With a Fuji X-mount you would be starting from scratch with film.
In 1 way, it is fun to do everything manually, of course, it is also the frustrating part, when getting a roll of 36 back from development and all of them is over exposed because you forgot you are using ISO1600 film and you dialled in ISO100. Or you miss focus loads because you are focusing manually and never done it before…this is another reason why rangefinders are great as you have a split focusing screen inside, when it line up, it is in focus.
Once you shoot some film you will understand why street photographers shoot with something like ISO 100, F/16, 125th. I think that is the sunny 16 rule….you get a deep DoF, everything in focus, fast enough shutter speed, daylight. The camera then kinda becomes a point and shoot, you just point to frame the photo and forever everything else. In a way it is liberating but also of course, would mess you up if the angle of light source changes from back light to any kind of sudden cloud cover etc. But you might end up with photos you never expect either.
Since you are starting from scratch, you will need to pick a system….Nikon FM1 would be a classic, like THE classic, but they are actually quite expensive, I want one as a display. The late 80’s Canon film bodies, plastic tastic ones are the cheapest. You can also look like Olympus cameras too, they have that Fuji look as well in terms of dials.
As for developing, finding a good lab that you like is not easy, and finding one with a good printer too, basically the guy who does the developing and print is the one that do you lightroom…it is frustrating sometimes because I recall one time I especially underexposed a Lfilm for a silhouette shot and it came back that he pulled the exposure up and ruined my negative. These days all the highstreet labs have all but disappeared, so you have to look online and I am unsure which ones people go to now.
The final problem is that any negative you shoot, you end up scanning to digital in the final step anyway, which to me, defeat the purpose of film unless you print.
The alternative is that you shoot Slide, which if you think shooting negative is difficult, shooting slide is a step harder as the are even less latitude in push/pull the photo if the exposure gone wrong. Negative film generally have a bit of latitude if you go wrong, general 1 or even 2 stops (depending on the film). But with slide you are either right or it is wrong. Which makes you think that the D750 can pull 5 stop is just unthinkable back then.
Also, if you are thinking about shooting film frequently, invest in a scanner, would save you cost in printing, you can just scan in your slides or negative. I recall, to shoot a roll of 36, you spend a few pound getting the roll, money on developing and more on top if you print. You are looking at minimum £10 per roll, so you are like click shutter, 30p….click shutter 30p….
There is this satisfying feeling though when you do a shot, for example a long exposure, something that is 4mins long, you work it all out in your head by working out the stops and come out perfect. Because you will be in bulb mode and even if you have TTL you won’t be able to know for sure.
Personally…if would go the Nikon FM1 route with a 35 or 50mm. Just because the fun of it, the body and the classic look. You could find a really old Leica M3….if you want to really splash out.
For fun, you can get a Canon EOS5 or EOS30 (with eye control), and watch in marvel how 20 years ago they can track your eyeball in the OVF to the focus points….although hit and miss! You would feel right at home if you ever shot with a Canon camera too.
Medium format if you have really deep pockets in day to day shooting.
There are lots of fun to be had with film, but most of it comes with experimentation and not knowing what you will get, like cross processing, using out of date film, under expose a roll on purpose and pull it up again or vice versa. All these you can do digitally much easier but the fun is to see how the chemicals react. Kinda like how different sensors react.
I would actually start with spend a day shooting with your Fuji with everything in manual, see how you get on, of course the EVF really takes away the most difficult aspect being you know you have nailed the exposure but you can always do the other aspects like focus, but at least it gives you an appreciation how much more work it is when you have to adjust all the settings. And remember to turn camera to single shot mode…and perhaps find a 128mb SD card or something, that is your digital version of a roll of 36. Shoot that and then that’s it.
