Q: Would you be kind enough to recommend an easy camera to takepictures with, since I do not have the expertise and want to takepictures indoors and outdoors?
A: This is one of the most-asked questions in my mail. Theanswers are complex, and vary from person to person - but now, thanksto high-tech advances, I can pass on some advice.
In selecting your camera, I recommend that you work with areputable camera store: You need to hold these new electronic wondersin your hand and have them explained to you.
Set a dollar limit before you go, and realize that you'rethinking of a roughly $200 investment. You can spend less, but youmay not be as happy with what you get. (In many cases, that $200 willinclude some film and processing.)
For those starting out in photography, I recommend the newcompact 35mm cameras. These are the cameras that do most things foryou: In most cases they are auto-focus, auto-exposure, auto-wind,auto-rewind machines, with DX coding for automatic setting of filmspeed.
On top of this, many now have convertible lenses that can bechanged from wide-angle to telephoto. In fact, I'm waiting for a newone that will be a true zoom - from a macro setting to 70mm. It'ssupposed to be available the end of January.
I have tested many of these compacts, and reported on several. Ican say that the Fuji TW300 and DL300 are great. Consumer Reportsrates the latter No. 1 in its class. Both have a brilliant newprewind system that makes a lot of sense. I love the Pentax UltraSport and think it's flash system is the best of the bunch. TheNikon One Touch was easy to use and gave good results, and theOlympus Infinity was a lot of fun.
You'll be delighted at how little expertise you need for thesecompacts. They make good starting cameras, but they have only onelens. You can't change lenses on the compacts.
There is another group of cameras, called 'entry-level'equipment. These are standard-sized single lens reflex cameras onwhich you can change lenses. Many of them also have several programmodes and some even have manual overides. I've tried the Pentax P3and the Fuji AX Multi Program and liked them both. Look at the NikonFG and the Olympus OMG. These generally are in that $200 range.
Just be sure you talk to the person behind the counter at thecamera store. He can show you many of these, and remember, there arestill more to come.
Q: I would like large prints made of some of my favorite colorslides from a recent trip. Can you tell me where to take (or send)them for the best results? Is there any paper or processing torequest that gives better results than others?
I'm concerned about the prints matching the color, contrast anddetail of the slides.
Also: What is the largest size that would give the best qualityprints from ASA 400 Fujichrome and Ektachrome, which are the films Iused most.
A: Take your slides to any store that deals with Kodak. Youcan get a Poster Print, 20 by 30 inches, for about $17. You can getan 11-by-14 for about $11.
I would recommend, however, that you try having an 8-by-10 printmade first. Particularly on films with an ISO of 400 or higher.This will give you a good idea what the larger prints will look like.
One other point: If you plan to get into a lot of printing,consider shooting negative film, at least occasionally. I find moreversatility from the negative format.
Q: Would you believe? I washed my high-school junior's jeansand didn't take a roll of black-and-white film out of the pocket.They went through the washer and the dryer. Needless to say I wasreprimanded by my son. He took them to school and reported that theroll was ruined - all stuck together.
Could I have saved this situation?
A: Possibly, if you realized what was happening before thedryer. If the water wasn't too hot, and if you hadn't added bleachwhen you discovered the film, you could have popped the whole filmcan into a jar of clear cool water. From there, it would have to berushed to a darkoom and processed. I can't guarantee this one, butit worked this way when I fell into the swimming pool at CapeCanaveral (which is another story). I was able to save most of thetwo rolls of Tri-X I had in my jacket pocket.
Carl Kramer, former director of photography for The WashingtonPost, will try to answer your photography questions in his column butcannot respond individually. Send questions to: Carl Kramer, c/oWeekend, The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW, DC 20071.@Slug: N34SHU
