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I am currently living the joy of taking photos on film. I don't have any scanned and probably they are all terrible but...
Anyone else love the take one photo then soak it in with your eyes, the excitement of seeing what you are going to get And not worrying about charge?
Currently snap shotting with an Olympus Trip or a Pen EE
And full douching with a voigtlander Bessa 1, a cold shoe range finder and a light meter.
And I have just scored a colour enlarger.
Nope. Sorry 😀 I’ve never taken a great photo when going out equipped, with the intention of taking a great photo. Digital was a game-changer, and then smartphones even more so, cos it’s always in my pocket.
I can kind of see the appeal though even if it’s not for me, so enjoy!!
I think people should experience taking images with film once at least. It is an amazing experience using old technology to create an image that doesn’t get lost somewhere in a hard drive or phone memory. I am refurbing a trip 35 to keep in my camelbak as the evening sunset rides throw up some amazing scenes 😊
Taking photos on film is one thing but watching an image appear on a white sheet of paper while you gently rock it under a red light in a developing tray is as close to real magic as you can experience
I got an OM1n on my 17th birthday, 40 years ago now and it changed my life. 2 years later I was at the Polytechnic of Central London doing a BA in photography and then spent 7 years doing some very specialist stuff at the MOD. The great thing there was that nothing could leave site. That meant we had to process all types and formats of film from 35mm through to 5x4, print everything including cibachrome occasionally and we had a 16mm film processor cable of thousands of feet a day
It was a great photographic experience and better still we got to blow things up and that never gets old.
These days I use nothing but my phone for snaps. I get nothing really from digital post production. I think I just like things that are physical as well as mental and photography with film if you do the whole process yourself is very rewarding like that. A shame really that it's got so expensive.
I think digital cameras are a great way to learn though, being able to take the same shot with every combination of shutter speed, aperture and iso and see instantly what effect it has must be transformative for anyone wanting to learn how to have more control over the images they produce.
While it's not something I do anymore I don't think it's any exaggeration to say I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without having picked up that camera, and I'm really happy to read of your enthusiasm for something that in a way still does mean so much to me. I hope you get out of it as much as I did.
I shoot both digital and film. Not so much of the latter any more though TBH and when I do it's pure fun stuff like my Instax or plastic lensed Diana mini.
I don't see it (like some clearly do) as a hierachical or purity thing. They're just different. Two distinct activities with different processes and mindsets. I love the care, planning and uncertainty of shooting on film, especially with the type of simple kit I use. I also love the carefree, cost free experimentation and the freedom in post processing of digital.
We did our own processing as kids but £25 a tool these days no thanks.
I get the appeal tho
I have 3 Canon EOS 500 film cameras that are taking up space
I bought them accidentally, untested,I'd be happy to post them at cost if anyone wants one (or 3)
I have an old Eos300 in the attic. I keep thinking I'd love to get into developing etc as like mentioned above watching the image appear was magical. But I also have an EosR6 and it's pretty damn good and if I had to pay for each image, it's probably miles cheaper per image than the film camera.
Wish I had kept my dads old camera and light meter rather than flogging it on eBay a few years ago. Now I’m retired I’ve got plenty of time for that kind of stuff. I’ve settled on an Olympus EM1-X for wildlife, motorsport and cycling events but just bought a 12 year old compact Olympus XZ-1 for street photography and bike rides. The image quality of the XZ-1 is stunning and although it has many of the features of a DSLR I usually put it in P mode and go down 0.3 on the exposure. It also fits nicely in my shirt pocket on road/gravel rides.
I loved conventional film photography and spent lots of time at art college in extra-curricular classes just to get access to the darkroom. I did one of my final pieces on Ansel Adams using his 'Zone System' technique to correctly expose and develop my pictures. I wish I'd kept that work 🙁
"real" camera.... 🙂 I like it. Like 'bio' bikes.
Digital only for me, either phone or Nikon. I still have my old OM10 from my teens but don't use it anymore. I was reminded why on a trip to Bempton to see the puffins recently.
The ability to take loadsa pics and then have a squint at them on the back of the camera was awesome, it was a day when limiting yourself to 36 on a roll and not seeing the results until you'd developed the film would have been rubbish.
Film is probably fun for landscape photography but even so - if you're using ND filters and long exposures it's so much easier to take a few shots and see the results on a digi camera. Progress is marvelous as far as I'm concerned!
Film is great apart from the cost.
Old digital compacts is the new film.