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Dear Els, colour is one of my inspirations ... sometimes. I shoot a lot in B&W. But I also use to shoot in colour. In any case, I like the way how you think of your photos, how you conceive them and how you put your ideas into practice. And what's more, I really enjoy that you share those experiences in rather short (but very complete) videos: Less is more 🙂

Lovely photos!

Old film fart here - was deeply involved with film for years (from shooting to laboratory work). Digital was a releif. Now I can practice a lot. Am a post modernist into straight photography. Digital works just as fine as film but also saves my bank account. Real film photography was back then when you had to build your own camera and prepare your own wet plates...

I've started shooting with a Mamiya 645 and spend amounts that are under the radar of the Commissar of Everything. The camera itself I inherited, I bought the matching flash for it for $60, and a huge zoom lens for $110 shipped. I use fresh film, and don't pay too much attention to how much it costs although I was surprised that two rolls cost me $40 yesterday, Portra 800 and Cinestill 800T. I develop my own now but had to buy the equipment and chemicals for a modest sum and also inherited a V600 scanner so I can scan myself too. I'm maybe $400 into this hobby at this point, much less than the cost of the cheapest mirrorless, although I inherited a few of those too. The only other thing I still want to buy is a tripod but it isn't a priority and it would need to be pretty heavy duty to support the camera, zoom lens and flash. The results though have been astounding. The Commissar liked my photos enough to want prints of my latest black and whites to put up in the house. I'll have a lab do those, that's beyond my capabilities.

Even the name of the village is charming...tres charmant Vouvant! And agreed....nice shot at the end!

I wouldn’t have liked to have been a NASA astronaut with one of those things strapped to the front of my suit.

Turns out I needed to watch a relaxing video about shooting analog photos on a vintage SLR in a picturesque French village in winter. And I didn’t even know. Beautiful.

Make a video of the Praktica Super tl1000 and also compare it to the Pentax k1000

I've only shot about 8 rolls 35mm with the Pentax Spotmatic I bought about 8 months ago, including a couple B/W. 3 rolls were Gold 200, which were the cheapest of all the film at $10 a roll. I like it. I see nothing to fault at it's price. Unless you want to exaggerate a certain tone or add "graininess", it's a really nice faithful stock IMHO :)

Deciding to go back to film after 15 years!

What a lovely video! A welcome change from the mostly obnoxious photography channels out there. Your photos are beautiful - like little watercolor paintings. I love the natural decay that a lot of the buildings have in these small French villages - still pretty but showing it's age somewhat. Adds a lot of character to the photos. Subscribed!

In the hustle and bustle in todays world I found this video very relaxing and wishing I lived in the French countryside. Loved the photos and hope to make it their sometime to photograph and explore the City.

I have a Mamiya C3 that came with a 105mm lens and it's also difficult to focus because the depth of field is so thin. This camera with the 65mm lens is completely different, it's still f/3.5 but it's much easier to focus as you don't have to extend the bellows nearly as much. The images it makes are nice too because it's more of a wide-normal and there isn't any noticeable distortion like you'd typically find on a wide angle lens. You're getting some good shots despite the challenges though, keep at it!

Very calm and tranquill video - and what a beautiful location. Lovely photos as well. Atb

I loved how these turned out.

Thanks for sharing. Gorgeous light and nice photos. The first photo of the dog was fantastic and really well represents the element of surprise with film. Something almost impossible to have with digital.

Nothing forbids us to build nice places like this in North American if we want to.

I love old villages and towns; they have such a cozy, comforting vibe and a beautiful closeness to nature. Great photos and thanks for sharing :)

Great video Els. I really love watching your videos, you have such a good eye for photograhy. ❤

Those were some very interesting cameras. The Nikon FA was probably the most advanced camera of its era. Well worth picking up if operating and if a good price.

A wonderful video and sound track but some of the subtitles where not there long enough for me to read them.

What a perfect little village... Would love to see it for myself someday (and taking pictures there... ;-) ). Dank je voor deze video Els.

Wederom heerlijk 😊

Hi Els, lovely photos. Those Praktica cameras are so underrated.

Such a gorgeous village. Thanks for taking us all along. Your photos are lovely.

Thank you for a very nice picturesque trip! Were you intentionally testing or experimenting with DOF?

Happy new year 2025 Elz🍾🎇🎆🧨

Indeed a relaxing video about shooting pictures on film in a beautiful French town unknown to me

A very picturesque village. Everything looks so much better in the sunshine, even if it's cold and midwinter. My new year's resolution is to go out and take some photos on every sunny day in January. (If there are any 😃)

I've shot with a MTL5 for many years, they always work.

My brother bought a quite amazing carl zeiss jena 50f2 lens (m42), that fits fine on this camera. We used it on our nikon bodys with a switch-lens m42to nikonF that probably steels some optics. These 50mm zeiss are cheap. There are 20mm pentacon lenses for m42. I was studying in (west) berlin from nov89 to 1995 and I still get mad at me looking back not to have bought some of these at this time not exspensive east german camera gear. Today, I give hundrets of euros for the amazing 180f2,8 6x6 zeiss lens. Heavy great stuff. Still love your Channel, Els! Have a nice x-mas and a happy healthy new year 2025! Andreas

Merry Christmas Els and Gregory as still dealing with the hurricane clean up I have and as well this time of the year for New Years is always a new journey I face each year that as you may recall this day on 1/1/2005 I had to say goodbye to the love of my life and the only woman I've ever loved and known. For this door I have not yet to find as you to have a new love come into my life which one can see that your happy and in love for sure. You always surprise me in all the creations and things you come up with and do that I have to confess make you even more special in that beautiful woman heaven created you to be. As watching you macramé and now with this new talent of which you do I have to say it's like seeing you and my wife being so crafty in what you do that it would have been awesome to watch you two share in the things of which you do and accomplish in the crafty things you do. For though I was the one who seeks more to be the photographer even though as you mention we all get business and forget to take our pictures as she did take more of the family shots and would have taken a lot more but film was still around then and digital cameras and phones were just starting to come out. As I remember a calendar she did once but she was trying to get more of her family history done than things like this and she made calendars of family history of which some were birthdays anniversaries deaths and other things like this as family births and calendars from those time of which all were a part of tracing her family history which is in notebooks she put together that I still have for our only child my daughter and maybe grandsons if they are interested as thats something else nowadays the younger one aren't that interested in this kinda of stuff it seems. For she even taught herself cross stitching quilt making and crochet which I see that possibly you may do as well if not now someday as your a crafty gal too and maybe a country girl as well as not sure but love your adventures in the walks you share in the forest and place you like to walk that I used to do as well. But here everything now days is private lands hunting clubs or far away that I don't get time to make these journeys and of course hurricanes aren't helping but maybe soon I get to get out yet seeing my daughter and grandsons this Christmas is out and maybe for a long time now as she just got promoted and moving again further north of which it may take a whole days travel or more to go see them. But I always enjoy sharing and watching your videos as it special though we may never meet your kinda adopted family to me as I love sharing and watching your videos especially this year at this time for you know and understand what lost truly is when it come to someone you love. Well sorry for the TMI as just getting around to videos again as now super cold some days and just no fun to get out and cut and move limbs and debris from the hurricane but maybe after Christmas I get back to as its to warm up a little more and it will give me time to think of other things than memories of which now seem farther away each day as I made her promise to find someone again yet it seems to be a closing door for me as the world has changed and the honor respect appreciation care protection and most of all the love of which a woman deserves seems to be something because of how men today see and treat them is not like it was or should be to me that she is loved as heaven created her to be. So let me go as its super late and Christmas is here once again yet it doesn't seem like Christmas anymore for me except when I see things like you share and that of which Christmas is like for you there and others that share with me of days which seem like the real Christmas to me for overseas still seems you all know and share the days of what real Christmas truly is as here it seems its marketing sells and profits of which the stores try to sell you stuff to take you money change your thinking to this is what you need to have or get as its all about devices and toys of fancy things for kids that they lose the true meaning of Christmas in sharing time and love with family and those we love. Again sorry for TMI but hope Gregory and the beautiful Els have a wonderful and beautifully blessed Christmas and New Year to come. Be safe warm and loved beautiful Els as looking forward to seeing what craftiness you have up your sleeve and that beautiful heart of love that shines from your lovely face and in those beautiful eyes of love.

Happy Christmas Els

Merry Christmas Els

It's a very useful an light template, I made one calendar as a Christmas present and especially like the idea to "recycle" some of the prints that have been kept in folders for a long time. Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!

#❤

Haha, your secret is safe with me :D En ps ik ga je template stelen ;)

Hi Els, wonderful idea. Loved the wooden version, means each year you only have to give the 12 pages each year.

👏👏👏 Elz

Thank you

Ja Kim, NIET SPIEKEN!

In our new home we will have ample of wall space and I am planning to put some sheet metal on a wall so we can create a collage with our images fixed with magnets so we can change things without damaging the prints or the wall.

Let me know if this is something you might try! :)

I had MTl5B during their time, I cant say I would go back to one, or any other 35 MM camera after using a DLSR. The expense, inconvenience and poor image quality compared to modern digital photography just doesn't cut it for me. There is too much rose tinted nostalgia for film.

Thank you very much for these beautiful thoughts and pictures.

You made a really great point about even negatives feeling real; that tangibility to a photograph that comes with analog photography. Even when I press the shutter button, I know that something has been created and sits now inside the camera in a physical way that is not just 1s and 0s in a file. It changes the experience, though I can't articulate why.

Thanks, Els, for reviewing the Praktica ! I'm shooting Praktica cameras since 1980, around 40 years or so . And i'm still shoot them. They are comparable to a Pentax K1000 and they are very reliable . The light meter is very precise. I prefer light metering on the MTL cameras before similar cameras like Minolta SR-T or Canon FTb because of so precise results. For Praktica beginners i recommend all MTL 3 or MTL 5 cameras. Very nice viewfinder, even with glasses, split image focussing. Light meter works with standard batteries, LR44, or V625u or PX625a . You have the M42 mount and this means : wonderful lenses on your Praktica ! Takumar lenses, Pentacon lenses, Carl Zeiss Jena lenses, Meyer Görlitz lenses, some Helios lenses , some Fujinons, some Yashinons, some Tomioka made lenses and others. When you have learned on Prakticas, i recommend additional the PLC2 or PLC3, the DTL3, the VLC2 or VLC3. Furthermore there are the Mk.1 of the SuperTL or the Nova Ib, which where skillful and well made cameras of Dresden already in the 1960's.

Film is way too costly this day and age. Way to much expense for film then the cost of development then the keeper factor is low. I can hold photos from my digital camera too if I think they merit printing. I’ll stay with digital.

There are a lot of viable options still. Off brand cameras made by Cosina and Ricoh are great options..many of them manual cameras and made of metal. The Canon option which is best and affordable would be the Rebels which are nostly dependable and they have a multiple exposure option and most do not suffer from light leaks due to age...Film is expensive and if i use film i want the option that has the best chance for success.

I didn’t leave film, it left me. Shooting Portra 400 on 120… you’re looking at $3/click processed and scanned. That’s 3x the price of Instax Wide. Blows my mind how expensive it got. So yeah, I’m on a Fuji 50R with some grainy recipes and pretty happy, but yeah I miss the film too.