I bought two film cameras almost 6 months ago – the Contax T2 and GR1v.
I’ve somehow lost most of the films i shot (hopefully temporarily) ..
Anyway, found two last night and got them processed at snappy snaps in Soho…. which was pretty exciting as I hadn’t labelled the film so had no idea what i was getting – anyway, here are the results:
Contax T2 – Kodak Porta 400
Taken in Nha Trang Vietnam
Taken in Bophut Beach, Thailand
Taken in London, Blackheath/Greenwich
Ricoh GR1v – Ilford Delta 3200
Analog findings so far
The Good:
– The hit rate of photos i like was considerably higher than i was expecting, and better than with digital. From the first two rolls of 35, there’s two i would consider excellent (both taken on the Contax T2 with Porta 400), and 14 I would rate good. Part of this is probably the nostalgia and excitement of first time film, but also that i used the cameras somewhat more sparingly.
– Fantastic cameras (build quality, lens, etc) available for relatively little money.
– The colours from porta 4oo film are better to my eyes than the digital processing aimed at achieving the same effect (VSCO).
– The excitement of not really know what you’re going to get
The Bad:
– Getting film developed is a bit of a pain: you need to send it off/take to the store, wait, etc. I just haven’t had the time to do this, and therefore left it a long time. The alternative is DIY, which involves even more time, buying the chemicals etc. I may well do this in the future, but for now it’s too much effort.
– Getting film developed is a fricking expensive. I paid £9.99 for colour and £12.99 for black and white, develop and scan, at snappy snaps. If i chose to exclusively shoot film i could see myself spending c. £500 p.a. on development alone.
– The need to get organised (which i clearly haven’t done) – Labelling film, etc. Takes some of the fun away.
Choosing a camera
– A nice view finder is absolutely key. The view finder is what makes me want to pick up the Contax T2 over the GR1v. Here’s a very unscientific example of why this is so:
Contax T2 view finder:
Ricoh GR1v view finder
Choosing film
– I wouldn’t go above ISO 800. Grain is all well and good, and i like a bit, but the grain from the Ilford 3200 took away from the photos.
