many people all over the world. Amongst these people are photographers from all walks of life, which can be evidenced by the turnover of equipment on auction sites such as Ebay and the general slowdown in sales of photography equipment. With this in mind, I thought it might be interesting to look at how affordable photography, as a hobby, can be.
Canon AV-1 with Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
Many photographers, myself included, demand the highest possible image quality at all times, which invariably means that we spend large amounts of our expendable income on new cameras, lenses and other shooting gear. Many photographers spend more time deliberating over their equipment than actually shooting – which is a remarkable point that perhaps could be explored in a future discussion.
A friend of mine recently approached me to seek advice on buying his first ‘serious camera’. He had been shooting for a couple of years, with the very capable Canon G9, but felt that his skills had reached a point where investing in an SLR camera system would benefit his photography and help him progress.
La Rambla, Barcelona taken with Canon AV-1 and Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 on Fuji Pan F 50
Having used my Leica M8 he was keen to get one for himself but the price was prohibitive so he was seeking a digital camera as a stop-gap while he saves for his M8.
A few days later I was visiting my local camera shop, Camerabase in Edinburgh, who sell a wide range of used equipment. They had a pretty good condition Canon AV-1 with Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens for £50 with a 12 month warranty. I was in a generous mood so I bought the camera to give to Bryan as a gift. My thinking was that if Bryan enjoyed the SLR experience it would give him more of an idea of what he’d be looking for in a digital camera and, if not, it would likely save him a significant amount of money. Also, the manual focus and aperture controls would help give him a much greater awareness of the techniques a photographer can employ when making pictures.
Dune Grass, Sleeping Bear Dunes taken with Canon AV-1 and Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
We were soon to be heading to Barcelona for a weekend of shooting so I took the AV-1 along with me with a selection of film so that Bryan could have it as a surprise when we arrived.
I could tell that Bryan’s initial response to receiving the camera was “It’s a film camera – what am I supposed to do with this?” I explained to him that it had probably cost less than a spare battery for one of today’s dSLRs and that he should just give it a try and see how he got on. I was pretty confident that the image quality from the camera would blow away anything he had got from his Canon G9.
Peebles Rugby 7s taken with Canon AV-1 and Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
Bryan quickly became attached to the camera, it was obvious to see that he was enjoying the very tactile experience of shooting film, the manual focus, turning the aperture ring to control depth of field, the film wind on lever. Today’s dSLRs simply do not give you the same experience in my opinion with all their dials and automatic modes.
Over the course of the weekend Bryan shot far fewer images on film than he would have with his digital camera – the G9 barely came out – but you could see that he was thinking about what he was doing a lot more and taking a more considered approach to his photography.
Upon our return to the UK Bryan had shot a few rolls of black and white negative film, and some colour transparency. He quickly sent the films off to A+M Imaging in Edinburgh, who I’d recommended, and went through that 3 day wait for his pictures that many of us haven’t experienced for years.
Studying taken with Canon AV-1 with Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
A few days later Bryan called to say that he’d got his pictures back and that he was totally blown away by them. He’d had a dev and scan done so was able to upload the pictures to Flickr for me to see. The pictures had a quality about them that I hadn’t seen for quite some time – they somehow looked much more pleasing than digital pictures.
Over the past few months Bryan has been using his AV-1 almost exclusively and was able to add a 28mm f/2.8 lens to his kit for a meagre £35. I have recommended that he adds an 85mm f/1.8 lens for portrait work at a later date, which will probably cost him around £80.
Some of the pictures he has produced have been nothing short of remarkable, given his relative inexperience and modest equipment.
Bryan also says that many of his friends and family have been asking about what camera he is using when they see his pictures and are stunned when he tells them that the whole kit with two lenses came in at under £100!
Perhaps this should be a lesson to us all!
June 2009
Bryan Bailey is an American currently living in the Scottish Borders and working in London in the IT industry. He is a keen amateur photographer and regularly travels with his camera. You can see more of his pictures at his Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazzastrassa/.