Why The Film? I'm not working and film, especially slide film, is extremely expensive. Obviously I've contracted one of those zombie diseases that takes control of your brain and forces you to make online purchases. I should disconnect the Internet before I end up with a large format camera delivered to my door.
Maybe not. I've just got the urge to use film again, even if it's just a few rolls. Partly because I want to see the world as it looks on film, and partly because I've been making too many pictures recently. Not as many as the guys who go out with their finger taped down on the shutter release button, but more than I really want to go through on computer. And a lot of those photos are a result of me being careless and making tiny adjustments from frame to frame. I want to force myself to be thoughtful and deliberate before pressing the button and the high price of film guarantees that I will look twice or thrice before I get the camera to go click-whirrrrr. Or clickzip in the case of the F6.
I'm going to use the F6 for slide film. Not because it necessarily gives better results than the F100, but because . . . I don't know. I like clickzip. And maybe the larger size of the camera will slow me down just that little bit more. Important when every frame costs nearly 900 Won, not including shipping and development.
I won't be using my Minolta X-700 for anything. It's hard to see everything in the viewfinder with my new glasses, whereas I don't have that problem with the Nikons. Also, the fastest shutter speed is 1/1000 of a second and that was a problem when I was last out on a sunny day. The shutters on the F100 and the F6 both go to 1/8000 of a second.
Anyway, I enjoy using film from time to time and I hope I don't waste too much of it. I always have the compulsion to use up a whole roll of film when I'm out, even if I don't see anything that interesting or the light is bad. That compulsion has led to a large number of wasted frames. Wish me luck and restraint . . .
(Just as a matter of interest, I took the two photos in this post with my iPhone and imported them into Lightroom, where I applied a Kodak E100G film simulation to them. Okay, maybe not that interesting.)
This was a fun post, Marcus. I look forward to seeing what you capture on that roll of E100. It’s too expensive for me to practice on. I’m sticking to Pro Image 100 until my 35mm film skills get back to their 1980s level.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Khürt. I really like ProImage 100, but it's hard to get here these days. Along with almost everything else except Ilford films and Kodak's professional line.
DeleteI made a photo of my cat sleeping this morning. A good start to the roll!
Good luck! I’m interested to see how you get on and whether indeed film forces your hand re composition and planning.
ReplyDeleteAnd those are very nice Big Boy film cameras.
Using expensive slide film did slow me down, but the thought of how much it cost per frame prevented me from relaxing and really enjoying the photography. I was very careful with the first roll when I visited a temple, but I became a bit careless with the second roll on a couple of walks around town. Ugh. I'll write about the experience once I get the results back from the lab next week.
DeleteThose are very nice cameras, indeed.