I am a digital native. Someone who has spent most of their lives around computers and the internet. When I was born, they had dial-up. Eighteen years later, we now fiber optics, satellite, and cable connections. Few have dial-up. When I was born, everyone used film cameras. Now, a majority use digital, few consumers use film. In 1994, VCRs dominated; in 2012, it's digital files and Blu-Ray discs. It's weird to chart the course of technological advancement.
But this post is about an old-school product, using a camera that's as old or older than I am. About three weeks ago, while searching out for garage sales, I bought three cameras. Two were film, the other a small digital pen camera. Of the two, one was a cheap no-brand with PANORAMA written on the front. The other, ladies and gentleman, was a Canon. The camera contrasted with the others that it had a brand name on it, and it was a clean. The Canon logo shone brightly on that cloudy day.
I took it home and was so happy to have a 35mm camera. For the week previous, I was reading on how to develop B&W film at home. It's easy to do and after supplies, costs about $90 (according to Shawn). I was even more ready after reading that most commercial labs (like those at Walgreens) don't process B&W film. I was saddened because if I wanted to shoot in B&W, I couldn't, although there are B&W films that use the C-41 process. Yes. Here we go.
I'm glad to just own a Canon, even if it's not an SLR (a digital SLR is way out of my reach, although film SLRs are cheaper than the average digital camera). So I'm hoping to buy some film in the upcoming days and then have the filmed process so I can put them here. For you guys.
What really attracts me to film is that it's more thoughtful than digital. With digital, there's instant gratification, you can see the results, so it's good if you're photographing something important or on the run. With film, it's much more thought put into the photo... because you're paying for that processing... and the film. But think about it: if a four-pack of Fujifilm costs $8, and the processing without prints $5.50, and then the cost of the Canon (about .33¢ because I bought them 3/$1), I'm spending $13.80... overall. Not too bad... nice camera for less than a week's worth of Starbucks.
When I buy film and take nice photos... I'll put 'em up here.
We'll see how that goes. :)
[November 4th update]
P.S. If you're wondering about the title, let's just say I saw a Twitter profile picture with a man standing on a California beach wearing a green speedo. The title stands for Man In The Red Speedo. Don't know how I got the colour wrong.
Coming soon... intro:
Some obscure thing that results from
Facebook picture tagging and vomiting in your
mouth all while buying B&W film.
Coming soon to the ESF... in colour!
This post is brought to you in part
by Ilford.
Just kidding. They don't even know
who I am!
