Film Photograhy - One Year Later
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about getting “back into” film photography. This is to document my progress and thoughts after a straight year of shooting film.
Last I left off, I had a Canon AE-1 and an Olympus OM-1 and was living in Utah. The first change that happened? I moved my family to Southern California. I still have those cameras and use the Canon AE-1 wayyyy more frequently than the Olympus. The Olympus has a few quirks to it, and I love it to death, however, the cold shoe mount bugs the crap out of me. Always catching on my shirt or bag. I know this is a superficial problem, and I could just remove the cold shoe, but why? [ADHD procrastination at work here] Since that blog post, I have also picked up a Minolta X-700, an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic, a Topcon RE Super, an Asahi Pentax K1000, some other Pentax that I lent to a friend, a Minolta Autocord (medium format), an Asahi Pentax 6x7 (medium format), and my current workhorse - a Canon EOS 7s (the Japanese version of the EOS Elan 7n/7ne). I do not use all of these cameras, and am “planning” on selling four or five of them. I think I actually have another camera body in a box in my garage…
A few notes about using ancient cameras - you’ll spend a lot of time repairing them. As I write this, my Pentax 6x7 is in Tennessee getting a CLA because the shutter got stuck when I was trying to do a low-light photo and has not worked correctly since then. My Minolta Autocord was giving me super glowy negatives, I’ll attach an example below, and after consulting discord & reddit groups, I figured out how to disassemble the lenses and give them a good ole fashioned cleaning. It now works perfectly and my scans are coming back amazing.
The Canon EOS 7s is by far the youngest film camera I own and is probably the best 35mm I have. I started offering film portraits recently, and this camera has just blown me away. It’s great for photographing people. Fast, fast, and fast. The scans come back super clean, and since it accepts Canon EF lenses, the options for lenses seem never ending. Definitely hit up ebay for one if you’re looking for the best way to get into film photography.
For creative work and personal projects, I still can’t beat the Olympus OM-1 and Canon AE-1. I love the feel, the shutter clunk, the film advance, and the small form factor. I take the Canon out a little more than the Olympus, but that’s because I see the Canon as a little easier to replace if something happens? I know it sounds horrible, but it took me forever to find a good Olympus OM-1 and even then I had to take it apart to replace light seals and the prism. Because of that, I tend to baby the Olympus and only take her out for special occasions.
Now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this post. What has changed besides cameras I own in the last 1.5yrs? Would I keep shooting film? What tips and tricks have I learned? Blah Bleh Bluh bleh?
I have stepped up my game considerably. It took me a few rolls before I became comfortable with shooting film again. My early photos were hit and miss. Too dark, too light, accidental light exposure (from opening the back of my camera), you know, regular rookie mistakes. I’ve gotten to the point where 30 out of 36 (or 10 out of 12 if I’m using my Minolta Autocord) exposures are great and portfolio-worthy. I bought a Sekonic light meter. I have a love-hate relationship with it. It’s definitely worth it if you are shooting indoors or in a studio, but since becoming comfortable with shooting again, I have subscribed to the Vuhlandes mindset - shoot with my gut and trust myself. I went through a period where I was metering everything and my photos felt too forced. I had to take a step back, get out of my head, and start trusting myself again. Since clearing my head of the clinicality of metering everything, my photos have felt more relaxed and my creativity has bloomed again.
Film prices have gone up considerably. I wasn’t shooting as much film in the fall of 2021 because of a lot of my daily work changes. Lots of stress, lots to do family wise, changes in pricing structures with my consulting business to account for slow periods, it was just a lot to handle all at once. So I stopped shooting as much film and started hoarding my exposed rolls until I could find some extra cash and do a bulk development order. Kodak came out and said there would be a 20% increase on prices in 2022. Everything was looking like I might have to give up my new/old hobby. Then I came across a local (to me) developer in Oceanside that was offering hi-res scans and developing for $10/roll. Shortly after finding Film 47, I somehow came across Film Supply Club, who offers an low-cost annual/monthly membership plan to receive bulk discounts on film. Everything was starting to look up! The Portra 400 Famine was coming to an end and I was able to snag several boxes before the price hikes. While there are still shortages on film stocks, you can usually find something to shoot, even if it’s not your typical film stock. We’ve seen some exciting new stocks released in 2022, and I was able to back the “kickstarter” for CineStill 400D and snag a few boxes of Kodak Gold 200 on 120mm.
I can’t tell you how many hours of youtube videos I have watched. I can’t even express how much Willem, Vuhlandes, Moment/Sunny Sixteen, Grainydays, and Sean Tucker have sparked my creativity and taught me small technical details. Please go give them a watch. I live in a nice, quiet valley that hosts a lot of weddings/engagements, it’s not hard to find photographers, but it’s so hard to find other film photographers. It really sucks feeling like you’re on an island, and most of the time, you just need to reach out. I started following more film photographers on Instagram, I’ll list some good ones below, and began posting more of my film scans to my profile. I started trying to join/build community. I attended a film photographer roundup in Joshua Tree that was hosted by The Darkroom Lab and Beers and Cameras where I learned the philosophy that you don’t stop shooting film because it’s expensive, you keep shooting it to document journeys, and you can’t really put a price on that. I joined discord and reddit communities and try to stay active on there once or twice a week. I comment on instagram posts, share others photos, and generally try to support other photographers because that’s what other photographers do for me. I joined several film clubs - Expired Film Club, Nice Film Lab (for developing - use code 7BBFDF for 1 free roll dev+scan), and Film Supply Club. I bought and completed several lessons from Moment. In short, I have reached out and that helped strengthen my affinity for film photography.
So, would/will I keep shooting film? Yes.
Go shoot some film today.
Current favorite film photographers on Instagram: @6.tiff, @gilbrtortiz, @erocksmith, @graincheque, @dylanwade, @fairyboifilms, @xochitlfilm
A few of the links in this post are affiliate links and I do receive a kickback. Most of them are just cause I genuinely like the channel/company/item.
