I never thought I would EVER write a blog about film, but this is now something I'm very passionate about!
Firstly i never shot much film other than just consumer level C41 print films like most people did in the late 90's before digital took off.
I bought my first digital camera in 2005, (Canon Ixus 50) and it was a very good 5mp camera for the time, but this is when I will start talking about the disadvantages of digital.
When I started using it, i loved it. I could simply take as many photos as i wished (limited to the SD card storage) and this became my first problem - I simply took too many photos!
This made me lazy and i took less time making sure I had a good scene in the viewfinder, I just snapped as many as i wanted without giving anything much thought, then i had to go through them to find what was the best.
OK, this does not sound bad at first, but the point is you loose the skill in taking the time to make a good image, if i was shooting film, i know i only have a few exposures on a roll and i always take the time to make sure its right before pressing the shutter.
The second disadvantage is that the photos look too sterile and not enough character for what i feel.
I really miss the artistic charm that film gives.
Now when i heard about Kodachrome being finished in the news in 2009, something made the penny drop with me and i thought to myself i have to start shooting film before its too late.
I stocked up on Ektachrome E100g and E100vs, i bought an Olympus XA3 and started shooting the stuff.
I really love these compact cameras and i will do a separate blog on these soon :)
Anyway, i love the outdoors so mainly shoot when im snowboarding or tramping in the bush.
(for those who dont know what tramping is, its basically what we call hiking or backpacking in New Zealand)
There is a real excitement waiting to get your roll back from processing to see what the scans look like, this experience is something I totally had forgotten what it was like!
To my surprise there was not a bad photo on the roll!
I was happy with all the results I had and this was just a cheap compact camera that is almost 30 years old!
I then heard about other film stocks that had a more retro feel like the original Kodachrome so i contacted Witther-Cinetec in Germany who were packaging AGFA Aviphot chrome into super8 mm format, and asked if they could supply me 135 format, and they said sure why not?!
So I had a couple of rolls arrive in the post that they sent me to test and i loved it!
It has a real retro feel and this is what i miss with digital, all the photoshopping in the world does not give you these results.
here is a sample of the AGFA film shot on the Mt Ruapehu Skifield, you would think it was taken 30 years ago looking at this!
So now i shoot fewer, but IMO, better photos, i still have a good stash of E100G even though Kodak have stopped its production.
This has a much finer grain, and I reserve this for the photos i want to capture more detail with.
Fuji is the only company still making E6 reversal films and its time could be limited.
Film Ferrania http://filmferrania.it/ in Italy is restarting production as we speak, so these guys need all the support they can get. I was a backer on Kickstarter, and hope to try their new film out very soon.
Film is not about perfection, its about character, and thats why I shoot it.
I want more retro looking photos, and film is delivering this for me.
I have recently acquired a Pentax Spotmatic and an Olympus XA4, both are good cameras, I have also found a good stash of M42 mount lenses for the Spotmatic, so im all set now :)
I will do more writeups on the Olympus XA cameras soon and on Film Ferrania.
I hope this will spark the interest in the next generation of photographers, but we need to work together to keep film alive, particularly with E6 films.
For now, over and out, and happy shooting :)