Back to Film

Gliderman8 · Mar 29, 2019

I did it....
I miss shooting film so I dug out one of my cameras, ordered film, and now I wait for a battery to arrive.
Having the ability to set F-stops and shutter speeds will make it fun again!
Once a roll is complete I’ll send it off for processing; negs will be scanned and uploaded on a server with a link sent to me so I can download.

Deleted member 8987 · Mar 29, 2019

I used to shoot film. Had darkroom use, enlarger....all the cheap B&W I could use.
Miss that.

Hexacon....which, when I pried the label off, it was an East German body with British lenses, SLR 35mm.....been looking for one for 50 years just to have. Rubberized shutters need to be replaced/rebuilt/refabricated....no way to do candid shots. The noise would wake the dead when that shutter launched.

Then a Minolta SR-something (SR-1, I think), early, 1965 when I had it and it was used....with several lenses...and a Weston Light meter...and a strobe flash....and for serious work, a Rolleiflex.

Did so much, and then just stopped. Navy, family......got a Nikon 2100 digital, and no F stops, shutter speed, adjusting for film speed, bracketing shots.........

Boink · Mar 29, 2019

I, too, miss those days (and the darkroom)... though I don't miss having a maximum of 36 shots on a roll. Nope, not going back.

I still have my dad's Leica M1 that I learned on.

glemon · Mar 29, 2019

I like old cameras, but I don't miss having to think about whether a shot was worth the film and development expense. I do have to say I love that I have some old photos of my first cars and trips to Elkhart Lake in the early days of vintage racing in the 80s.

My second car, a 67 Sprite that somehow acquired a grill from an early 70s Midget, from film to digital to here.

pdplot · Mar 29, 2019

Still have my Canon FT with 3 lenses plus a semi-automatic Ricoh, all ready to go again. Still have all my darkroom equipment too. What a darkroom I saw on a tour a couple of weeks ago. Clyde Butcher. Fantastic photographer. Look him up.He can enlarge pictures to 5 x 8 FEET. Cost? $10,000 plus if you want to hang one in your living room. Walking into that darkroom, I smelled that old hypo smell. Brought back memories.

DrEntropy · Mar 30, 2019

Made my living with cameras from age seventeen, into my forties. Thousands of feet of 35mm film, got to travel the planet. Photojournalist by trade, nature and training.

It's my opinion film images are a record of an instant in time, caught and held, difficult to change. Digital imaging is too easily subject to manipulation. IOW, to lie. Associated Press has dumped numbers of shooters for "fiddling" their images, even a Pulitzer winner. The temptation to "fix" something is easily satisfied with the software available now.

I refer to myself as a recovering photojournalist, therapeutically morphed into a geek for hire. But I do still miss film. Paul Simon is a seer. :wink:

EDIT: My avatar image could be titled: "Entropy's Cat". Alive in the photo. Currently deceased. That "instant in time" thing.

Gliderman8 · Mar 30, 2019

I have to agree with you doc that digital images can be manipulated. Even though my 35mm will result in negs, the images will be scanned for me to download. At that point we’re back to possible manipulation which I have no intention to do. The anticipation of waiting to get the “prints” back will exciting... Again!

GregW · Mar 30, 2019

Gliderman8 said:
Having the ability to set F-stops and shutter speeds will make it fun again!

Sounds like you were buying the wrong digital camera for your needs or desires.

Gliderman8 · Mar 30, 2019

GregW said:
Sounds like you were buying the wrong digital camera for your needs or desires.

Right you are Greg; of course I could always get a better digital that would offer the options to change F-stops and speeds. I think it was more the desire to shoot some film.
Next I’ll pull out my Contax 139 SLR and shoot a couple of rolls with that.

DNK · Mar 30, 2019

Gliderman8 said:
I did it....
I miss shooting film so I dug out one of my cameras, ordered film, and now I wait for a battery to arrive.
Having the ability to set F-stops and shutter speeds will make it fun again!
Once a roll is complete I’ll send it off for processing; negs will be scanned and uploaded on a server with a link sent to me so I can download.
View attachment 58255

Basil · Mar 30, 2019

I have a couple of pretty good DSLRs but still want to get back to shooting my old Canon T-70 one of these days.

Gliderman8 · Mar 30, 2019

Oh Don...

Popeye · Mar 30, 2019

Rollei 35!!!

I saw one on page three of today’s Economist. The “she’s a fan” ad series for a fancy hotel in Hong Kong.

My my dad still has his; it served me well in high school photography class! Great little camera.

Gliderman8 · Mar 30, 2019

Thanks Mike. It is indeed a great little camera. Full frame 35mm and compact too.

Basil · Mar 31, 2019

DrEntropy said:
It's my opinion film images are a record of an instant in time, caught and held, difficult to change. Digital imaging is too easily subject to manipulation. IOW, to lie. Associated Press has dumped numbers of shooters for "fiddling" their images, even a Pulitzer winner. The temptation to "fix" something is easily satisfied with the software available now.

I refer to myself as a recovering photojournalist, therapeutically morphed into a geek for hire. But I do still miss film. Paul Simon is a seer. :wink:

EDIT: My avatar image could be titled: "Entropy's Cat". Alive in the photo. Currently deceased. That "instant in time" thing.

If we're talking about photojournalism I agree - an image as an official record is an instant in time and should not be altered or "fiddled with" in that use-case. However, there is also the other side where photography forms the bases for artistic expression. The scenes that Ansel Adams shot probably did not look anywhere near as dramatic in real life as they were in his photos after he did his dodging and burning in the dark room. I have no issue with using digital tools to make a photo look better as long as it's not being used as some official historical record. I love using Lightroom and Photoshop to make an "ok" photograph look better. Different use-cases.

Popeye · Mar 31, 2019

https://images.app.goo.gl/iJMTQYKsfaW68N3S9

Gliderman8 · Mar 31, 2019

Popeye said:
https://images.app.goo.gl/iJMTQYKsfaW68N3S9

Very cool; thanks for the link.
They both look stunning :encouragement:

Popeye · Mar 31, 2019

the CAMERA, not what the camera has taken! (...agree on both counts

)

I like their ads - subtle and the message is clear. Not many print ads are this good anymore; reminds me a little of old VW magazine ads. Mandatory car content: https://www.mandarinoriental.com/celebrity-fans/frederick-forsyth

Gliderman8 · Mar 31, 2019

Popeye said:
the CAMERA, not what the camera has taken! (...agree on both counts )

I like their ads - subtle and the message is clear. Not many print ads are this good anymore; reminds me a little of old VW magazine ads. Mandatory car content: https://www.mandarinoriental.com/celebrity-fans/frederick-forsyth

Nice car; great author.

martx-5 · Apr 2, 2019

I did a lot of film photography and darkroom work as a hobby, including large format, 4x5 and 8x10. I sold all of my film equipment with the exception of two 4x5s and a couple of lenses. All the 35mm, 2 1/4" and 8x10 stuff went on ebay. I kept the 4x5 stuff because there was an outfit that was reproducing the Polaroid 55 film that gives a positive and negative. Then I could shoot and scan the negs. Alas, they started producing it, ran into financial problems and closed up shop. I'll probably let go of the 4x5s also. Other than that, I have no desire to shoot film again.

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