Spreading the flame

[Alan Johnson]

If you search Flickr groups for "film" there are quite a few.
You can get an old plastic SLR for the equivalent price of a Box Brownie.
Here are some old magazines to read, they only go back as far as 1981 but a guy on photo,net is digitizing some earlier "Modern Photography":
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Popular_Photography.html?id=rzH31j84pn8C&redir_esc=y

 

[Soeren]

they already make cheap plastic cameras that do a great job of introducing folks to photography -- problem is, they're sold by the lomo folks who seem to think a cheap plastic camera should cost $50 or even $100, which is just silly. Sadly, the Holga folk gave up the ghost a while ago.

I wish folks would quit moaning that film is expensive -- 35mm film in 100 foot rolls costs about 10 cents a shot, which when you factor for inflation is less than it cost me in college in 1970. Same thing for 120 film -- a buck a roll was cheap back them, the same "cheap" film would cost $5 or more a roll now factored for inflation, and you can get very nice ilford for less than that -- $4 at Adorama.

At around 5 € the Ilford films may be slightly more expensive in the EU than in US but we have B&W films priced under 4 € and Kodacolor under 3 € so while it is a cost I wont call it excesive compared to the US prices quoted. All in all I think we have compareable products at compareable prices

I didn't say that film could not be bought relatively inexpensively in Europe.

As for "taking a remark out of context", you bizarrely relate that context to digital technology, which does not form any part of what summicron1 was saying.

Im sorry, English is not my first language so I may well have misread the post by summicron1

And when you factor in the full cost of the newer methods -- cameras that go obsolete in 3 years, computers and programs and digital printers -- well, there you are.

This kid has the right idea. I give cameras to the local university to help folks just like him, and so should you.

maybe you can help me out

And I can't begin to tell you how wrong-headed this whole "film slows you down and is therefore better" line is ... if someone has a problem with taking too many pictures (and how many is too many by the way?), then the problem is in the individual and not the medium. Let's not forget motor drives and 250-frame backs, eh?

I dont think I claimed it to be better. To me though there is a difference between being forced to slow down and be thorough, work my way through exposure and composition as opposed to shooting away for free. You can offcource choose the same approach with either system but to me the trial and error method seem to thrive these days
Re motordrives and 250-frame backs. I wouldn't know as I havn't got such for either of my Mamiyas

really, I don't mind people disagreeing with me, but if you're going to do so, at least make an attempt at addressing what I actually said rather than making wildly off target interpretations.

As for the OP, it occurred to me that when people call for a "new box brownie" they seem to forget that Ilford have a range of disposable cameras as I think Fuji may still do.

Ok Il repeat myself then
At around 5 € the Ilford films may be slightly more expensive in the EU than in US but we have B&W films priced under 4 € and Kodacolor under 3 € so while it is a cost I wont call it excesive compared to the US prices quoted. All in all I think we have compareable products at compareable prices

 

[LAG]

... if someone has a problem with taking too many pictures ... then the problem is in the individual and not the medium.

Nicely stated!

... (and how many is too many by the way?)...

Just in case it is not a rhetorical question, and before posting a poll with this, I bet on "a lot" as an answer

Best

 

[benjiboy]

Suffice it to say that if you are 18 my two sons are both old enough to be your father.

 

[jvo]

welcome to apug!

i like your thinking... you might want to contact michael raso of the film photography project... similar goals and big thinkers

jvo

 

[mooseontheloose]

Really nice write-up keenmaster486!

Another Gen-Xer here - old enough to be your mother (!) - although that's true of all my students, who were born in 1998, the year I got my masters degree (although I had finished in '97). Nothing like young'uns to make you feel old. Happy birthday BTW!

Like you, I was very interested in old film cameras when I was young (not surprisingly during the 1980s), but unlike you I did not have parents who supported my interest in photography, and living in a tiny town (pop. 512) in Canada meant I had no opportunities to find anything to feed my interest. Even as a uni student I was overwhelmed by SLRs and was reluctant to buy one because they seemed so intimidating. Of course, they're not, as I found out by learning on my own with books (and a little internet) after I first moved to Japan in 1999 and got my first "proper" camera in 2001.

I wonder, in addition to your 3 ideas mentioned, if you've thought about having free photography workshops (once a week? once a month?) to show people the basics. If you had, say 5 or 6 cameras that people could borrow, then you could do a few hours explaining the basics, going out for a shoot, and, if time, load and develop film. For some people, perhaps being able to handle the cameras and have someone there to explain things would make the step from curiosity to using that much easier. I know if something like that had been around when I was younger I probably would've gotten into photography much more seriously at a much younger age. Just a thought.

 

[4season]

Great post!

In my experience, film was never that cheap, but you could save money by buying in bulk, doing your own processing and printing, using prepaid processing mailers and being selective about what you actually printed.

And speaking of being selective, it helps to be a little bit choosy about what you actually photograph, especially when shooting larger formats like 6x9 or 4x5! Those are inherently expensive: Most people did not expect to come back from a 3-week trip with 3500 images. You did not, for instance, see a lot of photos of people's meals or their feet.

For what it's worth, Lomography sells new, old-stock Zenit 35mm SLRs and back issues of the now-defunct Light Leaks magazine. Prices are bargains by Lomography standards.

 

[faberryman]

Of course I wouldn't have been so trigger happy with a film camera.

No need to be trigger happy with digital either. Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done.

 

[Brian Schmidt]

Hello.

As a college student myself it seems that people are amused by film but not really apt to try it out. Many don't have any prints of any kind and only view images on their phones. On the other hand I took pictures of people I vaguely knew (who were more than happy to pose, of course) and they loved the novelty of the old-timey photos they received. It seems that young people will greatly treasure an image they are given but don't seem to make them themselves. The best method of introduction my be to simply give them their picture, free of charge.

At one point I printed a couple 3-1/2 X 5 images of places at the college and sat them up at the art dept. on the lounge tables with a basic description of the camera and my school email. I hoped somebody with similar interests would contact me as I knew I would contact somebody who would leave something like that. They migrated around the room for a bit until they vanished. I would like to think somebody took them but they probably were filed in the circular file cabinet.

One one of the first days I was there, another kid had a nice leather box with him. I asked if there was a camera in there. He said he had just found it by the dumpster as people moved out of the apartments. I found it to be a very well kept up SLR in completely usable condition. I'm glad he found it. He has intentions to try it out as he is a graphic design major.

On the idea of the business I honestly think that it might be a better idea to collect cameras and resell them. No making is required. Film is really very cheap. A roll of Arista costs less than a mediocre hamburger, or if you want to try X-ray, cheaper than a piece of fruit. I bought a Minolta X-370 at a garage sale for $5.00 last summer. We are in a golden time of sorts where basic (but still very good) analog equipment is widely available and very inexpensive. Cameras that would cost the average man a month's wages now can be had for a day's worth. Nicer folding cameras can be had in the $30-$40 range. Plate cameras are sometimes $30 shipped, including plate holders.

Finally I must say young people don't like to wait. They are used to instant and that is what they will typically want. It isn't a "time" or "era" sort of thing but just human nature. If your great grandpa could have images instantly he certainly would have. We are just too used to it. It takes a certain person to appreciate film.

Whatever you do don't try to force it on anybody.

Have a good one,

Brian

 

[TheRook]

Film can be quite cheap if you know where to look. For example, approach a going-out-of-business camera shop and negotiate with the owner to buy up most of their remaining film supply. With the right approach, you should be able to make a very good deal. Then freeze the film for future use.