I got a EOS 5000 aka 888 and...

[Fraaaa]

Hi all,

I bought few days ago a used film EOS 5000 to learn a bit of photography and have fun. I got into it because of the iPhone 4 camera and initially I wanted to by a Holga for fun(which I'll take it soon anyway) but ended up buying and EOS SLR.

I got the camera for £30 with a 35-80mm and a 120 ISO film which I used today as a quality sample, but I have to wait about 4 days for the film to be developed.

Anyways the camera got dust on the lenses so I guess the owner didn't really care much about this camera and I had to buy LC123A(?) battery which I don't know even if this type of battery are being produced anymore...

Anyways I've been reading stuff about exposure, shutter and composition however as my camera didn't come with instruction and I'm completly new to photography I'm still a bit confused on my camera settings and would be helpful if you can help me out on this.

My camera shutter settings goes from B to 2000. I know that the lower the speed the longer the film get exposed to light, but how do I decide how fast my shutter should be?
Is 125 the standard?
Is it related to ambient light and ISO?

Thanks.

 

[Fraaaa]

Some pics

 

[HBOC]

You are talking about ISO film speed, right? I would say 200 is a good all around performer. You could go with 400, but I think 200 would be a good multi-purpose ISO.

 

[Matty-p]

Hi all,
My camera shutter settings goes from B to 2000. I know that the lower the speed the longer the film get exposed to light, but how do I decide how fast my shutter should be?

it very much depends on what you are taking pictures off if it is of people not moving go someware between 100 - 200 . if it is really fast sports like f1 go between 1320 and 2000 if it is running go between 250-350 .but if your taking lanscapes and or want to get creative shutter speeds into the seconds or bulb mode may be best. read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_speed

Is 125 the standard?

there is not "standerd" but 125 is a good start for getting blur free snaps around the city , views people ect .

Is it related to ambient light and ISO?

yes but is hard to explain read both links especilly the first
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography
http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#usethrow

 

[Phrasikleia]

The proper response to the OP's question would amount to a book on the subject. And guess what, you're in luck: there are thousands of them written already. A good one to start with would be "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

 

[Fraaaa]

Thank you very much. I'll check the links and I'll check the book as well.

 

[leighonigar]

I have one of these cameras, somewhere, it is capable of taking good quality photographs. I've not used it much (I've always had other cameras which I preferred) but without searching out the manual I will mention what I remember.

Firstly, I believe the battery required is a CR123A (two). I assume from the photograph showing '28' shots remaining that you know how to load film, but anyhow, it's very easy - you just insert the film cartridge the right way up (with the sticking up bit down IIRC, but it will be obvious) then you pull the leader (start of the film) out until it reaches the orange marking on the right. You then close the back and the film is automatically prewound out of the cartridge. On these cameras, as you take photographs the film is wound back into the cartridge.

Your camera doesn't have a manual setting, or any provision for exposure compensation, which is a shame. What it does have is automatic (green box) and various scene modes (portrait - probably opens the aperture for narrow depth of field, landscape - probably stops down for the opposite effect, macro - again, stops down I guess, sport - tries to maintain fast shutter speeds to freeze action by opening the aperture) , shutter priority (where you set the shutter speed on the dial, and IIRC you can see the aperture that the camera chooses in the viewfinder). There is also the bulb mode (B) in which I guess the exposure duration is defined by the amount of time you hold the button down for, and the self timer mode.

On the back of the camera there is a button with an * on it, this is your one avenue for actual exposure control, as it sets the camera to partial metering (it's usually multi-zone) and I believe locks the exposure (I'm unsure if you need to hold it down). Thus you could increase the exposure by pointing the camera at a dark part of the scene, then using the button, or decrease it by pointing it at something bright, in the same way. I can't remember if there is another button on the back - but I don't remember it being interesting! Perhaps something for film rewind.

All in all, a basic camera, but one which some creativity will reward with great shots. And you can use whatever (Canon) lenses you fit to it on any new canon DSLR (though the one you have probably won't perform very well).

 

[Fraaaa]

On the back of the camera there is a button with an * on it, this is your one avenue for actual exposure control.

AHHH, finally I get to understand how can I control the exposure! However seems that the camera most of the time choose the exposure for me. In B gives me full control.

I found out that a lot of people that have my lens(35-80mm 1:4-5.6 III) use it for macro by removing one of the lenses.

 

[leighonigar]

AHHH, finally I get to understand how can I control the exposure! However seems that the camera most of the time choose the exposure for me. In B gives me full control.

I found out that a lot of people that have my lens(35-80mm 1:4-5.6 III) use it for macro by removing one of the lenses.

Bulb isn't much use unless you want a really long exposure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb_(photography) and I don't really understand which aperture it chooses in this setting.

 

[HBOC]

usually in "B" mode, it is fully manual..

 

[leighonigar]

usually in "B" mode, it is fully manual..

The EOS 5000 has no control dial so there is no way to adjust the aperture, thus 'fully manual' operation is impossible.

 

[HBOC]

really? I have never heard of such things..lol Here is the review on it.. 888

 

[leighonigar]

Mir is a great site. The one thing that article reminded me is that the aperture is not displayed in the viewfinder as it is, say, on the 500N, rather when you half press the shutter button the aperture is displayed in place of the shot count.

 

[RaceTripper]

it very much depends on what you are taking pictures off if it is of people not moving go someware between 100 - 200 . if it is really fast sports like f1 go between 1320 and 2000 if it is running go between 250-350...

With motorsports it depends. If you are shooting the cars straight on entering or exiting corners, faster shutter speeds can work well. However, if you are shooting them side-on, using very fast shutters speeds will generally kill the sense of speed, since you'll end up freezing the wheels and background, making the car look like it's standing still. A better approach is to pan with the cars using lower shutter speeds. That way you get a nice blur on the wheels and background, giving a nice sense of motion and action. I shoot a lot of ALMS racing and typically use anywhere from 1/80 to 1/250 shutter speeds for cars (often with corresponding f/8 - f/16, give or take). That also gets you more depth of field if you want more of the car to be in focus.

But in the end, there is no standard for anything.

Some examples.

 

[RaceTripper]

The proper response to the OP's question would amount to a book on the subject. And guess what, you're in luck: there are thousands of them written already. A good one to start with would be "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.

+1 on the book recommendation. It's excellent and it looks like a new edition just came out.