Hi Everyone,
With the demise of Digital Photography Review, I began searching for other options when it came to film news and a photography forum. I was pleased to find this fine community and am jumping in with both feet, especially since it is more geared toward film photographers unlike Digital Photography, which, of course, has "digital" within the name!
I'm 43 years old and have been using a film camera since as far back as I can remember. I believe I started with one of those little 110 film jobbies and blew through film with indoor images that never came out, which I couldn't understand why. Then, a Canon T-90 in high school, graduating to an obligatory AE-1. Finally in college I made it to the ranks of medium format jumping to a Rolleiflex 2.8 F. I also went down the rabbit hole of all kinds of experimental photography that revolved around the Polaroid line. Image transfers, SX-70 manipulation, Daylab printing, etc. This was around 1998-2000, during the peak film era when shooting 100 ISO Velvia was just a little expensive but really, it was an exceptional deal for what I now know as legendary film stock. Good thing I took a ton of rolls with me to Cuba and Peru during my travels!
I took a break from film for about 20 years, sold the Rollei, kept the AE-1, picked a Mamiya 645 1000S a year or so ago (currently being CLA'd) and have numerous other 35mm and medium format cameras I plan to slowly purchase (Top picks: Pentax 645n, Nikon F3 or FM3 and Nikon S3). With the new stock that has come out from the big 3 vendors (Kodak, Ilford and Fuji) along with all of the unique boutique film by Lomography, Cinestill and others, this is a great time to be alive as a film photographer! Of course, it's now quite a bit more expensive but then again, I'm also not scraping by like I was in college and actually have enough in my bank account to buy a pair of pants if I so chose to do so!
I'm starting to shoot more seriously now and am considering picking up an actual lighting package so I can do some copy and product work as a side hobby since I've found an artists group that seems to have a need for someone to do this. And I need the practice!
I look forward to being part of this community and hope to learn from you, be inspired by you and maybe even make a couple of friends.
Josh in Corvallis, Oregon
With the demise of Digital Photography Review, I began searching for other options when it came to film news and a photography forum. I was pleased to find this fine community and am jumping in with both feet, especially since it is more geared toward film photographers unlike Digital Photography, which, of course, has "digital" within the name!
I'm 43 years old and have been using a film camera since as far back as I can remember. I believe I started with one of those little 110 film jobbies and blew through film with indoor images that never came out, which I couldn't understand why. Then, a Canon T-90 in high school, graduating to an obligatory AE-1. Finally in college I made it to the ranks of medium format jumping to a Rolleiflex 2.8 F. I also went down the rabbit hole of all kinds of experimental photography that revolved around the Polaroid line. Image transfers, SX-70 manipulation, Daylab printing, etc. This was around 1998-2000, during the peak film era when shooting 100 ISO Velvia was just a little expensive but really, it was an exceptional deal for what I now know as legendary film stock. Good thing I took a ton of rolls with me to Cuba and Peru during my travels!
I took a break from film for about 20 years, sold the Rollei, kept the AE-1, picked a Mamiya 645 1000S a year or so ago (currently being CLA'd) and have numerous other 35mm and medium format cameras I plan to slowly purchase (Top picks: Pentax 645n, Nikon F3 or FM3 and Nikon S3). With the new stock that has come out from the big 3 vendors (Kodak, Ilford and Fuji) along with all of the unique boutique film by Lomography, Cinestill and others, this is a great time to be alive as a film photographer! Of course, it's now quite a bit more expensive but then again, I'm also not scraping by like I was in college and actually have enough in my bank account to buy a pair of pants if I so chose to do so!
I'm starting to shoot more seriously now and am considering picking up an actual lighting package so I can do some copy and product work as a side hobby since I've found an artists group that seems to have a need for someone to do this. And I need the practice!
I look forward to being part of this community and hope to learn from you, be inspired by you and maybe even make a couple of friends.
Josh in Corvallis, Oregon
