Hey all,
some nice shots so far, I particularly love S8n's latest! Looks like it was a pretty neat event, and lots to photograph.
So, do any of you use film cameras anymore? Thats where my interest lies, personally. It's bloody expensive to run all my vintage cameras, but I'm just in love with the whole look and feel of film and older cameras. There's something romantic about old photographs, in my opinion, the magic just isn't there for me clicking through jpeg's. Of course, you miss out on the ease of post processing the images and sharing them with lots of people (I really should buy a decent scanner...).
My current collection consists of:
- a Lubitel 166B - an old russian medium format (120) Twin-Lens-Reflex camera, my first vintage camera.
- a Holga - the lomography classic. I haven't actually had anything that i've put through this developed yet, it's waiting in envelope as we speak. For the most part, its just a plastic piece of junk that costs me 15 quid for 12 exposures. Maybe my opinion will change when I get the prints back...
- a 1988 Polaroid Supercolor 635CL, which is probably one of my favourite possessions. Sadly, poloroid have decided to stop production of the film, so I've had to stock up, and its not cheap (£1 an exposure, 10 exp in a pack).
- a 110-format Kodak Instamatic copy by Hanimex. Even though 110 film is crap (the negatives are so small that the prints are usually rubbish), I've leafed through enough of my folks old pictures to know that it definately has the retro appeal (for me).
- A Mamiya/Sekor 500TL 35mm SLR. This is my mainstay, as its comparitively cheap to run and has the most comprehensive features. The M42 Pentax mount means I can still find lenses and accessories for it on ebay or the oxfam shop. You young'uns with your Macro buttons don't know you're born! Wait till you've experienced the joys of extension tubes and doublers.
The 500TL and 166B are older than me, and the polaroid has 2 years on me, and they are all in great condition - a testament to the quality of cameras from the days of yore. Having said that, my Sony DSC-W100 digicompact is the only thing that makes the 166B usable (I use it as a lightmeter and as a guide for the exposure settings for the TLR).
I've got a load of rolls waiting to be sent off to the lab; when they're back I'll see about scanning them in and posting them up here.
- Dr Rick Dagless M.D