Who still shoot film 35mm | medium formats | Large formats etc.

strancali

strancali

Well-known member
Recently, I acquired an old Olympus XA 35mm film camera. The seller told me everything was perfect and unless they lend you the camera to shoot and process, you can't verify. Anyway, I purchased some cinestill 800T film and shot off some frames and noticed light leaks. I sorta dig it and decided to keep it as is (no repairs / re-seals). I also got into shooting medium format film cameras. Bought and sold a few such as the RZ67 ii (amazing camera). Right now, I have the Hasselblad 503CW, Fuji GA645 and two Olympus XA (original version ) point and shoot (one normal and one with the light leaks). Would love to know if you guys are still shooting film photography.

 
Are you sure it is light leaking in and not a problem with the film?

In the UK it is getting difficult to find places that sell film (35mm film let along any other) . Just as bad with finding anywhere to develop. The only people I know still shooting film in the UK are the rapidly shrinking number of hobby people with their own dark rooms, some students at university and the old people who shoot a roll of film on summer holiday and maybe one at christmas. ( send it away to be developed on a 2 week turn around) Other than that it is dead.

In fact my local stockist of film has 21 roles of film left "on special offer" 5 Fuji colour and the rest Ilford XP. When they are gone that is it. They have also closed down their develop/print machine. this one used to be the one used by all the chemists in the region as they one by one stopped doing their own developing. Now it gets sent to a place the other end of the country.

The problem is digital is so much more convenient, faster and cheaper. Also anything you can do with film you can get the same results in Photoshop/DxO/OnOne etc etc come to that for 90% of it you can do it in Lightroom.

Film is a nice idea if you have time and time/space/equipment to develop your own

There are people is some parts of London who still use 35mm film cameras, along with their portable manual typewriters, fountain pens and wear this weeks fashion but hipsters are fickle and I doubt many actually take many photos with their film cameras. Besides next week will on to Polaroid Land Cameras.
 
Every under 30 I know (I know two) has a film camera.

Its so cooool.

Dont miss it myself - F3 and FM2 sit on the shelf , 645 system traded in in 2003.
 
i have a Nikon FM 10
A Kodak camera where the lens pops out
Love it
graduated film school 4 years ago
 
jagraphics said:
Are you sure it is light leaking in and not a problem with the film?

In the UK it is getting difficult to find places that sell film (35mm film let along any other) . Just as bad with finding anywhere to develop. The only people I know still shooting film in the UK are the rapidly shrinking number of hobby people with their own dark rooms, some students at university and the old people who shoot a roll of film on summer holiday and maybe one at christmas. ( send it away to be developed on a 2 week turn around) Other than that it is dead.

In fact my local stockist of film has 21 roles of film left "on special offer" 5 Fuji colour and the rest Ilford XP. When they are gone that is it. They have also closed down their develop/print machine. this one used to be the one used by all the chemists in the region as they one by one stopped doing their own developing. Now it gets sent to a place the other end of the country.

The problem is digital is so much more convenient, faster and cheaper. Also anything you can do with film you can get the same results in Photoshop/DxO/OnOne etc etc come to that for 90% of it you can do it in Lightroom.

Film is a nice idea if you have time and time/space/equipment to develop your own

There are people is some parts of London who still use 35mm film cameras, along with their portable manual typewriters, fountain pens and wear this weeks fashion but hipsters are fickle and I doubt many actually take many photos with their film cameras. Besides next week will on to Polaroid Land Cameras.
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It is definitely light leaks. Yes I get what you're saying with the ease of digital and I still shoot digital most of the time. When I have free time to myself and want to enjoy the photography experience, I load the film camera. It slows me down and makes the whole photography thing fun for me. Here in Los Angeles, we still have many labs so we're lucky in that sense.
 
morgan_moore said:
Every under 30 I know (I know two) has a film camera.

Its so cooool.

Dont miss it myself - F3 and FM2 sit on the shelf , 645 system traded in in 2003.
Click to expand...

I know, the guys at the lab I use said they are getting busier now. Seems like even high school kids are coming in developing film.
 
The film I shoot is usually put through the shutter of a Contax T3...the best compact I've ever used. The 35mm f2.8 lens is sharper than most 35mm prime lenses. It won't compete with a digital sensor on technical merit, but it's a fun, elegant way to burn through film. I mail it off to California, and get a cd and the negatives back. I can re-scan keepers at hi res here at home. There is a certain magic to b&w film and contact sheets.
 
David_Manning said:
The film I shoot is usually put through the shutter of a Contax T3...the best compact I've ever used. The 35mm f2.8 lens is sharper than most 35mm prime lenses. It won't compete with a digital sensor on technical merit, but it's a fun, elegant way to burn through film. I mail it off to California, and get a cd and the negatives back. I can re-scan keepers at hi res here at home. There is a certain magic to b&w film and contact sheets.
Click to expand...

I heard great things about the Contax T3 (also expensive). I couldn't agree with you more about the "magic" when shooting with film.
 
David_Manning said:
The film I shoot is usually put through the shutter of a Contax T3...the best compact I've ever used..
Click to expand...

Im saying this in case anyone is considering a purchase. - I did not get good value from my contax T2, nice camera but control button failed then lens stopped popping out - so much for a titanium case. Got more miles from my olympus trip which it was a snazzy upgrade for.

As a hitorical aside - I went 'as a guest' to a chums wedding in south africa in maybe 1998 - took only the T2, as I was a guest and travelling light. On arrival I was informed that I was the actually official photographer - did most of it with the T2 (and a borrowed Pentax for telephoto) and the pics are very very sharp - if digital is sharper it is not needed.
 
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morgan_moore said:
As a hitorical aside - I went 'as a guest' to a chums wedding in south africa in maybe 1998 - took only the T2, as I was a guest and travelling light. On arrival I was informed that I was the actually official photographer - did most of it with the T2 (and a borrowed Pentax for telephoto) and the pics are very very sharp - if digital is sharper it is not needed.
Click to expand...

Talk about pressure haha.
 
egproductions said:
light leak could be from the shutter getting stuck or being slow.
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There's actually two issues in this example. One is light leaks (seals are worn and light comes through the back cover. The other, lines going across was from me not putting enough pressure to hold the film at the inital wind so there was a slack. The lab said the film came out sorta bend and "folded" hence those marks. The light leaks are the flare looking ones.
 
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