I’ve previously written about my pursuit of an Every Day Camera. It’s an eclectic choice of questions that I ask myself. “What film camera do I want to carry everyday, everywhere.” I review the experiences that form my questions. I already have one of the best cameras in the world that I carry every day. It’s the one that I always have with me and it takes excellent pictures without having to think about it. The decision to carry a dedicated film camera was partially formed by the perfect camera (telephone) in my pocket.
I want the experience of film photography everyday.
The desire for this experience originates from knowledge that reaches back some 50 years. It is a process of born of cause and effect. I chose film because I want memories. My camera phone is already in my pocket by design.
What I am experiencing by carrying a film camera is that I take far fewer camera phone pictures. Ultimately that is reducing the time I spend on phone. The pictures I take with the camera phone are fewer and less intrusive to what ever I’m doing. The film camera is purposeful, it’s slow to use and requires more thought and planning.
…requires more thinking.
Easy is not what I want, simple and effective are desirable however in the choice of a film camera, my thoughts on photography are much more controlled by decisions I make.
I press the release button on the bottom of my camera, rewinding the film into its cartridge, pulling the winder to open the back, I pull out the cartridge and behold the memories that are housed in it. The roll is taken to a film processing lab and there I meet others that share my focused interest. At the film lab is where the anticipation begins. My photos are now out of my hands, I wait for them to be processed…
I receive the file in e-mail sometimes weeks later. Often those memories were forgotten and now are brought back. Sometimes those photographs are skewed with mistakes. Film is not perfect, the results are far more emotional than digital photography. Time takes on a different role. If I want absolute control, simple and effective results, then I choose a digital camera like my iPhone or my DSLR.
I actually have a couple of good digital cameras to choose. The choice of a digital camera brings me to my camera phone or for perfection, my DSLR. On the other hand, I don’t need to control my photography like that all the time. I am married to my film camera. I am in the process of a divorce with my iPhone. When it comes to digital photography, we are far better friends than we are a couple.
A film camera promotes creative decisions, experiences, learning, work that is productive, fun and educational. I enjoy the process of photography capturing moments of wonderment and also the agony of disappointment. Why would I choose anything disappointing? I don’t choose disappointment, I choose wabi sabi, I embrace the imperfection. Life is not perfect. I am human. An emotional being, I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset and I am filled with feeling. For me, my life is not a series of work ending in perfection, it is a passage of time that is filled with experiences, good, bad and everything in between. My point here is that if I wanted perfection, I would choose a digital camera and cease the exercise in understanding the thing of photography.
Sometimes I do.
Film photography is personal choice based in emotion.
I don’t take photographs for you, I create them for me. I’m very selfish in the way I share what I do.
I enjoy loading film into my camera. The idea that I am capturing a moment of light. I know where that exact moment is on a roll of moments. I like the idea of that captured light roll being taken to a film lab where I know others understand and enjoy the process as well. I can discuss our madness because it is common to our discipline.
I hope the development and scans come out nice, like I envisioned. Most of the time, almost all the time, the scans are honest. I’ve learned that I can’t focus a camera when I am drinking. I’ve learned that if I hurry into a picture, I make mistakes. If I don’t think about my pictures, they suck. But when I take in the roll of film to the processing lab, it is always with a small prayer, “I hope these come out well” and when they don’t, I end up learning about my equipment and myself.
I have learned to embrace the imperfections of film photography.
My cameras are chosen from one company. That decision to use one company was not made lightly. I only recently made it. I chose this brand based on the way the lens mounts to the camera. Forward and backward compatibility of old lenses on new cameras and new lenses on old cameras are the reason.
I like old things, they are proven, and known. I also enjoy modern things, created from experience and a reliable digital camera and the perfection of images is a thing of beauty.
The ability to make choices is good.
I carry both a digital and an analog camera every day.
The other day I chose an exercise in writing down the important aspects of photographic control. It is a practice that I review often. I need to know it.
Knowing this, the physical choices in the camera I choose are this.
My camera must be inexpensive, no problem to replace, easy to operate exposure controls. It must be able to use the lenses in my collection. It must be capable of capturing memories day and night.
Accessories must be minimal.
I choose a Nikon FG for the body. Either a Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AI-S or Series E 50mm f1.8 as a prime. Sometimes I’ll use a Zoom Nikkor 35-70mm f3.3-4.5 AI-S lens or the Series E 28mm f2.8. For fill or nighttime pictures, a SB-15 flash.
My shiny FG came with a Spirotone Winder that operates at up to two frames per second. I switched that out for the MD-E. My black FG gets the MD-14 for frame advance duties. A strap, no strap, that changes.
At this point, I’m investigating the Nikon 20mm f4 AI. This is a lens that is even more compact than the Japanese pancake version of the 50mm f1.8.
I have found a petite Lowepro bag that the flash and a winder will fit in as well as a couple of rolls of film. I grab that if it’s after work and I’ll be in the dark. Flash photography is a challenge yet I seem to be on the right path.
That’s it.
My kit is small, light and compact. Inexpensive, easily replaced and durable.
…or the iPhone in my pocket.
No big deal, it’s a wonderfully small and well thought out deal.
