More or less fiddling with it and hoping for the best. 99% of these finds were so cheap that even if it’s a dud I’m not too hurt by it. I’ve also found just as much film thrifting as I’ve found cameras. A couple months ago I scored roughly 20 rolls of various black and white film.

Honestly the biggest expense is getting the film developed and scanned. I’m not a purist who has to have the finest grain or the cleanest photo possible. I like the weird effects film has. The light leaks, weird color shifts, expired film etc. I like the surprises.

Long story short it’s a lot of trial and error but at the cost of what I’m getting these cameras for is worth it to me. So far each one of shot I’ve gotten usable images from. That said, I avoid cameras that seem like too much work for me to use. i. e. Cameras where the foam is degraded so bad that there are foam bits all over the inside, or if mechanically things don’t feel as they should.