I’ve recently been on a film shooting kick.  It all began a couple weeks ago when one of the models that I work with called and said that she had an “old film camera” and asked if I wanted it.  Of course I jumped at the offer and soon had a Pentax K1000 in great condition in my hands.  I carried the camera around for a few days to work through the roll of 36 exposures taking pictures “just for fun”.  Here are a few things I learned during that experience:

  • I’ve got a really bad habit of “Immediate Chimping” that I need to break
  • When I’ve got a small number of available shots, I take more time to compose
  • Getting the light correct before shooting is a skill I’ve let slack
  • Film requires much less image editing
  • Auto-focus is a very nice thing

Today’s image is a quick shot I took of my friend Dave.  This is un-retouched and taken directly from the CD I received from the lab.  Wow Dave, what beautiful eyes you have (I know, AWKWARD!)  🙂

I’m going to spend some more time shooting film in the coming weeks.  I recently picked up a Nikon FE from eBay to use.  This is the model that was my main camera body (along with an FM2) during my high school yearbook/newspaper days.  I would eventually like to have a replacement for every camera that I have used during the 80’s, but since the list is long (see below) that will be waiting for awhile until there is room in the budget.

My list of film cameras between 1980-1990:

  • Petri (model unknown)
  • Pentax MX
  • Pentax ME Super
  • Nikon FE
  • Nikon FM2
  • Mamiya 645

If you’ve got access to a film camera, I’d recommend putting a roll of film through it and taking note of how the experience differs from digital.  You might be surprised at the results.

Pentax K1000, Pentax 50mm f/2.0 lens – 1/30 second, f/2.0, ISO 100