The one where Deanna gets a film camera (again)
For a few months now, I've been thinking about ways to breathe new life into my personal photography practice. My professional work is still engaging and creatively satisfying, but my personal shooting has stalled. Finding time outside of work is harder, and I'm not going on photowalks around downtown Cleveland like I used to.
Part of that is logistical: there’s no more free parking downtown. Mayor Bibb, sir, what are we doing? Slashing free parking discourages people from patronizing downtown businesses and people who work downtown have to pay more to park! Do better.
Rant aside, I’m also more settled with my gear, my editing style, and my approach to photography.
I wanted to try something different and fun, so I got a new film camera.
me with the penty. shout out to asia for the pic!
Now I already have two film cameras–the Canon AE-1 Program and the Minolta Hi-Matic–but I’ve never felt inspired to shoot with them. They’re both sitting on the photography shelf in my office. I can’t explain why. So I decided to get something new.
The camera I picked is the Pentax 17. It’s extremely light, portable, has built-in flash, and has a fixed 25mm lens. It’s called the Pentax 17 because it’s a half-frame camera; instead of your standard 36 shots, you get 72. On the one hand, you can take more shots. On the other hand, it takes a while to fill up a roll.
I’ve been using it for about a month now. So far I love it, although the only thing I struggle with is nailing focus when I’m shooting anything up close. The camera uses zone focus, which means you have to estimate distance and pick the closest matching zone. I do wish the lens had a traditional aperture ring.
Additionally, if you want a landscape photo, you have to rotate the camera vertically, and if you want a portrait photo, you have to hold the camera horizontally. You get used to it over time, but that’s something to note.
Also, the half-frame format means scans are lower resolution than my Fuji JPEGs. Nothing terrible, but noticeably softer. The scans I got today are 3 MB. That makes them ideal for sharing on social media, but I wouldn’t print them.
Overall, I’m kinda excited to play around with film! It’s something new, something different. I might also take out the Canon AE-1 Program to see the image quality difference.
Anyway. Here are some of the best photos from the first roll I finished. I think I used Fujifilm 400. I wouldn’t mind trying the Portra 800 next if I can save up for a roll.
