Shooting Film: Roll One

I bought an old Minolta Film SLR a little while ago out of curiosity. There has always been a lot of buzz around shooting film and for $16, why not get it, right? By the way, the batteries the camera also cost $16, go figure!

I used Fuji Reala 100 film and came away amazed that photography has come so far! Everytime I took a shot, my reflexes would take over and I'd go to look at the non-existent LCD. There's no way to really know you didn't mess it up! What if you blew the highlights? What if it didn't focus? What if you were accidentally in 'panoramic mode' and didn't know it?

I suppose some of these questions might have been answered if I was using a professional grade film SLR, but still the uncertainty of the exposure really makes you appreciate the base technical skills of a film-photographer.

The experience also made me appreciate how seemingly minor or useless features on digital cameras are actually remarkable feats of photographic engineering. Take, for example, the 9-point focus indicators available on canon point-n-shoot cameras; it's a miracle! It builds confidence in the camera and gives instant feedback. My film camera as a single autofocus point and after 36 exposures, I'm not entirely convinced it works.

Will I continue? Most likely. I still need to shoot with the vaunted Velvia line of slide film. I was disappointed with the relatively unsaturated colors. I was under the mistaken impression that film automatically made your colors pop. I still think different film will help with that. I also enjoyed my lenses having a wider angle. I plan on experimenting with that aspect as well. In short, lookout for a follow-up post.

Finally, here are the photos from the first roll!