> On Feb 8, 2015, at 9:57 AM, Malcolm Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > >> BTW, I have and shoot with both film and digital cameras. They're much >> the same and they're quite different. So are their images. :-) > > A few years ago I looked on line and in magazines to get film when I last had > a film body and it was very difficult; mostly old stock and/or short dated > film. > > I looked today, and it was like looking ten years ago. Plentiful supplies, > even E6 long dated fresh supplies. > > Something has changed and I guess it must be demand for it. Are there more of > you who still use film out there?
I only use B&W or outdated color negative film in 35mm or 6x6 these days. Most usually XP2 Super or Fuji ACROS 100. I like LONG outdated color negative film a lot: the color shifts and fogging lend each roll of it a unique look. The vast majority of my film photography is with Polaroid cameras, using Impossible Project B&W films for Spectra, SX-70, and 600 cameras. The reason is the same as above: each camera, each frame has its own unique look … a bit inconsistent, a bit special. You have to work the camera and film a bit to understand how to get what you want out of it. I've seen no point to shooting transparencies since about 1985 … too fussy on latitude, too fussy to scan or print, mostly just a PITA to work with. I have a boatload of superb 35mm camera gear: Nikon, Leica M and R, a few fixed lens cameras. The Leica R8 body I obtained via an Ebay auction for $195 in MINT condition … didn't look like it had ever been used. What's that about film SLRs holding their value? That was a $2200 body in its heyday. What a superb (if heavy and large) beastie to shoot with though, and the lenses are to die for. It's way more equipment than I need for the four or five rolls of film per year I shoot with them, but hard to let go of for sentimental reasons. All the lenses also work with various digital cameras so it's the bodies and fixed-lens cameras that are under-utilized. Yes, there is way too much little-used camera gear in the closet. :-| But if I were going to buy any 35mm camera at this point in time, it would be a Nikon F6 body. Still in limited production, solid and reliable as a rock: probably the finest 35mm SLR ever made IMO. I'll likely never buy one, but it would be nice to have both the first and the last of the legendary Nikon F SLRs. I have only one DSLR left: an Olympus E-1 and four Zuiko Digital lenses. Ancient, only 5 Mpixel, fast on capture but slow as molasses to write files, and the smallest DR/most limited ISO. But, having had a bunch of DSLRs before and after it, it's still one of the finest DSLRs ever made on build, ergonomics, and image quality to my eye. I'm glad I've kept it; if I'm only making 8x10s (or 12x16s with 2x pixel upscaling), it's all I'd ever need. I rarely make any larger prints, and even a 1024x768 image (0.8 MPixel) projects beautifully with the Epson projector. G -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
