Ridiculous! They're referring to the special dyes used in the camera construction, which are extracted from specially-bred chrysanthemums grown in high-security greenhouses in area 52.

The meter in my SP1000 is not accurate. It tends to under-expose by a stop but it's not consistent either, so I don't use it and stick to sunny-16. The meter in my SP500 works fine but I rarely use it either.

Wein cells are a waste of time and money - they expire in no time even if not activated and they cost a fortune. Don't bother.

The important thing is to enjoy it, which I'm sure you will. I think you're right about cheap film. I've used Agfa Vista from the pound shop and for the price it can't be beaten, but there are much nicer films out there.

As for me, I loaded up my Yashica Mat 124G with some Portra 400 yesterday and took it for a quick spin, I'll be out taking some photos with it later today too.

What a bargain. Maybe I should have waited instead of getting one at christmas, but my K3 has produced some photos since then that my K200D wouldn't have managed.

I would put the Ektar in the Super A & the Delta in the Spotmatic, because Ektar is fussy about exposure and the Super A will have better metering.

Ilford make a C41 B&W ISO 400 film, I think it's now the only one available after Kodak knocked theirs on the head.

B&W can be "scanned" using a DSLR, macro lens, flash and wireless or cable flash trigger and something to hold the negative. This is what I've taken to doing. It yields much, much sharper results but the nice tones produced by the scanner are often missing.

Always good to hear someone getting back into film and enjoying it. That's very cheap film processing, especially the B&W.

My understanding of the small 5MP scanners is that they produce bad quality, over-sharpened images, but I've never used one myself. Try it and see if you're happy. If not, the cheapest alternative is probably the Epson V550, which can produce decent results but it's a steep learning curve to get good results.

Scanning is far-and-away the hardest part of a hybrid film/digital process.

Have a look at this comparison with the 5D mkII. It's in Spanish but all you need to know is Canon on the left, 645Z on the right. The 5DII isn't the most modern FF DSLR but still, the quality difference is immense - just look at the windows.

http://www.fotosiqui.com/?p=10472

I want to know what models all these film cameras are that people are selling.

Reminds me very much of this, which is the most expensive I'm aware of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhein_II

I'm no art critic, but I know complete rubbish when I see it, and I have to say the picture in the original post and Rhein II fall into exactly the same category.