OT: Film cameras and photography comeback?

[merckxman]

Seems to be some new interest in these. Pentax has announced a new film camera that is coming out mid year, stories about it landed in my news feed.
Lots of photography buffs here....what's going on?

[jamesdak]

News to me, I can't see returning back to film. With digital I can control every aspect of the process.

Including easily doing stuff like this shut where I used a telephoto to shoot a bunch of frames and then stitched them together in the computer. Real size the image is freaking huge and so detailed you can see the individual skiers on those background mountains.



I still have a bunch of my old film camera's and a stash of Velvia in the freezer. Haven't touched it in years.

This beauty is in top of my bike stash cabinet and get "exercised" frequently to keep it working but I don't actually load film in and use it.

[CTracer]

I don’t know but I’m not going back to film! I’ll stick with film simulations

[alexihnen]

I have several film cameras and know some photographers who use film in addition to digital. I learned using film and the very different process can be fun at times.

Here’s more on the new Pentax: https://petapixel.com/2024/02/29/pen...h-this-summer/

[Bob Ross]

I just hope it comes back enough so that I can find a buyer for my >50-year-old Nikkormat 35mm body with assorted Nikon and Vivitar lenses...I think the last time I shot a roll of film in that camera was 1986.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I just hope it comes back enough so that I can find a buyer for my >50-year-old Nikkormat 35mm body with assorted Nikon and Vivitar lenses...I think the last time I shot a roll of film in that camera was 1986.

Depending on which body and which lenses, you might be surprised.

I know the Olympus OM SLR bodies go from $100-$500+ and the more desirable lenses are usually $200+.

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I just hope it comes back enough so that I can find a buyer for my >50-year-old Nikkormat 35mm body with assorted Nikon and Vivitar lenses...I think the last time I shot a roll of film in that camera was 1986.

Same. Hanging on to my old f series. I was hopeful there was going to be a digital retrofit sensor for the old cameras but that hasn’t panned out.

[jkbrwn]

I love how a conversation about a new camera, that could be a conversation about preserving something that's a beautiful, tangible, physical medium of photography has, in part, turned into grumpy old men yelling at clouds complaining about how craaaaaazy it would be to keep shooting film even though some of us simply enjoy it

[Louis]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

I love how a conversation about a new camera, that could be a conversation about preserving something that's a beautiful, tangible, physical medium of photography has, in part, turned into grumpy old men yelling at clouds complaining about how craaaaaazy it would be to keep shooting film even though some of us simply enjoy it

Imagine the ruckus if Mario Confente somehow rose from the grave and started to make skinny-tubed bikes with DT shifter bosses again...

[downtube42]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

I love how a conversation about a new camera, that could be a conversation about preserving something that's a beautiful, tangible, physical medium of photography has just turned into grumpy old men yelling at clouds

I strolled through a shop the other day that had 8-tracks, cassettes, film cameras, an old glass orange juicer, a vintage HD hardtail, old cameras, Playboys, old metal ice trays with a lever you pull to free the cubes. I remember all that stuff; we have better versions now. Some people buy that stuff to try and recreate their youth, other people buy that stuff because they think things were better back then. You can't recreate your youth, and things weren't better. It sucked. Now is better. Even the clouds are better - there's less air pollution.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by downtube42

I strolled through a shop the other day that had 8-tracks, cassettes, film cameras, an old glass orange juicer, a vintage HD hardtail, old cameras, Playboys, old metal ice trays with a lever you pull to free the cubes. I remember all that stuff; we have better versions now. Some people buy that stuff to try and recreate their youth, other people buy that stuff because they think things were better back then. You can't recreate your youth, and things weren't better. It sucked. Now is better. Even the clouds are better - there's less air pollution.

Music sucks.

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Music sucks.

you're very helpful in here

[jtakeda]

If any of these never film folks have a Fuji 690 they’re holding onto I’ll take it off your hands. Have always wanted to try one to compare to my mamiya

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by downtube42

I strolled through a shop the other day that had 8-tracks, cassettes, film cameras, an old glass orange juicer, a vintage HD hardtail, old cameras, Playboys, old metal ice trays with a lever you pull to free the cubes. I remember all that stuff; we have better versions now. Some people buy that stuff to try and recreate their youth, other people buy that stuff because they think things were better back then. You can't recreate your youth, and things weren't better. It sucked. Now is better. Even the clouds are better - there's less air pollution.

But define better, right? There's no denying that disc brakes and electronic shifting are superior to mechanical shifting and brakes, yet we all love rim brake mechanical shifting bikes? There's no denying that electronic cars will be in most of our futures, yet people love classic cars with a manual transmission.

I feel the same way about cameras. I take tons of digital photos, but none of them make me feel the same way as my film photos do. I love cranking my film advance lever, I love the sound of shutter slap on a film SLR, I love looking through a HUGE Nikon viewfinder, I love the anticipation of getting back my scans/negatives and I love that its one of the few things in life that makes me slow down and actually disconnect.

For reference - I'm 30. I grew up in the transition from film to digital. I have no great feelings of nostalgia with film photography - I just like it.

And to people saying only amateurs and 'artists' use film, even if that's the case, that's great, though I can't help but feel the quotes are a slight at those still using it said artists. So much editorial is shot on film nowadays. Film just has an undeniable vibe that digital cameras cannot replicate, even Fuji's film simulations cannot, nor Lightroom or anything else for that matter.

Film is cool, period.

[warren128]

Great thread There are three things that I have done for most of my life: cycling, photography, and martial arts.

I have used just about every type of film camera in the last 50+ years that I've been into photography. Just recently, I took a group photo of the 35mm film cameras that I have kept around. Every now and then I have the nostalgic idea to run some film through them for old time's sake, but so far, I have't done it yet.

I've gone digital ever since the first affordable digital cameras emerged around the year 2000, and my old beloved film cameras sit in the cabinet, unused.

IMG_20231108_102313928_HDR by warren t., on Flickr