Film revival?

May be of interest to some:

Back to the darkroom: young fans reject digital to revive classic film camera

 

There has been some previous discussian here.

Love it.

Thanks.

Enjoyed this young lady's fascination with film.

Just realized once again, when watching the video linked below, how much things have changed.

"This is so fun "

Nostalgia washed over me....

When I saw your thread title, I smiled because I just came from seeing This Gun For Hire, a 40s film noir with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, at the Castro Theater, which started its annual noir festival today. That's my kind of film revival! :)

Watching her open the prints at around 11:30 was amusing in the context of the premise of it having been her first roll of film.

If as the article in the OP suggests, the Kodachrome comes back, I'll do a little jig....And I can't dance....

An interesting project, but I wonder how functional and reliable it can be with interchangeable lens mounts and film backs. Will automatic diaphragms work, and will full aperture metering work for the bayonet mounts mentioned? Of the hundreds of beginning photo students that I have taught (with most of them using Pentax K 1000s or similar cameras) I don't think many of them would pay this price for a camera without those modern conveniences. Interchangeable film backs don't have a great reputation in 35 mm either, although I realize that they are common in medium format and work well.

"An interesting project, but I wonder how functional and reliable it can be with interchangeable lens mounts and film backs."

 

Why wouldn't it be functional and reliable? It seems that's the heart of their concept. It would be quite useful to be able to carry preloaded cartridges in different film types. Sounds like a great idea if you want to go back and shoot film. I may have to dust off my old cameras especially if Kodachrome is re-introduced. I used it once but would really love to use it more.

More details here > Reflex: Bringing back the analogue SLR camera

 

The lens mount is just the basic mount, no auto aperture or aperture coupling :-(

As AJG said, proper coupling with the lens is important. There is NO aperture coupling and the lens is in stop down mode by default. So you have work a "reverse DoF" lever to be able to focus wide open. IMHO, this would be a real PiA to use. This is like going back to the pre-set lenses of the 1950/60s. Cuz in the late 60s auto aperture lenses where you focus wide open were common. This is the problem of making the camera with multiple mounts that use different methods of coupling the aperture. The lowest common denominator is NO aperture control/coupling. IMHO, this is or almost is a fatal issue.

 

Interchangeable backs is a neat idea, but how practical is it for a 35mm camera? I have enough trouble figuring out where to put the dark slide for my Hasselblad. Or will the back have some built in dark slide? I wish they spent the time and effort instead, on how to make the aperture an auto aperture (AA), like we had in the late 1960s. And better yet AA with coupling to the meter.

 

From the illustration, it looks like you have to remove the back to rewind the film. Note the rewind knob on top of the back. That could be a pain, cuz you NEED to use the dark slide to remove the back. And you would need an interlock to prevent someone from removing an exposed back without the dark slide, or the light will expose the last couple of frames, if not more.

The concept camera as outlined in this project, seems overly complicated; I don't quite understand why the back needs to be removable, as when bulk film backs were available, very few were actually sold, probably due to people seeing the cost of buying and paying for the processing of up to 250 images! Over the past decade there have been many attempts at getting the funding to produce a digital back with a FF sensor to cover the 35mm film format, so I suspect this will fail in a similar manner.

Modular camera, film or digital? That wheel has already been invented - Hasselblad. It was my go-to camera for nearly 10 years, for jobs in which a camera nearly 5" long, from to back, excluding the lens, didn't matter.

I gave this camera a pretty hard time when it was first introduced, and my opinion hasn't changed.

 

To the point on dark slides-as I understand it the dark slide is an integral shutter-type mechanism.

 

Still, it strikes me as an overly complicated solution to a problem no one was having. I'd rather have a couple of Nikon FM2s if I need to change film mid-roll than swap a back-the interchangeable backs don't look to have a big size or weight savings over a complete camera.

Ed's point about size is a good one--a Hasselblad or Mamiya 6x7 film back is small relative to the entire camera body and each roll of film doesn't contain that many exposures, while a 35 mm back will be nearly the size of a camera body. When I shot 35 mm film professionally I always had multiple bodies for several reasons: simple reliability so that if one broke I had another body to finish the job, as well as the ability to change lenses by switching bodies or switch film types (e.g. fromB&W to color, etc.). My guess is that since the film advance mechanism is built into the back it will have to cost nearly half the cost of a new camera body and there will need to be a mechanical linkage between the magazine and the body to cock the shutter, which will be a potential source of mechanical problems and light leaks. I wish them well, but I don't think that they have thought out some of the practical issues that are likely to arise in regular use.

The film was the exciting part of the link for me.

At least half, probably more, of the appeal to the young folks of film photography, is the form and function of the camera.

Methinks the youngsters love those old cameras just the way they are.

I keep watching for the Ektachrome. At the end, it was way improved (IMHO) over its earlier incarnations. Kodachrome is to be eagerly anticipated, but I fear will never actually materialize.

 

I do wonder why people would buy a "new" 35mm SLR when so many fantastic ones are available for pizza-level amounts?

 

I confess I was never so much a film enthusiast as I was a fan of intricate and well-made machines. I would have loved the April Fool's joke of a digital insert for film cameras (35mm Cartridge that Transforms Film Cameras into Digital) had it been for real.

There is magic in the mechanical music and feel of the older 35 mm cameras of glass and metal. Learning what you could do to manipulate them into producing great images was, and remains a special source of enjoyment for me.

It's great to see a new generation of curious photography fans discover the magic I grew up with.

The sound of the shutter being cocked on a Mamiya rb67 is mechanical music as Mark mentions. The sound of medium format film being advanced, wonderful. The quality of the resulting images, magical. The connection with the photographers and technology that came before digital, priceless. And the cost of 3 or 4 lenses, a couple of backs and an excellent body, less than the cost of a good digital lens.

I love that sort of snap/whoosh sound my iPhone makes when I tap the shutter button on the screen. And, when I'm taking pics with my dslr, whose sound I don't care for all that much, I like when sounds of laughter or joy help influence a picture.

 

Love it.

Thanks.

Enjoyed this young lady's fascination with film.

Just realized once again, when watching the video linked below, how much things have changed.

"This is so fun "

Nostalgia washed over me....

 

I think the guy was wrong to say that with the A1 to shoot in Av mode you set the aperture on the lens. In fact you leave the lens in A and set the aperture with the dial (wheel).

I am happy that people use film for whatever reasons, however I rarely agree with their reasons.

When she opened the envelope to see the first film photos she ever shot, her anticipation similarly still happens with me after all these years. When the film arrives from the processor, I still get a rush of excitement. But then again at my age, there aren't too many other things that do that. :)

Interesting story and video. I'm one who is going back to film for a lot of things and am glad to see the resurgence in film use. I think younger photographers now would learn a lot about many things if they took the time to shoot some film and maybe even do some darkroom work. This past year I've bought two full frame digitals and probably half a dozen film Nikon bodies and a D300s from members here. The film bodies are the ones I grab on the way out the door most often although the D300 spends a lot of time in the car too. It was fun to watch the young lady get into the process, compose images and manually focus a camera. What I enjoyed most about the video though was her reaction to the pack of photos she had shot. Digital generally doesn't seem to be as much fun for most people. As for the comment on phones used as cameras I've felt that the phone camera is today's version of the Instamatic. I've got one too but always keep an actual camera at hand. One never knows when a hawk may stop in for a visit or a UFO may come flying by.

 

Rick H.

Another link to the young couple discovering film.

They are in their mid 20's shooting with a camera that is older than each of them and having a great time doing it.

I like his description at the beginning and was amused by her comments and expression at the end (5:51) when she reaches the end of the roll.

 

 

Any new 35mm camera faces tough marketing conditions because there are vast numbers of extremely well made , hardly ever used, 35mm cameras, easily affordable on the used market. Many date from the 1970s and early 80s when a high end camera was a fashion accessory. Today’s profit opportunities are in ever upgrading digital cameras with ever thicker manuals, somewhat like planned obsolescence of auto industry.

Digital generally doesn't seem to be as much fun for most people.

I wonder which people you're talking about. Yesterday was an almost summer-like day here in San Francisco. I went from one of the most scenic parts of the city, Land's End, to one of our most photogenic museums, The Legion of Honor, and then out to the beach. I saw people having lots of fun with all sorts of digital cameras. iPhones (see my next paragraph) may not do a lot of things, but giving people fun through picture-taking is not one it doesn't do.

As for the comment on phones used as cameras

That comment was said with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. PN needs an icon for that. I don't really love the sound my iPhone makes. I don't care about the sound in the least, except for when I'm using it to play music and in those instances the sound is more dependent on my home or car sound system than the phone. And I've taken some great pics with my iPhone. While I've done that, I also recognize the differences between it and my other cameras.

It was fun to watch the young lady get into the process, compose images and manually focus a camera.

Actually, I suspect a lot of people do those very same things with digital cameras, which should take nothing away from what that woman was doing.

What I enjoyed most about the video though was her reaction to the pack of photos she had shot.

Much as that sense of anticipation and gratification at getting back her photos may be grand, some of the young people I know who work with digital simply put that energy and joy toward processing their own photos the way they want them to look. Neither way has to be better or more joyful. They're just different.

One never knows when a hawk may stop in for a visit or a UFO may come flying by.

I'm more of a street shooter than a hawk shooter and the iPhone comes in handy on the street where my camera that would do better shooting hawks would not be as advantageous in some of those street situations. And when that UFO comes by, I actually think it will be more appropriate to photograph it with some weird app on a phone (I don't have any apps, I pretty much shoot straight and process weirdly if I want effects) than anything else. :)

Many comments here have ended up being about the Wild We Roam couple; I watched quite a few of their videos last night and enjoyed them. They reminded me of when I first became enamored with photography and had 1 camera, 2 lenses and a good tripod.

 

Eric Sande

Exactly.