Calling all analog photographers and cinematographers of Tildes
As a hobbyist, I do digital and film photography, but I tend towards film unless the situation calls for it (like doing motorsports photography, for example).
I'm curious how many of this smaller community shoot film, and what everyone's relationship with film is. Do you shoot casually? Professionally? Part of this post is trying to gauge how much interest there could be in the occasional discussion of analog photography subjects. Would love to hear anything you have to say on the subject, be it film itself, gear (liking or collecting gear is not a bad thing!), or the process of shooting on analog formats.
If anyone is in the CA Bay Area there is a film group (organized through the Meetup app) that does semi-regular meets that we'd love to have more participants in.
Feel free to drop a link to wherever you post your work, if you do. I've really been enjoying posting on Glass for the last 6 months. It's paid but sure as hell beats Instagram, in my opinion.
I love analogue! I just like to shoot with a crappy camera and whatever film is cheapest, but it's really about the memories :)
I've been doing 35mm for 2-3 years or so now, after I picked it up during the pandemic. Got really into shooting with Nikon gear, ended up with an F100 and an F2. Wanted to try a rangefinder so I did the highly illogical thing and bought a Leica M6 which I have been shooting quite a lot.
I picked up a Fuji GW690iii because I wanted to give medium format a try, it was reasonably affordable, and I like the 3:2 aspect ratio (at least I think I do). Been really enjoying taking that out too, and learning even more self-discipline with 8 shots per roll.
Got some meetups to go to this weekend - heading to Sonoma on Saturday, and the pride festival on Sunday.
What meter have you been using for the GW? I recently picked up a GSW and run a couple rolls through phone meter but haven’t found that process the best as of yet.
Also looking for a better bag situation - travelling and having a bag to put the camera in my backpack would be really nice.
I have a Keks EM-01 I think? It’s a little overpriced for what it is. But it’s never let me down, so far I have had no issues metering. I’ve been eyeing better Sekonic meters but can’t justify how expensive they are.
As far as the bag, are you saying you’re looking for a backpack in general? Or a mini bag for the GW that fits in your backpack?
Re: bag - A bit of both I guess. I have a Domke I’ve had for decades but I think I might have to toss it after some mould got a hold of it this year. So now I’m back to zero bagwise.
Glad to hear the keks has been good. Have been seeing those ads on websites for so long and was always a bit skeptical on the promises
Can’t say I have much to compare the KEKS meter to. It definitely works for me though.
My GW came with a cloth bag that is branded so I assume it’s an accessory that came with it. It’s really floppy and doesn’t really do much, but it would prevent scratches and such. Backpack wise, I use a Peak Design everyday backpack which is fine, size wise, assuming I don’t have a *bunch * of other stuff I’m trying to pack in.
Sadly I think the floppy accessory I got was the source of the mould.
Will check out some peak bags in store! I just got one of their straps and it feels nice.
I mostly shoot film these days. My job and my hobbies are all technical and computer based, so the constant editing of fairly bland DSLR shots was too much & I started shooting analogue with my grandparents' old cameras. Eventually got into medium format with a cheap Yashicamat TLR that I found for cheap in a camera store (the square format is weird, but it works well for Instagram). I recently picked up my holy grail camera, a Leica M6, that I'm in love with at the moment; the simplicity of it being just mechanics and light is wonderful when everything else in my life is so tech heavy.
So far I've just had my film processed at the lab but there's a photography centre in my city that has open bookable darkrooms and I'm about to take a colour darkroom course there.
I've got some of my stuff up on my Instagram if anyone's interested.
I’m a cinematographer working with digital cinema cameras (I own a Kinefinity Terra 4K) but I do 35mm photography casually. I shoot on a Pentax SF10 because I got it for free from a neighbor many years ago and it works well enough for me to not spend money on something else.
I stopped during the pandemic (cause I wasn’t traveling and spending time with friends, which are my main inspirations for photography) and haven’t gotten back into it. But your post reminded me I should!
Yep you absolutely should. I do find that I am most eager to get out and shoot when it can be a social thing too. That said, feeling inspired or motivated enough to go out and enjoy taking photos with minimal planning is when I feel most connected to the process. I'm not sure that the connectedness actually translates to "higher quality" output, though, haha.
I get what you mean, there's something to be said about just going out and shooting spontaneously that can be fun. For me it's like what @oxyacetalyne said, my favorite part of shooting film is the memories that it creates! I've got some memories on my Instagram if anyone's curious. My most recent 3 posts are video projects but the rest is my film photography.
Those portraits of your dad (?) are really great, the compositions and natural poses, especially (and by that I just mean your eye for the shot and the timing required).
Thanks! Yes, that is my dad. He's quite photogenic :)
i recently got a ektar h35 (half frame camera). on that subject, anyone know where i can get half frame film developed in the netherlands? where i've asked it's so automated they can only print as a full 35mm, so two shots per print.
i've only just filled up my first roll of film (72 shots is quite a bit!) and i've loved taking pictures without knowing how they'll turn out. looking forward to seeing that though!
i went into it because i wanted to try analogue shooting, and half frame is theoretically cheaper. and i know myself, it's easy to fall into the trap of just buying more expensive things without really committing to a new(ish) hobby, so i figured i'd go down this route. i will try to post some pictures if i get them printed, and remember to lol
Solid choice! The developing is the same process but the trick with half frame is the automated scanning process. The scanners are designed to scan full width frames and they don’t typically work with half frame rolls. I would check out the closest mail-in lab you can find. The bigger the lab the more likely they have equipment that can scan it.
thanks! i guess i'll have to check if there's anything in other cities, or even belgium or something. i'm excited to see how it'll all turn out though! just that makes me appreciate why people are drawn to analogue. it's like slow coffee, but then for pictures, i guess?
Nice idea. I know that one option if you have a newer phone with a decent camera, there are some apps that will do a camera scan and a negative inversion for you. You’ll need a strong light source to put behind the negative, and it will
probablylook pretty crappy compared to what you could be getting from a real scan by a lab or from an actual camera scanning setup, but it might work for you depending on how much you care. I’m sure there are guides around.I've always been disappointed, so far, with phone-based scans of 35mm (6x6 is different), to the point of them being unusable, and I expect half-frame 35mm would be even worse in this regard, as it would rely even more on pulling as much out of the film as possible. At minimum, the phone would need to have a very good macro lens.
With that said, it isn't that hard to build a scanning setup with a digital camera, a suitable lens, and a light source.
Good to know, I haven’t done it myself.
Haven't got into it as an adult, although I had fond childhood memories of darkrooms. The darkness combined with that chemical smell and seeing the image slowly emerging was just wonderous.
I do mostly digital with nugget cameras, but I am drawn to analog. I am always in the process of looking for new cameras, trash film, and general darkroomery stuff.
I have been shooting film for a little bit at this point, almost a year now. I got deep into the Minolta gang, and absolutely love the cameras. I have an X-700, Maxxum 650si, SRT-101 (that i have not used yet due to needing service), and I ordered an XE-7 a few days ago waiting for it to show up!
I only shoot casually, mostly just with a few buddies when we go for a walk or with family. I will also have to check our Glass, since I really dont want to make an instagram.
So I don't shoot film, but I do love bringing my Sony Mavica with me when I travel and shooting to floppy disk. I like the occasion of it. You get 20 shots at 640x480 and they're all going to suck, but for some reason they feel like more valuable memories to me. It's hard to rationally explain why. Maybe it's just because my phone photo collection grows every day with random moments I struggle to even place into context a year later--something I saw at the store, a photo of some manual page, serial numbers I couldn't read without pulling stuff out, etc. Everything in the Mavica's collection is very limited and special in comparison, I guess. The lack of quality just adds more charm for me.
Ah man that’s awesome, the floppy disk idea really speaks to me. I love film itself but the real draw is definitely the forced workflow change. I would probably shoot digital casually if I had a way to truly hamstring myself into a certain number of exposures.
I shoot film purely for myself/as a hobby! It’s really a great art form that I can’t believe I didn’t get into until it be made so expensive :/
I feel there’s something unique about film photography in how much intentionality you have to give for each shot (as opposed to digital where I could snap 50 photos of one item of interest). It makes me think about composition and lighting and framing much more, and I’m always really excited to see my developed photos.
I use a Ricoh KR-10S and it’s perfect for everything I need (I love being able to control all three exposure settings, plus having AE lock and an exposure adjustment). What’s your setup like? Please do keep posting analog photography content here if it comes up, getting withdrawals from /r/analog being down lol
I've been shooting 35mm and 120mm film on and off for ages, and have shot almost exclusively film for the last 5 years or so. I find it much more rewarding than digital. It's kinda silly because I know the image is still interpreted through multiple analog and digital processes between being captured and getting the prints/scans, but the results feel like they capture the mood and feeling of when the photo was taken much more closely than digital (could just be that I'm bad at editing).
I've got some of my favourite recent shots in an album here
Also love shooting film! I work with video, so it’s a really nice way to keep the balance of doing things I enjoy vs things I get paid for.
I find film really becomes interesting as soon as you go to MF or LF. I feel like 35mm has been pretty much covered by digital, but I don’t think there’s any digital camera that can do the same things as my 4x5.
Haha. Yeah good luck with the K14. Don’t die. Super 8 is awesome, can’t say I’ve ever shot any myself though. Seems expensive.
Also and I mean this in the nicest way possible - it’s 120, not 120mm 😉