Today I'm going to go against the "grain" of modern photography and focus (pun intended) on film photography. Yes, I know it's 2018 and the vast majority of photographers are shooting digital, but there are a growing number that are returning to film. Maybe not shooting full-time on film, but they are at least including it in their repertoire.
When I started my photography journey, it was with film. Predominantly color negative film, usually the cheapest store brand from the local Jessop's camera store. Which while not expensive, it was a decent ISO100 film. My camera at the time was a Cosina CT1A, which I used mainly with the included Cosinon 50mm lens. This was a time of exploring the world of photography and experimentation to see what I could do. And I would try just about any subject matter; landscape, city/urban, portraits, macro, etc.
I did (briefly) add a Zorki 4K rangefinder to my arsenal. It came "standard" with a 50mm lens and took some good images, if you remembered to first remove the lens cap! Yes, I was guilty of that oversight at times. I can't even remember now why I sold it on but I did.
After some time I acquired another camera, this time a Mamiya DSX1000. A solidly built (tank-like) 35mm SLR with a 55mm f/1.8 lens. With this I continued my "shoot anything and experiment" ethos.
Now i know this is currently a high level overview, as I just want to give a little backstory. Because once 2000 arrived, I left England and moved to the US. And to save space and weight, I actually left my cameras in England! I also, effectively, stopped photography for a few years. Then when I restarted, it was with digital, when I purchased a Nikon D100. Now as this is about film, I'm going to completely skip my digital cameras and photo work.
A few years ago, I once again decided to get back to using film as a break from digital. I'd also been reading about the life and work of Robert Capa at the time. There was no way I was in a postion to get a Contax rangefinder, like the one he used but I could get the next best thing, a Kiev IIa. This is a Russian made camera, directly copied from the original Contax designs. To give a very brief history, Russia got a chunk of Contax after WW2.
The Kiev IIa is a great little rangefinder and the include Jupiter 5cm f/1.2 is a good lens. It's fully manual and no built in metering. I like using it with one exception; the eyepiece for the rangefinder window is so small that, now I'm wearing glasses, it's almost impossible to look through. Of course, I could always take my glasses off to focus and frame, but that means if I need to make any adjustment to a camera setting, the glasses need to go back on or I can't read any of the settings.
A few years later I added another film camera to my collection; a Holga 120N. This is commonly referred to as a "toy camera" and it shoots on medium format film (120 film) and can use the 6x6 or 6x4.5 formats by dropping a "frame" into the camera. It is a very basic design, with no metering or adjustment of any kind other than its zone focusing and the cloudy/sun slider. It has a 60mm f/1.8 plastic lens that can give good images, but that's not always the intended "look". The camera is known to give a soft focus, often dream-like look to it's images. Then add in the possibility of light leaks and it all sounds like a disaster waiting to happen and a waste of time, effort and film. And you're now missing the point of this camera. It is in the "it's so bad it's good" mindset. It is a fun, don't take it all so serious camera that you don't have to really think about to use. Just set the lens to the desired zone, frame the image in the big optical finder and trip the shutter. Then wait to be surprised as to the final image when you get the film developed.
Toward the end of 2017 I, finally, took a trip back to England and revisited my home town. While there, I found my old Mamiya DSX1000 right where I had left it 17 years previously. And to my bigger surprise, the meter still functioned on the old button battery. How's that for "long life"? I also found I had left some unexposed film in the fridge (yes, my preferred method of storing film). Suffice to say, I made room for all this and brought it all back to the US with me. Now I will have to carry out some tests to see how well the Mamiya performs now, especially after spotting that the light seal around the prism and mirror has disintegrated. Not only did this strip of foam provide a seal to keep light from hitting the film from the eyepiece, it also helped to cushion the mirror as it flipped up to take a photograph.
This journey is now up to date, but not complete. I still have the desire to shoot film and have been looking at what used cameras are on the market (and in my price range). I also needed to find out if there was anywhere local that offers film developing; other than the drugstore option. And that's where I found a nice little bargain in used camera bin; a Nikon N90s. While this may not be an obvious first choice for a camera (an F1, F2, F3 or F4 would be nice to have) it is in pretty good condition, works and above all, was $50! Also, as I shoot Nikon digital cameras, most of my existing gear works with the N90s. I've run a roll of Agfa ISO200 color film through it to see if there are any issues, film is being developed, and it now has a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus in it. I also picked up a compact Sigma 24mm f/2.8 lens (for $45) as I intend to do some night time long exposures and it is a great little fast aperture wide angle lens.
And on that note, with all my experiments with film, one thing that always piqued my interest was reciprocity failure. For those unfamiliar with this term, film is created and rated to be shot within an upper and lower exposure time frame. If you shoot it above/below those limits, unexpected things can occur in the image. That's why very high speed images have a unique look, as too does long exposure images (on film). Both have pushed past the manufacturers expected exposure range and into the "unknown". The most obvious result of this is color shifts, whereby the chemicals in the film have reacted differently than "normal" and as you push the exposure time even further, these shifts can intensify and some almost surreal results can occur.
Will I stop at these film cameras? Nope! I'd love to get a medium format camera (SLR/TLR or range finder) and spend time with the larger negative and the inherent increase in image quality over 35mm. Plus there are always other great, iconic cameras that I'd love to shoot with.
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