Hello from Japan

Nazzy11 · Jul 14, 2015

As I write this, a typhoon looms off the coast, ready to give us a blessed break from all this hot humidity in the air.

Hi, I'm Nathan! XD

I recently got interested in film again, so I sold my Leica M and bought a Nikon F3 and a 1.4 50mm lens. Going through my first roll of b/w film right now, so hopefully when it gets developed I won't see any evidence of light leaks or anything. Should be good though.

Currently living in Osaka and getting reaquainted with film. When I move to Taiwan I plan on making a darkroom, but for now I'm just going to use the local place to develop my film and scan my photos digitally.

Feel free to ask my questions. I don't have any right now, so I'll probably just stalk the forums once in a while.

mooseontheloose · Jul 14, 2015

Hi Nathan! Welcome to APUG from another expat living in Kyoto. There are a few members here living in Japan.

You definitely don't need a darkroom to develop film - I've been using a changing bag to load reels for over 10 years now and it's still serving me well (even though I now have a darkroom in my apartment - I like the bag better than standing in the dark for some reason). Once you get a tank, a couple of reels, and some containers to hold the developer, stop, and fix, you'll be ready to go. (Yodobashi has everything). I stuck a laundry pole up in the bathroom and hang my film to dry there. That being said - getting film developed here is fairly cheap and easy, but if you are planning on making a darkroom in Taiwan (whenever that is) it may be worthwhile to start building up the collection of things you need while you are in a film-friendly country.

Trail Images · Jul 14, 2015

Welcome to APUG, Nathan......

Richard S. (rich815) · Jul 14, 2015

Welcome!

fotch · Jul 14, 2015

Hello Nathan and welcome to APUG.

frank · Jul 14, 2015

Hello Nathan. Many years ago, I lived and worked in Japan as an English teacher, and completely loved the experience. The village I lived in was called Yamamoto, and it's south of Ikeda where the school was located, which is south of Nishinomita, which is south of Osaka . (I hope my memory serves.)

darkosaric · Jul 14, 2015

Welcome to APUG !

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2015

Welcome to APUG

Nazzy11 · Jul 15, 2015

Thanks for the welcome everyone

As for getting stuff for a darkroom, I'm going to wait until Ig et to Taiwan to do that. I leave Japan in September, and I don't want to have to pack too much stuff. The film camera community over there in Taiwan seems to be thriving well enough, so I'm sure I can get my hands on equipment.

David Metis · Jul 18, 2015

I envy the film-shooters in Japan and Asia. They seem to have access to the cameras and etc that those of us stuck in the West seem to covet so.

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

Brian L · Aug 11, 2015

David Metis said:
I envy the film-shooters in Japan and Asia. They seem to have access to the cameras and etc that those of us stuck in the West seem to covet so.

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

This actually touches something I keep asking myself - a bit of a historical/sociological question: If there's a broader base of people still using film in Japan, why is that?
And how come that there's such a huge number of companies that produced (and still produces of course) cameras etc. ?
Maybe I'm just stepping into the 'the grass is always greener on the other side' - trap...

Cheers,
Brian

papagene · Aug 11, 2015

Nathan... hello and welcome to APUG!

Hello from Japan

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency