Friday, July 20, 2007

My Chinese Kodak moment


Filmed
Shanghai, China, May 2007


Back home, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find good old conventional photographic film. So when I ran into this department store display, I thought I should take a picture - albeit a digital one - for the sake of posterity.

I think the salespeople liked my camera, and wanted to sell me another lens. I politely declined after concluding that warranty support would be decidedly difficult in this part of the world. Some things are best bought closer to home.

Your turn: When's the last time you shot a roll of film? Do you still go back to the old silvery faithful on occasion? Why/why not? Does it sadden you that film is disappearing from the photographic landscape?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is one thing I will always miss about film. With the good ol' SLR nobody could poke over your shoulder and ask... "can I see?"

Cheer,

P.

Beckie said...

I haven't shot a role of film for about five years. Wow, it has been a long time.

I didn't realize film was getting more scarce these days - but I spose it makes sense.

Michele didn't really send me, but I came over from her place...

Moon said...

Here from Michele's this time but I am always here anyway lol. Always love seeing your posts.

awareness said...

It does sadden me. I had a beautiful 35mm camera which went with me wherever I went. Unfortunately somehow the lens was snapped off (never found out who the culprit was) and I went 6 months without my trusty camera....my father bought me my first digital at Christmas and I love it! I held out and had no intentions of switching over, but now am glad I did.

michele sends her love....and I do too.

tommie said...

I shot a couple of rolls last weekend at the princess party my little girl went to.....the mom hosting asked me to be the picture taker. I ended up taking those 48 pictures in about 30 minutes! I brought my digital SLR so I just made her a copy of them. I take many more with the digital since it is so easy to hit "delete" of the ones that don't make the cut to save!

David Edward said...

hey Carmi!

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I... erm... still have to finish the roll that was in my camera when I got my digital... *blush*

Anonymous said...

Hey, Carmi. Kind of here from Michele as you and I had simultaneous comments there.

I still shoot film only and burned up twenty-five rolls in the western U.S. just last month.

For some reason, I resist getting a digital camera. My Nikon F2 is just fine, thanks.

Cheers.

Paul Nichols said...

I still have film in my 35mm camera. I still have a half a dozen undeveloped rolls of film laying around the house.

My First Wife and I just bought our first digital camera and we're having fun. There's a coupla pix on my blog.

I just stopped by from Michelle's. I'd already been to Breadbox's place.

D.O.M. Dan said...

My wife and I bought each other a digital camera for our anniversary in Nov.'06. Not wanting to waste a roll of film in our "old" camera I took pictures at Christmastime, and from time to time into the Spring. I haven't gone back to it, and probably will not. Too bulky.

I guess it's a little sad, but time changes so many things, and that's part of life.

Anonymous said...

Ummmm the last time I used a FILM camera....about 10 years ago?? LOL I love digital - sooo much easier, faster, convenient and better! I can do so many things with digital that I can't do with prints.

Nice photography though! Michele sent me to appreciate your viewpoint tonight!

kenju said...

I broke my old 35mm camera, so the last roll of film I have will languish in its box, I guess. I have an old Polaroid camera, but no film. I don't know if they even make 600 film for it anymore. I suppose I should check it out. The grandchildren would get a kick out of it, I am sure.

Christina said...

Hello Carmi, and thanks for the visit to my blog! Your kind words meant a lot to me and I appreciate it. Your journal here looks quite interesting and I will be checking in again.

Paula said...

Haven't shot a roll of film in ages. Two reasons: my 35mm camera is way heavier than my digital and a pain to carry around now that I have an alternative, and it's a lot more expensive to waste film. I'm in the habit now of taking multiple shots of everything just to get the best one. Thing is though, I ended up with better photos the old way! Oh well.

Chad Oneil Myers said...

It's been a few years since I really shot some film. I surely used to though.

I'm pretty much 100% digital now. It's where technology is taking the way an image is captured. It's still all about creating a great image, it's just done with newer technology.

Digital allows so much creative freedom, while shooting and then the post process in the "digital darkroom". I'm a firm believer in that.

I really believe that in the not so far future, film will become more and more a thing of the past, reserved for museums and people who enjoy reliving the past.

I think the thought of people "scoffing" at digital will be something that we look back on in five years and laugh about. Digital photography is only going to get better.

cinnamon gurl said...

I haven't shot film in a couple of years... I never thought I would make the switch to digital because I loved the magic of literally working with light. But I've gotten over that and love the way I can use photoshop to bring mediocre images closer to what I intended. And I also had trouble with storing negatives... they always got scratched. So I don't miss that.

Congrats on the career change! I'm just catching up now.

Anonymous said...

Here in India we still have those Kodak moments.

I love those Black and white photos. So timeless and eternal.

I do not think michele sent me here to discuss finer aspect of photography with you. She knows I can't cope..:D