Why I Love Film

With the popularity and convenience of digital cameras, it is no wonder why I am often asked why I am still using film. No, this is not to start a war of Film vs Digital, which is already aplenty on the Internet. I am just sharing my love for film.

#1. Film slows me down.
Using a film camera, I learn to treasure every shot because each roll of film only gives you 24 or 36 exposures. Every shot counts (and costs as well!!!), so I only take photos that I have a feel for. Learning to compose the shot, set your aperture for that depth of field, adjust the shutter speed just makes me love the process of making an image through my own work.

Standing birds

#2. Film looks different.
Film looks different. You will hear this over and over again from any film lover. To me, a film image just has this "organic", "raw" feel to it. Yes, call me old school. That is what I am. I love old stuff because they mean so much to me. I was looking through my old photos (I'm not old!) when I was searching for photos for my wedding montage, I realized I love those faded photos. Brings back memories. Tons of them. I can still remember 75% of the scene at the time when the photos were taken. Moreover, each different film has their own characteristic. For example, Portra 400 (one of my favorites!), is a very well-balanced film for portraits with extremely fine grains. The colors are very neutral and pleasing to the eyes. Agfa films tend to have higher contrast, so I love them with Lomo cameras!

Running man

#3. White balance? What's that?
Do I have to worry about white balance? I don't, with film. I just pop my film into the camera, wind it, adjust the ISO dial (sometimes I don't even have to do that, like my GR1s) and off I go shooting. No need to change white balance every time I go somewhere with a different lighting.

Tough life

#4. Film keeps me focused.
I don't have to check the back of my LCD screen for every shot I take. I simply compose, adjust my shutter speed, press the shutter release and off I go. Even if the first shot wasn't ideal, my vision is still with the scene that I took earlier. So if I see a better opportunity for a better shot, I can rewind my film advance lever and shoot again in the next second. No time or opportunity wasted looking at LCD screen.

I keep you sheltered

#5. What's that smell?
Yes, film smells. But to me, it smells good. Like coffee. I immediately know the smell of film when I smell one (no, I don't go around smelling film). The smell of film is attributed to the silver halide emulsion. The emulsion is a mixture of silver and halogen (bromide, iodine or chlorine) held together by electrical attraction. Alright, enough of the technical stuff. In short, I just love the smell of films!

Untitled

#6. I love film cameras!
I cannot deny the fact that I love film cameras. These cameras are built to last. Go to any flea market and you will still be able to find a couple of film cameras that still work, albeit the poor storage/maintenance condition. But they can still shoot! For example, I managed to score a rare black Canonet QL17 GIII for AUD$80! It wasn't in the best of condition and I had to send it for repair and some makeup to get it up and running. Once it recovered, it took some of the best black and white shots! I managed to save up for a limited edition Leica M6 TTL ICS, 0.85x body for a good price from Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment from Hong Kong in December 2013! Having owned a Voigtlander Bessa R4M, I finally realized what people meant by the "buttery-smooth" operation of a Leica. Not that the R4M is no good. Both cameras just feel different. Nonetheless, both bodies are to stay since the R4M offers a viewfinder meant for wide angle lenses.

Marina Bay Sands

#7. I love film community!

As some of you may know, I am a member of the Film Shooters Collective, a collection of film shooters from all over the globe. We have very active interactions on our FaceBook page, with tips and tricks and also advise and questions for sharing purpose. Last year, we tinkered on the idea of a photobook and together with some awesome film lovers, our book NSEW is finally launched! Do head over to the link to my blog post on this or HERE to order your copy to show your support! I have had my fair share of being helped and also helping others in this film community which I really appreciate. I have tried my hands in the digital community but have not received such warm reception. In my opinion (you can have yours but I stand by mine), film shooters are more willing to share and care.

Duplicate

There you have it! My several reasons why I love films! More to come if I can think of more... 

Hong Kong 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to 2014! 2013 has been a roller coaster ride for me. I hope this year will be a better year for me in terms of having more time to shoot film, which is something that I really enjoy. I will probably put up a post soon on why I love film, inspired by what Ray Toei has been putting up on his Facebook. 

I was in Hong Kong in December 2013 to attend my uncle's wedding. Had the chance to shoot this vibrant city on film and also went to a famed film store in Tsim Sha Tsui to stock up on film. There is this tiny store called Dot-Well Photo Workshop that has some interesting films as well as 2nd hand cameras. Bought some Cinestill films that are receiving very good reviews, as well as some rolled Ektarchrome slides, Maco Eagle 400 Surveillance films, Adox Color Implosion 100 films and Fujifilm Natura 1600 films. The highlight of the trip, I scored myself a Leica M6 TTL Black Paint ICS, 0.85x body! Thanks to Gilbert from Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment! 

Film stash from Dot-well

Leica M6 TTL Black Paint ICS, 0.85x

Limited edition of 200 only!

Love the metal film advance lever and black frame dial!

Mamiya 6

Got myself an excellent condition Mamiya 6 medium format rangefinder camera at a bargain! Totally loving it for its image quality and handling! So far, I think it has the sharpest lens in my entire collection (OK, I know my collection is not a lot...).

One thing I have to get used to is the 6x6 format. I have been shooting 35mm film and I am used to the 1/3 rule. I'm not saying this can't be applied to a 6x6, but some times it just doesn't work. I'm loving this camera! The film advance lever is very smooth and the shutter is very very very silent thanks to its leaf shutter. Plus, it has a Aperture Priority mode, which suits me totally! I mean, I can do manual but if given the choice to use Aperture mode, why not?

Below are some of the shots taken with slides (Kodak Ektachrome 100S and Fuji Provia 400X).

Film Shooters Collective

Recently, I saw this page Film Shooters Collective asking for submissions of film photographs. Being an amateur film shooter, I thought I'll just send in some of my shots to be part of this community. So I submitted a few, with this being my favourite:

Japan Camera Hunter Film Case!

Recently, I saw on Japan Camera Hunter (JCH) website that he has collaborated with a manufacturer to re-make the film cases that Fujifilm has discontinued. I created a mass order on Clubsnap and received pretty good responses. So I went on to make the order and await the arrival of these new cases.

 They arrived safely!

Street Photography

Downloaded 3 free ebooks from Nikon Passion (I'm a Canon fan by the way!). I've always admired the courage of street photographers for their relentless effort to go up close to strangers and snap their pictures. I'm still in the learning phase, so I do hope I get better by shooting more.

Multi-talented person always attracts attention... 

What really inspires me to go street photography after reading these ebooks is that

The Impossible Camera

The folks from The Impossible Project is asking for ideas about making their new Impossible Camera. After working on an idea for a night, I found myself working on Illustrator to come up with this idea.

My concept is a camera that is able to do a tilt-shift mechanism to bring about the signature effect, such as this:

By pushing and pulling the 4 screws at each corner, you can achieve such an effect. The camera is to be compatible with The Impossible Project's PX100 instant film. Lens would be a 50mm F8 with variable shutter setting, including bulb mode for low light photography. 

Maybe I'm too stressed out by school work that I am taking the day off to slack and daydream. Been such a crazy and tedious time for me at the moment, juggling project, rushing report, preparing for symposiums and conferences and managing house chores... Not the easiest of life, but I do hope to get it over and done with soon so that I can head back home for good... 

Spin! Spin! Spin!

Finally got my hands on the Spinner 360 after a mixed-up by DHL. I've indicated to DHL that I wanted a re-delivery after they came to deliver it on Tuesday. I've specially indicated that the re-delivery be made to Bio21 where I am doing my Honours year and give me a call when they reached the reception so that I can collect it personally. I waited until the end of Wednesday, but didn't receive a call from DHL. I went to the reception to ask if they had signed on my behalf. The reception said they don't receive any parcels or deliveries and asked that I checked the mail room and store office. Nothing in the mail room and I can't check with the store office as they have all knocked off. So I tracked my parcel online and found that someone by the name of Peter signed for my item! ROARS! 

So the next day, I went to check the store office and mail room again. No sign of my parcel. I am now panicking where my parcel went. In desperation, I went to the general store where all the chemicals and general items were. And there it was, my parcel with DHL's delivery note and my name! Alas! Finally found my item, but I am definitely not impressed by DHL service. Imagine anyone can sign on your behalf despite me indicating that I want to collect it personally and also to call me when the delivery is made. DHL is condemned! 

Ok, back to the item. Spinner 360 which can take a single picture 360 degrees. With a pull of the chord, the camera spins 360 degrees and takes a single picture. Such a fun toy! Spinner 360 uses 35mm films and can take up to 8 pictures per 36 exposure films. 

 Unboxing my toy, together with some lomography films.

Ten Golden Rules of Lomography 

Full view of the package 

 Example of a picture taken by Spinner 360

 Lomography films. Not sure what's the difference, but since it's not too expensive (compared to Melbourne), might as well give it a try.

 I know the top one is the extra rubber ring. But I have no idea what the lens cap is for as it doesn't fit the camera with the hood on. Not sure if I can remove the hood.

 Some sample pictures as well as various techniques of using Spinner 360. Comes with a poster as well.

Unveiling the camera. 

 The elusive lens.

 The handle feels good in your hand. Nicely designed and gives you really good grip.

The top view. The left dolphin is a bubble level and the right is the rewind crank. The hotshoe can be used to mount your bike flashlight as a flash because the hotshoe does not have any contact points. So normal flash will not work. Be creative! 

 Close up of the bubble level.

 Close up of the rewind crank to show you what it says.

 Opening up the back to load the film. Saw this little note telling you about the film and mode to shoot in.

 My number is 397468!

ALPA 12 TC

Check out this uber cool camera, the ALPA 12 TC, made by Swiss studio, Estragon, for ALPA of Switzerland. This monster is a 60 MP camera! It is also a film camera! It is a hybrid, depends on what body you fix your lens to. It takes 6x9 roll-film. This baby is customisable, meaning that you can change the handle and add on accessories like spirit level, flashlight, exposure meter and others. This is just one of the camera bodies available. There are others like the ALPA SWA, ALPA WA and ALPA METRIC. Check out ALPA's website for more!