I’ve made no secret of shooting film recently. It’s become somewhat of an obsession if truth be told. There’s something about the nostalgia that a slightly grainy, imperfect image with a few light leaks gives. It’s the same feeling as getting your holiday snaps back from the chemist but with the added bonus of giving a fresh aspect to photography that I haven’t experienced before.
Having said that, film is expensive. For 36 exposures, it’s about eight quid plus the cost of getting them developed and scanned. All in, it sets you back somewhere in the region of £20. For 36 photos. That’s expensive in my mind, even if I absolutely love the feel of the result.
So, to counter the expense of film photography whilst attempting to retain some of the joy in the nostalgia, I dug out a gem of a camera. An old, 5 megapixel digital point and shoot which had been used and abused throughout university by my wife. There’s essentially no control over the exposure settings and the focus is slow. Everything looks horrendously sharp in an artificial manner and the quality of the end file isn’t anything to rave about.
But what a brilliant result and excactly the feel I was hoping for. As with the film camera, there’s a feel that takes me back to being younger.
I’ll definitely be taking it out again. It fits into my pocket, is really lightweight, and has essentially no market value so I’m not worried about breaking it. Of course, it’s not going to be a camera for client work (unless they specifically request it) but it is going to help in my obsession to capture memories. If you’ve got one kicking about, I’d encourage you to take it out for the feels.
