One of the great features of digital photography, aside from the instant gratification of knowing you’ve got the shot, is that the cameras record your settings, the metadata, assisting you in evaluating what worked and what did not. Most film cameras had no way of recording the settings used, requiring that the photographer keep meticulous notes, which could be consulted once the film was returned from the lab. As film photography developed over the years, manufacturers were able to design film cameras which recorded the shooting information. However, extracting the information from the camera required special software and a cable proprietary to the manufacturer. In researching the purchase of my Canon…
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Lately, I’ve been back to shooting film, shooting both digital and film cameras on our recent trips to Anguilla, Antigua, and Barbuda. Along for the journey were several film cameras, including the Canon EOS 1v. The 1v was Canon’s last professional 35mm SLR camera, with a magnesium alloy body and weather sealing throughout. At 10 frames per second, it was a favorite of sports shooters for years. It is a solidly built camera, and fits perfectly in my hand like the later DSLRs that Canon produced. I have the HS version, which includes a detachable power booster, however given the bulk, I leave that behind. The beauty of traveling with…
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Since returning to film photography a few years ago, I make a point of taking at least one film camera on each trip. Part of the reason is that I love the look of film. I also love playing with my old cameras and trying different techniques. Traveling to Nevis, I packed two film cameras, the Canon 1v, which uses all the same lenses as my DSLR, and the Mamiya 645 Pro TL with the 80mm f/1.9 and the 45mm f/2.8 lenses. I decided to try some slide film, so I packed a few rolls of Fuji Velvia 100 RVP, along with my trusted stocks, Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji 400H,…
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Last November, on our first trip with film in eight years (#filmroadtrip: Road Test – Anguilla), we learned a lot of lessons. One of my missions on this trip was to correct at least some of the mistakes I made. So on this #FilmRoadTrip: Road Test – Barbuda & Antigua, I tweaked a few things, shot more film, and was pretty pleased with the results. As always, though, there is still room for improvement. The Film Kit Traveling with a lot of gear is not easy. I wanted to shoot both medium format and 35mm, along with my digital, but I wanted to watch the weight. I knew that on…
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We took the film on the road and the results are back. We took the film cameras to Anguilla, the Canon 1V and the Mamiya Pro TL. We took a variety of film stocks, Fuji 400H, Kodak Portra 400, Porta 160, and Ektar 100. We experimented and burned a lot of film. Many lessons were learned. Here are my impressions of our efforts and the results. 1. Digital has ruined me for film – shooting the same scene again and again. I am so accustomed to shooting RAW and shooting multiple images to try to nail the shot that I wasted a lot of film. For example, I had the…
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The “Colony’s Colony,” Charleston offers a wealth of history, great restaurants, and stunning architecture. For more on the connection between Charleston and the island of Barbados, visit our sister site, My Irie Time for the story of The Colony’s Colony, The Barbados-Charleston Connection.
