You can pick up vintage cameras relatively cheaply at auctions, flea markets and antiques stores, or online, and have some fun shooting with the old-fashioned equipment. Many old cameras work nearly as well today as they did years ago. The biggest problem may be finding the film for them, but it still is available.
Instructions
1. Find out what kind of film the camera takes. If it takes 120 or 35mm film, you have no problem because these are readily available, at least online. If it takes 620---as many old Kodaks do---you still can get film for it from some specialty shops, or you can make 120 film rolls fit. To do this, you need to file down both the top and bottom of the plastic reel without putting a hole through to where the film is.
2. Clean all the bits of the camera you can, especially the lens. Use alcohol and a very soft cloth or a lens cleaning tissue for the lens. Use a little oil on the parts that appear to need it such as a shutter-cocking mechanism or the shutter speed dial and aperture ring.
3. Check for light leaks. With the film door open, look through it toward a light source to make certain no pinholes of light show through. If the camera has a bellows, do the same thing. With the door open, look from the inside with the bellows extended to look for light leaks. You may not spot some of them until you develop your first roll of film.
4. Familiarize yourself with the camera and its functions. While you may not have an instruction manual, these often are available online, even for very old cameras. If you can't get one, don't panic. Most old cameras that were made for consumers are relatively easy to figure out. Often old cameras are fixed-focus, which means you just point and shoot. Even these usually have a viewfinder to frame the image.
5. Take your old camera out for a stroll with extra film in your pockets. If you can, use a hand-held meter to determine exposure settings, but if not just guess. For example, if you are in bright sunlight, stop the aperture ring down as far as it will go and turn the shutter speed up to its maximum. This may not be a perfect exposure, but it is a start.
Tags: aperture ring, door open, door open look, light leaks, open look, shutter speed