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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:

  1. 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.

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  2. 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...

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

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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!

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

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. 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.

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  10. 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!

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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  13. 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.

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  14. 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.

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  15. 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.

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  16. 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

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