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Looks like an original FM to me. First thing you'll want to do is replace the light seals. You can get a kit on eBay and there are lots of tutorials on youtube. It's easy and you'll want to do it otherwise your shots will be ruined by light leaking in. I've used that eBay kit many times for different cameras, it's great.

The 135/3.5 is a good lens for distant landscapes and head shots, but you'll want a wide-angle for a lot of the shots in Yellowstone. Having been there many times, I would recommend picking up a wide angle like a 24, 28, or 35. If you can spare $250 or so, I'd get a Nikon 24/2.8 AI or AI-S for $150 and a Nikon 50/1.8 AI or AI-S for $100. In my trips there, I usually alternate between 24mm (very wide) and a telephoto (I use a zoom lens, a 75-150 f/3.5 Nikon Series E, which you can get for about $60). Anyway, a wide angle combined with your 135, should cover a huge variety of shots. If you need something super cheap, consider a Nikon 28/3.5 AI or AI-S, which you can usually pick up for under $100. You could also tack on a Nikon Series E 50/1.8 which you can get for about $60 if you want a cheaper 50mm. (For low-light, handheld photography, it's good to have at least one lens with a low f/number (large max aperture) like a 50/1.8, which lets in 4x as much light as a f/3.5 lens at it's widest aperture. But if you have to get one lens, get a 24, 28, or 35. If you can get two, add on the 50mm too.)

As far as the strap, I'm not sure the original FM came with one, and if it did, it was probably just a basic black one. My favorite Nikon strap is the wider, burgundy Nikon AN-6W / also in yellow: AN-6Y, but also check out a Nikon AN-DC3 (red, black, brown, or gray) for a narrower strap. There are also tons of aftermarket straps out there, such as the classic Domke Gripper. If you want something cheap, call a local camera store and see if they have used straps, which they usually sell for $5 or less.

You might also consider getting a small tripod for Yellowstone, which you can usually find very inexpensively on your local Craigslist. Nothing mandatory, but it will open up the ability to shoot long shutter speed images without blur, such as night sky shots, landscapes around the time of sunset or sunrise (usually the best time to shoot landscape; get up early or stay up late, I can't emphasize this enough, don't waste the golden/blue lighting hours of the morning and evening sleeping or hanging around camp! One trip I got up at dawn almost every day, went out shooting/hiking, came back to camp and took a nap, then went out again in the evening for more shooting. Definitely recommend this if your companions will tolerate it.)

My favorite film for Yellowstone is Ultramax 400, which is a great general purpose color film that gives that classic film look with punchy, saturated colors. It's cheap at $4/roll if you buy 10 rolls of 36 exposures (amazon), which is great, cause you'll want to shoot a lot when you're there. If money is no object and you don't mind shooting a slower 100-speed film, then Ektar would be a great choice for saturated colors but with less grain than Ultramax. If you want to go really retro, and really cheap, Kodak Colorplus is a 1980s-era emulsion with saturated colors. It's quite grainy, but then some people love that.

For general film tutorials read your camera's manual. There are some great articles on the wiki, and on this site's beginner's guide to film photography. Make sure before you go, you have a good grasp of how shutter speed and aperture settings affect your image, how to focus and control depth of field, and generally how to use your camera. There are lots of good overviews of the FM on youtube. The more you read, and the more your practice shooting between now and then, the better off you'll be. There's tons and tons of information online. Also, read some articles on good spots to take pictures at Yellowstone. Sometimes they're a bit off the beaten path.

Regarding drug stores, they can be OK placed to get film developed and prints made but only if they return your negatives. Some still do, many don't. Ideally, find a lab nearby or mail them out.

If you can afford a stand alone 35mm scanner, that will help give you quality scans right away. An Epson or Canon flatbed will also work if they're more in your budget.

Search Craigslist/thrift stores/garage sales for steel development tanks and reels. Covers are probably going to be crap (unless they're metal covers, then I'd check the gaskets) so you'll probably have to buy new ones. Check eBay too, sometimes someone will have a setup they just want to get rid of for a quick buck.

Budget friendly chemicals:

Rodinal and [Kodak HC-110](https://www.freestylephoto.biz/5010541-Kodak-HC-110-Film-Developer-1-Liter-(Makes-32-Liters) or the off [brand version of it](https://www.freestylephoto.biz/10190-LegacyPro-L110-Liquid-Film-Developer-1-Pint-(Makes-2-Gallons).

These are liquid developers that are known to store long and you usually only use a small amount of them to make a working developer. A bottle of each would give you more than enough options and years/rolls of developer. With some simple math, the Rodinal dilutions are pretty straight forward but the Kodak HC-110 ones seemed a little weird to me at first. This resource page helped out big time. You'll find times, dilutions, and ISO's on Massive Dev Chart.

Standard Kodak Fixer mixed up in a gallon of distilled water (just pour a little out of the jug, maybe 1/4 of it into another container, pour in the fixer powder, cap it off and give it a good shake. Just be sure the cap doesn't come loose. Once you feel it's well mixed, add the rest of the water back in, or as much as you can and make sure it literally comes to the top by the cap. Light won't harm the fixer but oxygen will. Always store it air tight).

With the developers above (Rodinal and HC-110), you won't need any bottles to store any working solutions. But if you want too, buy the 500ml and 1 liter hydrogen peroxide bottles from the big box store pharmacies. Often those are under a dollar a bottle and beats paying $5 for an empty Datatainer bottle that's the same color. Just empty them out, give them a good rinse and let them dry and there you go, light tight containers.

Color C-41 film chemistry, you'll be hard pressed to find anything cheaper than this kit.

Other ways to save money and shoot more is learning to bulk load. The Lloyds style bulk loader is a good solid unit that can often be found on Craigslist and eBay. It's been around for decades so you'll find a lot of them. That and the Watson bulk loaders. Not a fan of those personally but those too can be found super cheap.

Good starter bulk black and white films would be:

Kentmere 400

Kentmere 100

Ultrafine Xtreme 100

Ultrafine Xtreme 400

Arista EDU Ultra 100

Arista EDU Ultra 200

Arista EDU Ultra 400

If you have a local film lab or if your Walgreens, CVS, etc, still processes film ask for the empty film cartridges. Often they'll still have a sliver of film on them that's just enough to tape onto and reload with other film. All else fails there's always eBay

Getting a Matin Film Leader Retriever is an excellent idea as you can recover accidental rolled up film, and keep your empties to use for future after processing. Here's how to use one. It's probably one of my best purchases out of all my gear.

And don't forget plastic funnels. Those smaller automotive ones for oil changes work great. You'll need one for your black and white fixer and if you use the color kit then one for the developer, one for the blix, and one for the stabilizer. Be sure to label them well with a sharpie so you don't cross contaminate chemistry.

Hopefully the above helps you out and maybe others as well.

1. wein cell battery is the modern replacement for this camera although I had mine converted to use a Varta 625 battery when I had it repaired. apparently they last much longer. just remember to switch it off "A" when the camera isn't in use to conserve battery.
   
   
2. I've taken off the top of mine in an attempt to diagnose issues and it was pretty easy to dis and reassemble the cover/film advance leaver. I did not go any further than that. Havent tried to clean the viewfinder or anything either, that might be based on how good of shape it's in and if its worth the effort.
   
   
3. There are a lot of guides on youtube, I haven't tried it but I know you're going to need a spanner to do it.
   
   hopefully some of that was helpful, I know it doesn't answer everything, but it's what I know from my experience. outside of that I'm not sure and wouldn't want to lead you astray
   
   The canonet is a great little camera, a little over hyped but still pretty great, enjoy it!

To add to what others have said re: the RZ67:

I have owned one for a while, and I’ve taken it out on trails, all-day photo walks around towns I’m visiting, etc. It’s not light, but the secret is to pack correctly.

I have a semi-springy camera strap on mine ([this Optech](OP/TECH USA Super Pro Strap - Design B (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00092LFW6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_uqxCCbS7WE39X)) which reduces the impact of the camera weight on your neck with each footfall. It has the added benefit of acting as a brace when you’re shooting slower speeds. Stand still, hold your breath, and let the entire weight of the camera hang from your neck. Reduces camera shake from handholding.

So what I do is use a backpack for all of the gear. I strap the tripod to it, put the other lenses in there with film, filters, extra film backs, etc etc. Light meter in my pocket. Then I wear the camera with a lens around my neck. The weight of the backpack and the weight of the camera help to balance each other out a bit, so you’re not too heavy in the front or back.

You’re not going to be winning any marathons or trampoline competitions in this configuration, but it is doable.

As far as cost, you’ll be fine. I bought my kit piecemeal, and only bought things basically in perfect condition, and still probably only paid $1100 for the body with waist-level finder, three film backs, and four lenses (50, 90, 110, 180).

Film backs are available in 6x7, 6x6, and 6x4.5 so you have multiple format options at your disposal (although I rarely use my 645 back since I can just crop the 6x7 in the darkroom if I want).

If you have any questions about the camera or system I’d be happy to answer them for you. Out of the (20? 30? I’ve lost track) cameras I own, the RZ is my distant favorite.

It definitely started out pretty clunky, but I'm super used to it at this point. I walk miles with it around my shoulder or in my bag, shooting mostly handheld. This is the strap that I use and I would recommend getting something similar. It's a heavy camera, and the extra padding this strap has is super helpful.

Congrats!

Just a few tips I've come up with since I've owned mine:

• Get a really good neck strap. I use this one.
  
  
• I would recommend having two film backs so you can use two different types of film at once. It's nice having a 100 ISO and higher ISO or a color and a B&W roll going at the same time. Having replaceable film backs is the big perk of this camera.
  
  
• Also, having a monopod makes it easier to take shots while walking around.
  
  
• I store my entire kit in a LowePro backpack. It makes it easy to carry and lug around.
  
  
• Definitely get a shutter release cable. I use it all the time when I'm shooting on a tripod. Since the camera is so heavy, not touching it means there is less of a chance of it falling over.

Hey there,

Same thing happened to me. I tried to use craft and hobby glue to attached a small piece of plastic. Unfortunately, that didn't work. The repair costs about $200 from the estimate I was given for a new double-tooth spool. I decided it wasn't worth it.

I simply use a small piece of masking tape or small (not too sticky) sticker to attach the film leader to the spool itself. Works great. Except when it rewinds the film, the tape or sticker ends up in the canister. Not a HUGE deal if you develop your own film but if you send it to a lab, you HAVE to let them know this. Some might even turn you away.

Buy a film leader retriever like this one. Pull the leader out, remove the sticker yourself and then your film is lab ready!

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to message me directly!

Get yourself some Kimwipes, and a rocket. Maybe some ROOR.

B&W, scan at whatever settings your scanner is capable of. For my Epson V750 I make sure to scan at 2400DPI, just because it doesn't resolve much more than that. I like to make sure the scan area is quite large and picks up all sides of the frame. Use unsharp mask. When in post I add a bit of sharpening back at 40 @ 1px. Add contrast and exposure accordingly. Use 16 Bit Grayscale.

Color is the bane of my existence when scanning. Nothing gets as close as to what I can get on an RA4 print. Colors are going to be a lot more vibrant and contrasty compared to the scan, so I add about 50% more contrast and bump up the saturation a tiny bit. Epson scan is incredibly opinionated, so set all of the scans to not use auto exposure and set the histogram levels accordingly. Don't be afraid of losing highlights. In post do the color correction so it will stay consistent frame to frame. Also add back the sharpening same as B&W 40 @ 1px. Use 24 bit colors.

I got a set like this Neewer Professional Spanner from Amazon, not great but worked well for me so far. Also used it on a few lenses with success.

You'll want to become familiar with how the mirror lockup mode works (and get a cable release), as that's going to be pretty helpful with slower shutter speeds.

Also in mirror release there's sometimes a delay between firing off the shutter and the shutter actually firing. Not a long one, could be a fraction of a second, but it's enough to catch you out if you're rushing.

Don't rush this camera.

You'll probably want one of these.

Also use cheaper film for the first test roll (I like using Fomapan 100 to test cameras... actually it's a nice oldschool film but it's usually less expensive than Kodak or Illford) since your filmback might have light leaks. Mine does around the hinges (I wrap the thing in gaffer tape, at least until I get my hands on a new seal kit.

You can easily get something like a 10x viewing loupe for well under $10 off Amazon. If you need something fancier than this, please explain.

https://www.amazon.com/Carson-LumiLoupe-Power-Magnifier-LL-10/dp/B000CAHCQS/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=magnifying+loupe&qid=1566475995&s=gateway&sr=8-8

Just started doing the same thing and the results are worth it. I use this lens stopped down to about f8 with a Canon t4i and it's great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007WK8KS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can get cheaper ones on amazon that will do the exact same thing. In fact, it looks a lot like a rebadged version of this machine, which is $30 cheaper. I guess with the cinestill machine you get those holder things, but I can't imagine they provide any real convenience.

Edit** Actually, it looks more like this one.

If you are on facebook, become a member of Medium&Large film photography, and find Stephen Dirado's posts. Watch, read, learn. He's a master in using the 8x10.

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Or if you prefer paper: https://www.amazon.com/Using-View-Camera-Creative-Photography/dp/1626540772/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=15TLX5YSZGE0&keywords=using+the+view+camera+steve+simmons&qid=1557356929&s=gateway&sprefix=steve+simmons+v%2Caps%2C232&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Browse around, you may find it cheaper somewhere. Amazon co uk, maybe.

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I find such view cameras easy to use. The camera demands that you put though into each shot. You'll need a loupe to check your focus on the ground glass.

Do check if your shutter works properly. Get newer filmholders. I started with fomapan + rodinal. You'll need trays, and a completely dark room to develop in.

Can the back stand tilt backwards? There seems to be an axis in the middle of the stand, and a screw at the bottom for it. That is very very useful on such a camera. It allows you to get front to back in focus. Maybe the film plane can also swing, useful when shooting two people, or people that are looking away from your camera.

The lens stand seems to be able to let the lens rise and fall. This will allow you to get the vertical lines in the frame actually vertical. Useful for architecture, but I also use it to tweak the relation of my subjects to their background. Maybe the film plane can also shift sideways.

A reason to shoot 8x10 is that you can make 1 to 1 contact prints of them, and end up with photos of a decent size with tremendous details and tones.

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These are my notes going into large format: https://www.thephoblographer.com/2019/01/04/medium-format-slr-large-format-view-camera/

What exactly do you mean contacts in the case?

And here’s the amazon link

WeinCell MRB625 Replacement Battery... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009VQJ7?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

I use a "film leader retriever", sometimes called a "film pick". It works very quickly and consistently once you get the hang of it.

Here you go :D mamiya neck strap