Can you buy film anymore?

Forgive the leading question but it occurred to me yesterday that almost everyone that approaches me out and about about my camera will ask me that same question each time.

The example is yesterday I was at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with my family and I was trying to get some shots of my Grand Kids on the rides with my Mamiya 645e. Basically to my knowledge people did not really notice my camera at all. It's pretty loud and it did not turn any heads when I snapped it off. However as I was loading up a roll of film an older guy came up to me and asked me "Can you buy film anymore?".

Anyway after chatting with the guy about film and camera's for a bit it came to me that the guy had no clue about 120 film at all. It was like he had never even heard of it. He liked my camera and told me he likes to take hundreds of photos with his cell and then delete most of them later. I said I thought that most people here would be doing the same.

Further observations about the day are that the boardwalk was very crowded with all sorts of people. However out of the thousands of people walking around there were hundreds and hundreds of people taking photos of their groups with cell phone camera's. I saw 3 consumer grade DSLR camera's and there was my Mamiya 645e that I was using. Anyway not to many folks out there spending money on camera's of any kind it seems.

The bottom line is I explained to the gentlemen that you could buy film and I preferred to support jobs in Calif and purchased my film at Freestyle Photo in the LA area.

Since I am rambling on the Boardwalk has a roller coaster called the Big Dipper. It's been there for years. After you ride on it you can then look up on the wall and see a photo of yourself and friends on a scary downhill portion of the ride. While I was waiting for my son and his girlfriend to get off I noticed that almost every person that got off the ride looked up at their picture. Took out their cell phone and took a photo of their picture. The guy that was there to sell the photos did not say anything and he also did not sell a single photo for $10.00 while I was there which was about 30 minutes.

Wow. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, bordering on naïve, but it never even occurred to me to steal the work of a tourism photographer by snapping a mobile phone picture of his picture that's for sale for $10, instead of buying it. I don't know whether the tourist is within his rights under copyright law to snap a photo of that photo (since it's his own likeness), but in a way I don't really care; even if it's technically legal, it's extremely poor form.

As an aside: I've never bought such a photo either, because they're usually very cheesy, but that's a different issue and no justification for stealing the work! The most recent one I declined to buy was at the battleship Missouri in Pearl Harbor. There they photograph tourists in front of a green screen and then superimpose the boat behind them in post. I thought that was quite silly (beneath the dignity of the historic setting), plus I looked like Hell in my picture, since it was a warm, humid day and I had already been lugging around medium-format kit for hours.

--Dave

Wow. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, bordering on naïve, but it never even occurred to me to steal the work of a tourism photographer by snapping a mobile phone picture of his picture that's for sale for $10, instead of buying it. I don't know whether the tourist is within his rights under copyright law to snap a photo of that photo (since it's his own likeness), but in a way I don't really care; even if it's technically legal, it's extremely poor form.

--Dave

Oh, I was on that side of the fence until last year...

Ever bought one? :) I did, at a ride up in Michigan last year. I thought the low-resolution crappy image I saw on the computer monitor was deliberately that poor to keep folks from doing just that. Then I got the print. OMG. This thing was like worse than even VGA resolution. For ten bucks.

Call me a thief from now on.

Here in Germany it seems to be considered bad manners to talk to strangers. Sort of a victorian code. It isn't unfriendliness, it's like; until we are introduced. we don't know each other. Occasionally though the question comes, and inevitably ... "on the the Internet" is of course the reply that immediately shuts them up ..as of course ...everything /&anything is possible with the internet.

Colleagues or others I do know will ask and I inform them that it is still possible to buy this at your local drug store and name the two most popular chain stores. But the selection is extremely limited etc. and of course the internet.

Call me naive, but I never thought to snap my picture of a picture at an ride, event etc. I too, would consider it "sniping" to undercut their exclusive trade. I rarely get out anyway so I am seldom confronted by this dilemma.

It's always fun to show an interested individual how film is loaded (if they ask)

Oh, I was on that side of the fence until last year...

 

Ever bought one? :) I did, at a ride up in Michigan last year. I thought the low-resolution crappy image I saw on the computer monitor was deliberately that poor to keep folks from doing just that. Then I got the print. OMG. This thing was like worse than even VGA resolution. For ten bucks.

 

Call me a thief from now on.

I don't understand. Why would you steal something you so clearly don't feel is worth owning?

I guess what surprised me about the picture stealing thing is the folks getting off the ride just took a picture of the photo automatically.. It was not that they saw someone else do it first but they had their phones out and ready. Maybe they ride the Coaster all the time and picked that up on the way. . They could just do a selfie on the ride themselves with one of those sticks.

On the European thing and talking with strangers I actually meet folks from Europe every week at Pinnacles National Park. I am a Volunteer on the Search and Rescue team and spend some time sitting on a bench in the High Peaks. Many visitors from Europe come to the National Parks and they are always friendly and they always speak English very well. However I am dressed like a Park Ranger and they probably feel that it's ok to talk to a Ranger being associated with the Park and all. However my job is not that of a Ranger but a Search and Rescue team member. I am working tomorrow. I usually hike about 6 miles with a heavy pack and climb about 2000 feet. Pinnacles is a very steep terrain.

I don't understand. Why would you steal something you so clearly don't feel is worth owning?

Joking. I wouldn't buy it. I couldn't believe how poor the quality was.

It's always fun to show an interested individual how film is loaded (if they ask)

[ATTACH=full]1188589[/ATTACH]

I also like to discuss why I still prefer film.

People want to see the picture I just took with my Stereo Realist. I try to explain, but their eyes soon glaze over......

Once in a while someone will ask me if I ever use digital and I reply: Digital gives me a quick way to post an image of my film gear. But if not in a rush I use film for that as well.

A film camera (Konica T3) photographed with film

Wow, Mike, where'd you get Panatomic X? Is there any left wherever you got it from?

I had a brick of Plus-X Pan that expired in 1983 that I'd owned for many years, and kept frozen for all of them. I finally shot the last roll in that brick last year. Despite its age, the film delivered some great pics for me. I've got one roll of Panatomic-X in my freezer that came along with that batch of Plus-X. I'm saving it for a special occasion, I guess. But I'd like to find more. eBay prices for that stuff, that's expired within the last couple of decades, are nuts. And most of it is "for display only." Sheesh.

Panatomic-X prices are pretty steep except for the occasional roll from the late 70's that was stored under unknown conditions. I've actually had a few like that look quite good. About a year ago I did get a 50 foot roll that expired about 1982. It's also good, but wasn't cheap. The roll of 1964 dated Panatomic-X was good as well.

Here's a shot from the 1964 roll. I processed it in Kodak HC110 dilution B.

shot with Konica Auto S

Its a valid question these days. Who shoots film cameras anymore? Well, of course some of us still do, but even I have become a fan of quick, in the moment cell phone shots. Everything has its place, and there are all sorts of ways to take a photo. I support all of them. For quality, especially in B&W, film is obviously the only way to go. But for a lot of other purposes there are now a lot of other ways to take a shot and that's great.

I have looked at many, many film photos that probably should have been deleted, including my own :] Like those hundreds of shots of the cat :[

Ross B. I took this shot before sunset from the Inspiration Point parking lot with Velvia 50 in medium format. Where do you buy Velvia 50 that it costs $30. Is that America dollars?

Yosemite Half Dome by Alan Klein, on Flickr

Alan the $30.00 number represented film cost,plus shipping charges, packaging to ship to Dwaynes and processing costs. Roughly $30.00. I bought the film at BHPhoto and paid the usual cost they charge.. Yosemite is a grand place for photos for sure. I am going there on Thursday but was not planning on Inspiration point.. Nice picture by the way. Here is a shot I took the other day at Pinecrest Lake while out hiking. It's on the back side of the lake and it's a 5 mile hike round trip to this spot. Arista 400, orange filter using my Mamiya 645e. A roll of Arista and chemicals to develop it cost me about $5.00 a roll.

Disposable cameras with film are still pretty easy to find. Kodacolor and Tri-X also not so hard to find in some drug stores.

Other films you need a real traditional camera store, which still exist, though not so easy to find as they once were.