9 Jan
2010
I bought a Canon AV-1 film camera on eBay before Christmas. Then I picked up a really clean Canon AE-1 Program at a local camera store. The AV-1 was built in the late 70’s/early 80’s. And the AE-1 Program was introduced in 1981. Over Christmas I mentioned my interest in film photography to a friend in Palm Springs gave me a Nikkormat FTN camera he had purchased in 1973 and used for two years while in the Peace Corps in South America. I don’t think he used the camera for the last 30 years! Although the battery was dead, I put film in the camera and took some photos. I found the proper battery for camera at a camera store. This camera originally used a mercury battery but I found a non-mercury replacement that works just fine. The battery controls the light meter in this camera.
I’ve taken a few rolls of film with these cameras and had them developed. Not everything has turned out, but most of the frames are great. I’ve shot both color and black & white film. When looking at the results, I’m immediately struck by the stunning clarity of the pictures.
Shooting with film is a slow process. It takes longer to set up the camera for each shot. The Nikkormat, in particular, is slow to set up because it is fully manual. And reading the light meter requires an extra pre-step. Also, the film has to be manually advanced before taking the next shot. There are advantages to this slow process. First, I am more thoughtful about setting up each picture. I think about composition, and the details such as making sure that the horizon is set properly in the frame. I think about lighting and depth of field, so I’m conscious of setting aperture and shutter speed. Second, because there are only so many shots to a roll and because of the costs associated with processing film, I think about the quality and value tof taking each shot.
There are disadvantages to shooting with film. First, because it is a slow process, it could take weeks to complete a roll of film. In fact, sometimes I have to think hard about what type of film is in the camera - if it's color or black & white. Second, each roll of film is a paritcular type of film, with a particular film speed, which limits use. And, third, it’s difficult finding good processing, particularly for black & white film. That’s a real problem here in Orange County. Los Angeles has many more processing plants because of the film industry.
I just ordered a film scanner so that I can have film developed, but not printed. That should present some savings in the long run. Also, I found a good black & white processor that only develops film but doesn’t print. Also, I look forward to digitizing from film, which should produce higher quality results than scanning prints.
I also like using film cameras because they are “full frame” cameras. It’s difficult going back to my digital SLR (Canon 40D) because of how little I see in the view finder.
I encourage photographers to consider shooting film. It’s a great experience.
