My Dad was into photography years ago. He had a fair amount of equipment (mainly secondhand) and knew how to use it rather well. At the time however I was about seven, not really trusted (or trustworthy, for that matter) with an SLR... ...and not actually all that interested anyway!
After a number of years, Dad finally got tired of carrying an SLR body, three prime lenses, a light meter, extension tubes and various other paraphenalia around just to take pictures that nobody else in the family was really bothered about anyway (to their loss). He bought a compact Canon 35mm camera that took very good pictures (and weighed an awful lot less!).
I didn't even own a camera for many years. My exposure to photography was limited to borrowing Dad's compact for motorcycle tours and my annual pilgrimage to the motorcycle show in Birmingham. In early 2000 however, I decided it was probably worth getting a compact of my own.
At this point I'd better explain something about how my mind works... When you go out to buy something there are two ends of the spectrum; you can walk into a shop, look around the shelves and say, "That looks nice, I'll have that one!", or you can study for months, learn the subject inside out and eventually (having driven everyone around you mad!) make an informed choice on the basis of your new-found expertise. I reckon most people fall somewhere in the middle. I sit on the outer edges of the "study for months" fringe!
The camera I eventually ended up with was an Olympus mju-II (mew two). It's a very compact point-and-shoot with an excellent lens, a great metering system (including a spotmeter (if you can find it!)) and is capable of taking very good pictures. For a compact in its price range it is very difficult to fault.
The problem was that, during the "studying" process I mentioned, I'd seen what a skillful photographer could achieve and I wanted to do the same. In order to even start I knew that I needed full control over the way the camera went about taking its shots, control that a point-and-shoot (by definition) can't provide.
Dad came to the rescue (as he has so many times!) and passed on his SLR rig. This consisted of a forty year-old Pentax S1a with 28mm, 55mm and 135mm lenses, a handheld meter and various other accessories. The camera is fully manual with no program or priority modes, and no built-in meter (so you really need that handheld!) or flash. The lenses are M42 screw-mount primes and are both fast (F2 and F2.8) and of pretty good optical quality. The camera also hadn't been used for years and had one or two problems as a result...
On a 35mm SLR there's a mirror that allows you to view through the lens. When you take a shot the mirror swings out of the way so that light can pass through the shutter and hit the film. My problem was that at slow shutter speeds the mirror wouldn't swing back down to let me view through the lens again. In order to knock it back I'd have to fire off another shot (blind!) at a high shutter speed. Firing two shots for each one you want is an expensive way to work! Fortunately a lot of use eased the problem and it only returned when the weather was really cold.
The Pentax was the exact opposite of the Mju. Big and bulky vs. small and compact, fully manual vs. fully automatic. The two complimented each other very well, but I still wasn't getting the quality of result that I wanted, or at least not often enough. Every so often I'd get a shot that held a glint of promise, an indication that the picture could have been so much more. It was extremely frustrating and pointed to an inescapable conclusion; the problem wasn't with the cameras but with the idiot holding them!
Enquiries at a local college turned up an evening course that looked fairly promising. It concentrated on the use of 35mm SLR cameras and black and white darkroom work. The latter didn't really interest me (and I'd never take a shot of black and white!) but the focus of the course was firmly geared towards the practical, the fee was low and at three hours a week I was confident I could find the time.
Myself and a long-time partner-in-crime signed up and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy ourselves! The requirements to actually pass the course were trivial in the extreme, however our tutor didn't limit himself to that and encouraged us to experiment with pretty much anything that took our fancy. I approached my first model shoot with great trepidation, but ended up having a hilarious time and getting some good pictures into the bargain. Imagine, if you will, thirty student-photographers (with not a clue about what they were doing!) politely fighting for the flash cord...
I also ended up with a newfound respect for models. It was October in the north of England, and a raw and gloomy day. The lecturer proposed that we shoot outside for as long as the models were willing and then moved inside for the rest of the day. In freezing weather the models (one in a crop top) stood, posed and smiled while the photographers (in heavy jeans, shirts, jumpers and jackets) had to use tripods to stop their shivering inducing camera shake! The Pentax seized-up after ten minutes and after fifteen the rest of the students had wimped out and joined me in the relative warmth of the hallway... ...leaving the models still posing for the lecturer outside!
The darkroom side of the work went from not interesting me at all to the point where I went out and actually obtained a second-hand darkroom (albeit at a knock-down price!). To any doubters I'd say go out and shoot some black and white and have it processed and printed by a high-street lab. Then take your favourite shot to a fair-to-middling hand-printer and let him show you what he can do with it...
Another purchase was a Nikon F80 SLR with a 28-105mm lens. This overcomes several of the Pentax's omissions with built-in metering, built-in flash, bayonet-mount lenses... ...and the ability to shoot in cold weather without the mirror sticking! The Pentax is still in regular use, though, and I can't see it retiring in the near future.
At time of writing I'm just finishing year one of the course. Year two includes medium and large format and finishing and mounting prints, while year three introduces us to colour printing and special darkroom techniques.
I can't wait!