Making me feel old now Chris, my first slr was a zenith and then an Olympus om-10 when I was about 10. Shot those and other film cameras for another 20 years before moving to digital in 2000ish. I do miss how careful we were choosing our shots. And then the magic of seeing it come out in the darkroom or boots. Ok maybe not boots. But the way the photo faded in on the paper. Couldn’t beat that feeling. Now it’s just instant and easy. Quite sad really.
In 1991 I took my Praktica 35mm with me on my gap year, every frame I took was carefully taken due to limited frames and expense, I still have the camera and negatives, time to get it back out, cheers Chris.
I returned to film this year and the thing it taught me is that modern digitals can be too complicated and confusing. Film photography is actually improving my digital photography by returning me to the basics.
I'm one of them old(ish) geezers who's been shooting film since before there was an option. I was slow to switch to digital because I wasn't convinced it matched the quality of film. I was, and still am, also concerned about the ephemeral nature of digital, having been using computers since the mid 1980s and seen way too many files disappear due to failed discs of all sorts, many of which the formats no longer exist. For important shoots, I tend to use film and digital - a bit of the belt and braces mentality. I'm too pragmatic to fall into misty eyed nostalgia or hipster cool, to become a film snob. These days I mostly shoot B&W film, which is a whole different game, not only for the look but also because it is cheap (like me) and it's easy to develop at home, which is a whole other rabbit hole to go down. If you like shooting your Olympus M4/3 cameras, try one of the OG Olympus OM-1 film cameras, but hang on to your lightmeter. I've been using them for 45 years, and they are great. When you put it in your hand it has the same feel as their digital offspring (or vice versa in my case). And if you like the 4:3 ratio of M4/3 then have a look at Mamiya 645 cameras (other brands are available).
With film,if you created a masterpiece it is all due to your skill, and if you created shite, then it is also all yours. No where to hide, no RAW, no AI enabled software, no computer constructed images. Very well done. Great effort and some lovely photography.
The EV (Exposure Value) is a general light reading. As stated, EVs correspond to a range of aperture/ shutter combinations. Eg, at any given ISO setting, EV 12 equates to 1/250" @ f/4 or 1/8" @ f/22; Your light meter will give different EVs depending on what ISO you have set, eg, the same scene might measure EV 7 @ ISO 400 or EV 11 @ ISO 6400
DUDE LETS GOOOOOOOO IM SO GLAD YOU TRIED IT! As a film shooter, the thing I’ve realized is that it slows you down and makes you think about what’s important to shoot instead of just shooting whatever. I’ve also noticed you take slightly different photos to your usual stuff, but I know you’d love film for your landscape work. The format is way more flexible than you’d initially think. Overexposure is the way to go if you “mess up” an exposure, you don’t want to underexpose. Most color film will gladly take a stop or two of light, the best can even take five stops of overexposure with little to no color shifting or any other artifacts. Overexposing is sometimes necessary to retain shadow detail in a high contrast scene. I’d also recommend just using a light meter app on your phone, it’s honestly much more intuitive and pretty accurate. I can’t wait to see if you decide to make this a regular process in your photography! So exciting!
Chris, PLEASE do more of this? Of course there are still some things to learn but I think these photos we fantastic! Digital: expose for the highlights, film: expose for the shadows. Kodak Gold 200 is great for sunsets but not for blue hour, use for instance FujiFilm C200 for that.
I still have my old Minolta film camera from years ago. You never knew what ya got until film was developed. But that was fun too when you got that one good shot out of a whole role lol. You got a bunch of great shots!! Loved the video!!!
Wow, that reminds me of my early days. I'm 62 now so I shot film for many years with my first cameras. I was self taught and so ignorant of cameras back then that I had to ask the man at the camera store if I had to wait until the film was done to change lenses. ha ha. I didn't understand much about photography at the beginning and my Olympus OM-10 (totally manual 35mm camera) only had a lever on the side to show if it would be properly exposed with my combination of shutter speed and aperture. So, I had many blurry, properly exposed photos It was a total learning experience before RUclips videos. So much fun. I loved my old Olympus OM-10 and OM-4 cameras. But I won't go back now that I have digital. Enjoy!
Nice photos. Personally i can never understand the romantic view people have of shooting 35mm film, it’s worse in every single way to digital! I get large format film, that’s a whole different ballgame, as different as 35mm film and digital. Shot more film than I care to remember and very glad to see the back of it 😂
I am surprised that you didn't stick with Olympus! The OM film cameras are very collectable and reasonably cheap. I sold a film tested OM10 recently for under £50, and their Zuiko lenses are reasonably priced as well. Currently I have 8 of the 16 models/variations of the OM film cameras - all working - and about 15 of the lenses. Excellent cameras for the money.
It was just a camera I’ve had sat on a shelf for a couple of years. Decided it was time to dust it off and have a play. I keep looking at the OM10 on eBay as it happens and it’s quite tempting.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto Ahh, that makes sense. The OM10 is a lovely camera. I had one for my 16th birthday (nearly 30 years ago now!) and it still works perfectly (I film tested mine only a few weeks ago). If you can, find one that has been film tested. That will validate the light seals, and also that the shutter fires at the correct speed. Also, the OM10 has an optional manual adapter that plus into the front that allows the user to manually set the shutter speed. The OM20 has this function built into the lens mount. Out of all the models, the OM2n is currently my favourite. It is a bear bones manual film camera, but it had a built in light meter (which takes modern LR44 batteries), and is built to last. Be careful with M-1 and OM-1 models as they have the same mercury battery challenge that you had with your Chinon, although some models have been converted to take LR44s. I've had a few OM & Zuiko items from ebay seller "1973andyr" and can recommend him. He does repairs and restorations and knows his stuff. My OM2n came from him, and when it arrived it had a slight fault. He paid for the postage to return it, and paid for it to be fixed and returned. Top service. When buying Zuiko lenses, make sure that the aperture blades movement is snappy and quick before you buy. Some lenses have oily blades which move very slowly and in same cases actually jam. If the seller doesn't mention it I always ask before bidding. Is more of a problem on Vivitar, or Tokina lenses for the OM system, but better to find out before you part with your gold. Will be watching your film journey with interested. Btw, which lab are you using to develop and scan? Cheers fella.
One thing you didn't mention (maybe missed?), is that for long exposure with film you have to account for reciprocity failure. Film because less sensitive on long exposure. You can find apps to help you calculate it, and tech sheets for some manufacturers will tell you how to adjust, but a common rule is "calculated exposure raised to the power of 1.3", (on most calculators, for you 6s exposure, you'd type in 6 ^ 1.3, which gives you 10.2 seconds, so 10s). Congratulations on your first roll though, that's way more keepers than I'd get! Film is weird, it really is just a different head space, and it has help take my digital photogray from classic "spray and pray", to something with far more intent.
Chris nice to see you trying out some film. I would recommend you to try some B&W films as well. B&W works best for me currently. As B&W puts the attention to the composition and is not disturbed by colours and is less affected by light than colour photography. The colour accuracy is something I also have to get use to with analogue. Personally I think it is very refreshing to use film every now and then. I took a similar road a year ago and did a course in developing and printing analogue photo's myself. Since then I am infected by the analogue film virus. The whole process makes me feel more connected. Even though I don't develop them myself or print them. I do have a scanner and afterwards develop them to a positive in Lightroom. I noticed there are still very good and sharp lenses around for relative cheap, so I build a nice collection of the legacy OM lenses. Although I like the OM camera's. I really fell in love with the Voigtlander R3A and 40mm f1.4. The whole operation feels so much smoother on a rangefinder. It also gives a different experience I was looking for.
My very first camera was a Russian Cosmic 35. My first film SLR was a Chinon CE4s. In all honesty, I don't miss film photography! By the way, your remote release is a cable release. The readings on the light meter are probably Exposure Values. Yes, I'm old 😂
Relay enjoyed that. Just one thing, it's better to wind the film right into the cassette when you are finished. It shows that it has been fully used. Although it can lead to some interesting double exposures if you accidentally put the film through the camera again. Well done, and nice pictures.
I get what you’re saying. I heard the film pop off just didn’t know there was the tab still sticking out. I think I got away with it though. It was an enjoyable process.
I used to develop my own film, and didn't like having the film rewinded all the way into the cannister. Since most cameras leave a crip on the end of the film, I just made sure it was quite a solid crimp/fold at the end, and would rewind until just that was showing. That makes it easy to tell if a roll has been shot or not. In fact, just last year, I found a roll I must have shot around 2003 or thereabouts. I know it's been exposed because of how I left the leader hanging like that. 🙂 To me, the bigger "crime" was putting the film into the camera before loading the leader into the take-up spool! I never do that. I put the leader in, make sure it's winding, and then put the cannister into the camera. I find it easier to load film that way. No big deal either way, but I saw him load the camera, and I realized that not everybody loads film like I do.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto It was something I learned back in the 80s from a photography magazine. It's the sort of thing that one starts doing, and forgets that one used to do it differently, until you see it being done differently. ;-) No big deal either way.
I enjoyed the video, and you got some great shots. It would have been nice to have seen your reaction when you got the photos back. My first film camera was nearly 60 years ago, a Cosmic 35 from the USSR. I lived in a small village and had to send the film by post, I still remember my excitement when the prints were returned. Luckily, they turned out OK, which is most likely why I have far too many cameras today.
Mate, interesting to see a newcomer to film. I’m old enough to have started on film, Dad was freelance and had a room as a darkroom, for loading our own 35mm cassettes, from bulk film rolls, developing, and then printing, a whole other half to the film process. Spent many enjoyable hours in a the dark lol. Can’t say I miss film, though. Enjoy your foray into the emulsion..
Yeah the metering what the part that threw me, and I think I probably need to get better at that part. Things looked a little over exposed at times for me.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto I also personally find external meters can be a bit harder to use then the ones built into the cameras. Either way solid first roll!
I would like to give film a go, you got some nice images for a first attempt. Is the processing expensive? I read that film photography has become quite an expensive lately.
Ah I really enjoyed this! I have some film cameras that are older than me (that I bought for dirt cheap second hand back around 2010) and it definitely feels like a more rewarding and engaging experience using them compared with using modern digital cameras. Don't get me wrong, I take the vast majority of my photos on a DSLR, but there is something special about film. Your photos, particularly the last one, turned out really well! Nice one!
The good thing about film is that it’s quite forgiving in terms of overexposure unlike digital. You could comfortable overexpose by up to a stop and still recover a lot of detail. I wouldn’t say Kodak gold is cheap film though, it’s price has increased significantly in the last few years but it’s still worth it imo. Great vid btw, really enjoyed it.
My first camera was a Chinon CX from Dixon's. Must have been around 1976 so 47 years ago! I still have it but haven't used it for decades. I'm pretty sure I won't be going back to film but it's interesting to see how the experience of film photography is for someone brought up on digital.
Making me feel old now Chris, my first slr was a zenith and then an Olympus om-10 when I was about 10. Shot those and other film cameras for another 20 years before moving to digital in 2000ish. I do miss how careful we were choosing our shots. And then the magic of seeing it come out in the darkroom or boots. Ok maybe not boots. But the way the photo faded in on the paper. Couldn’t beat that feeling. Now it’s just instant and easy. Quite sad really.
In 1991 I took my Praktica 35mm with me on my gap year, every frame I took was carefully taken due to limited frames and expense, I still have the camera and negatives, time to get it back out, cheers Chris.
I returned to film this year and the thing it taught me is that modern digitals can be too complicated and confusing. Film photography is actually improving my digital photography by returning me to the basics.
Same here. I love it. Now I’m trying to get into developing the film myself.
I'm one of them old(ish) geezers who's been shooting film since before there was an option. I was slow to switch to digital because I wasn't convinced it matched the quality of film. I was, and still am, also concerned about the ephemeral nature of digital, having been using computers since the mid 1980s and seen way too many files disappear due to failed discs of all sorts, many of which the formats no longer exist. For important shoots, I tend to use film and digital - a bit of the belt and braces mentality. I'm too pragmatic to fall into misty eyed nostalgia or hipster cool, to become a film snob. These days I mostly shoot B&W film, which is a whole different game, not only for the look but also because it is cheap (like me) and it's easy to develop at home, which is a whole other rabbit hole to go down.
If you like shooting your Olympus M4/3 cameras, try one of the OG Olympus OM-1 film cameras, but hang on to your lightmeter. I've been using them for 45 years, and they are great. When you put it in your hand it has the same feel as their digital offspring (or vice versa in my case). And if you like the 4:3 ratio of M4/3 then have a look at Mamiya 645 cameras (other brands are available).
I love my OM-2 and the OM-lenses are great. ❤
With film,if you created a masterpiece it is all due to your skill, and if you created shite, then it is also all yours. No where to hide, no RAW, no AI enabled software, no computer constructed images. Very well done. Great effort and some lovely photography.
Loved this! Do some more film!
Thank you. It’s something I’ll be doing from time to time for sure.
My anxiety prevents me from shooting film 😰. I will like vicariously through this channel.
It’s not as bad as you think. Exposures are pretty much what you’d expect from digital.
The meter gives you a EV value. You then set the number to the arrow and select a combination of S/A you need.
Thank you!
The EV (Exposure Value) is a general light reading. As stated, EVs correspond to a range of aperture/ shutter combinations. Eg, at any given ISO setting, EV 12 equates to 1/250" @ f/4 or 1/8" @ f/22;
Your light meter will give different EVs depending on what ISO you have set, eg, the same scene might measure EV 7 @ ISO 400 or EV 11 @ ISO 6400
DUDE LETS GOOOOOOOO IM SO GLAD YOU TRIED IT! As a film shooter, the thing I’ve realized is that it slows you down and makes you think about what’s important to shoot instead of just shooting whatever. I’ve also noticed you take slightly different photos to your usual stuff, but I know you’d love film for your landscape work. The format is way more flexible than you’d initially think. Overexposure is the way to go if you “mess up” an exposure, you don’t want to underexpose. Most color film will gladly take a stop or two of light, the best can even take five stops of overexposure with little to no color shifting or any other artifacts. Overexposing is sometimes necessary to retain shadow detail in a high contrast scene. I’d also recommend just using a light meter app on your phone, it’s honestly much more intuitive and pretty accurate. I can’t wait to see if you decide to make this a regular process in your photography! So exciting!
Chris, PLEASE do more of this?
Of course there are still some things to learn but I think these photos we fantastic!
Digital: expose for the highlights, film: expose for the shadows.
Kodak Gold 200 is great for sunsets but not for blue hour, use for instance FujiFilm C200 for that.
2:20 use that slider only in bad light. Don't switch unless the arrow is literally stuck on the left side.
Thanks for that! I had a feeling it was something like that.
I still have my old Minolta film camera from years ago. You never knew what ya got until film was developed. But that was fun too when you got that one good shot out of a whole role lol. You got a bunch of great shots!! Loved the video!!!
Wow, that reminds me of my early days. I'm 62 now so I shot film for many years with my first cameras. I was self taught and so ignorant of cameras back then that I had to ask the man at the camera store if I had to wait until the film was done to change lenses. ha ha. I didn't understand much about photography at the beginning and my Olympus OM-10 (totally manual 35mm camera) only had a lever on the side to show if it would be properly exposed with my combination of shutter speed and aperture. So, I had many blurry, properly exposed photos It was a total learning experience before RUclips videos. So much fun. I loved my old Olympus OM-10 and OM-4 cameras. But I won't go back now that I have digital. Enjoy!
Nice photos. Personally i can never understand the romantic view people have of shooting 35mm film, it’s worse in every single way to digital! I get large format film, that’s a whole different ballgame, as different as 35mm film and digital. Shot more film than I care to remember and very glad to see the back of it 😂
I am surprised that you didn't stick with Olympus! The OM film cameras are very collectable and reasonably cheap. I sold a film tested OM10 recently for under £50, and their Zuiko lenses are reasonably priced as well. Currently I have 8 of the 16 models/variations of the OM film cameras - all working - and about 15 of the lenses. Excellent cameras for the money.
It was just a camera I’ve had sat on a shelf for a couple of years. Decided it was time to dust it off and have a play. I keep looking at the OM10 on eBay as it happens and it’s quite tempting.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto Ahh, that makes sense. The OM10 is a lovely camera. I had one for my 16th birthday (nearly 30 years ago now!) and it still works perfectly (I film tested mine only a few weeks ago). If you can, find one that has been film tested. That will validate the light seals, and also that the shutter fires at the correct speed. Also, the OM10 has an optional manual adapter that plus into the front that allows the user to manually set the shutter speed. The OM20 has this function built into the lens mount. Out of all the models, the OM2n is currently my favourite. It is a bear bones manual film camera, but it had a built in light meter (which takes modern LR44 batteries), and is built to last. Be careful with M-1 and OM-1 models as they have the same mercury battery challenge that you had with your Chinon, although some models have been converted to take LR44s. I've had a few OM & Zuiko items from ebay seller "1973andyr" and can recommend him. He does repairs and restorations and knows his stuff. My OM2n came from him, and when it arrived it had a slight fault. He paid for the postage to return it, and paid for it to be fixed and returned. Top service. When buying Zuiko lenses, make sure that the aperture blades movement is snappy and quick before you buy. Some lenses have oily blades which move very slowly and in same cases actually jam. If the seller doesn't mention it I always ask before bidding. Is more of a problem on Vivitar, or Tokina lenses for the OM system, but better to find out before you part with your gold. Will be watching your film journey with interested. Btw, which lab are you using to develop and scan? Cheers fella.
One thing you didn't mention (maybe missed?), is that for long exposure with film you have to account for reciprocity failure. Film because less sensitive on long exposure. You can find apps to help you calculate it, and tech sheets for some manufacturers will tell you how to adjust, but a common rule is "calculated exposure raised to the power of 1.3", (on most calculators, for you 6s exposure, you'd type in 6 ^ 1.3, which gives you 10.2 seconds, so 10s).
Congratulations on your first roll though, that's way more keepers than I'd get!
Film is weird, it really is just a different head space, and it has help take my digital photogray from classic "spray and pray", to something with far more intent.
Super video and beautiful images, I just bought myself a chinon cs, I can't wait to receive it and shout out some films. Thanks for all the advice !
I'm digital. Just pick up a Olympus em10 35mm. Thinking giving it a go .got think how I used to use them. Still got the light meters .so have a play
Good luck! Let me know how you get on.
Chris nice to see you trying out some film. I would recommend you to try some B&W films as well. B&W works best for me currently. As B&W puts the attention to the composition and is not disturbed by colours and is less affected by light than colour photography. The colour accuracy is something I also have to get use to with analogue.
Personally I think it is very refreshing to use film every now and then. I took a similar road a year ago and did a course in developing and printing analogue photo's myself. Since then I am infected by the analogue film virus. The whole process makes me feel more connected. Even though I don't develop them myself or print them. I do have a scanner and afterwards develop them to a positive in Lightroom.
I noticed there are still very good and sharp lenses around for relative cheap, so I build a nice collection of the legacy OM lenses. Although I like the OM camera's. I really fell in love with the Voigtlander R3A and 40mm f1.4. The whole operation feels so much smoother on a rangefinder. It also gives a different experience I was looking for.
My very first camera was a Russian Cosmic 35. My first film SLR was a Chinon CE4s. In all honesty, I don't miss film photography!
By the way, your remote release is a cable release. The readings on the light meter are probably Exposure Values.
Yes, I'm old 😂
Relay enjoyed that. Just one thing, it's better to wind the film right into the cassette when you are finished. It shows that it has been fully used. Although it can lead to some interesting double exposures if you accidentally put the film through the camera again. Well done, and nice pictures.
I get what you’re saying. I heard the film pop off just didn’t know there was the tab still sticking out. I think I got away with it though. It was an enjoyable process.
I used to develop my own film, and didn't like having the film rewinded all the way into the cannister. Since most cameras leave a crip on the end of the film, I just made sure it was quite a solid crimp/fold at the end, and would rewind until just that was showing. That makes it easy to tell if a roll has been shot or not. In fact, just last year, I found a roll I must have shot around 2003 or thereabouts. I know it's been exposed because of how I left the leader hanging like that. 🙂
To me, the bigger "crime" was putting the film into the camera before loading the leader into the take-up spool! I never do that. I put the leader in, make sure it's winding, and then put the cannister into the camera. I find it easier to load film that way. No big deal either way, but I saw him load the camera, and I realized that not everybody loads film like I do.
@@jonglass never thought to load the film that way as it happens, but it does make sense and is probably easier.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto It was something I learned back in the 80s from a photography magazine. It's the sort of thing that one starts doing, and forgets that one used to do it differently, until you see it being done differently. ;-) No big deal either way.
Good stuff … I’m about to go shoot some film myself
Good luck! I found it quite enjoyable.
Excellent video
Thank you!
This was a very pleasant video. I really liked it,avd the photos were great. Keep on your videos about photography
I enjoyed the video, and you got some great shots. It would have been nice to have seen your reaction when you got the photos back. My first film camera was nearly 60 years ago, a Cosmic 35 from the USSR. I lived in a small village and had to send the film by post, I still remember my excitement when the prints were returned. Luckily, they turned out OK, which is most likely why I have far too many cameras today.
Mate, interesting to see a newcomer to film. I’m old enough to have started on film, Dad was freelance and had a room as a darkroom, for loading our own 35mm cassettes, from bulk film rolls, developing, and then printing, a whole other half to the film process. Spent many enjoyable hours in a the dark lol. Can’t say I miss film, though. Enjoy your foray into the emulsion..
You did great with these! I felt that shooting film has really taught me to focus on metering more then I was when I just shot digital
Yeah the metering what the part that threw me, and I think I probably need to get better at that part. Things looked a little over exposed at times for me.
@@ChrisBaitsonPhoto I also personally find external meters can be a bit harder to use then the ones built into the cameras. Either way solid first roll!
I would like to give film a go, you got some nice images for a first attempt. Is the processing expensive? I read that film photography has become quite an expensive lately.
Processing was £7 so not too bad. Then £5 for them to be scanned for me, which I’ll probably do myself in the future though.
Ah I really enjoyed this! I have some film cameras that are older than me (that I bought for dirt cheap second hand back around 2010) and it definitely feels like a more rewarding and engaging experience using them compared with using modern digital cameras. Don't get me wrong, I take the vast majority of my photos on a DSLR, but there is something special about film.
Your photos, particularly the last one, turned out really well! Nice one!
The good thing about film is that it’s quite forgiving in terms of overexposure unlike digital. You could comfortable overexpose by up to a stop and still recover a lot of detail. I wouldn’t say Kodak gold is cheap film though, it’s price has increased significantly in the last few years but it’s still worth it imo. Great vid btw, really enjoyed it.
Negative film can be forgiving of overexposure, slide film most definitely isn't.
Very nice brother 👍
Thanks man!
I used to sell them when I worked at Dixons 44 years ago
They’re really are that old? Or you’re that young?
My first camera was a Chinon CX from Dixon's. Must have been around 1976 so 47 years ago! I still have it but haven't used it for decades. I'm pretty sure I won't be going back to film but it's interesting to see how the experience of film photography is for someone brought up on digital.
wasnt chinon the own brand of dixons back in the day showing my age a bit
I believe it was a Dixons thing yes.