Hi there, yes i am now a blogger.....
As per the title, this blog will be musings, thoughts, some pictures and hell even maybe a tip or 2.
Im a photographer, i cant think of anything better than having a camera in the hand taking pics. Now for most people these days they think a camera is the shitty little imaging device attached to the back of a smart phone or tablet. Yes i use both devices, but i use them for what they are designed for, a cell phone or a tablet computer. To take pictures, i use real cameras.
My kit currently is an Olympus OM-D micro 4/3 system, this is my every day kit, i use it semi professionally and its got all the mod-con's, superb sensor, brilliant AF, and in general its a fantastic camera. My other camera is classic Bronica medium format SLR kit, this thing is gorgeous and fun, there is nothing modern about it, nothing automatic, no electronics what so ever not even a light meter, and its FILM!
I got the hankering for a film camera start a couple of years ago, and i kinda pushed it to the back of the brain, and pretty much forgot about it. But around christmas 2013 it started pushing forwards again, over a few months it kept pushing further forwards.
I decided that i was going to get a film camera, but i decided pretty early on i wasnt going to go for a 35mm camera, been there done that, and cant be bothered going back there yet. So the only way to go was Medium format or large format cameras. I pretty much discounted large format sheet film cameras because they require tripods for everything. A medium format camera it was to be then. On to Trademe (kiwi ebay) and eBay to start looking for a medium format camera.
I had a couple of requirements in my search, it had to be 120 or 220 roll film compatible, and preferable that it was a kit with at least one back, and 2 lenses.
I started looking around thinking i will look at any brand, but i was hoping to find a Contax 645 or a Hasselblad, but the moment i started looking around i pretty much discounted both of those. Contax's were around, but generally they had been used abused, and no love given by pro's and were in bad condition, plus those Carl Zeiss lenses are still super expensive. Hasselblads, well they were just way too expensive in any condition.
I started shopping some classics, Bronica, Pentax and Rollei's were all on the radar. I was seriously shopping a Pentax 645 because the very cool new Pentax 645Z digital camera uses the same Pentax 645KA mount as the first of the film Pentax 645's, so there is an upgrade path. The downside to the Pentax is that instead of a removable back for the film, they use an insert to put the film in.
Rollei's are rare, so they were still expensive.
Bronica's they were affordable, lots available in kits, and have removable backs and lots of accessories around.
I was talking to a customer in my job one day about such things, and i mentioned i was looking at a couple of Pentax 645 and Bronica S2 kits online when he casually mentioned he had a Bronica S2a kit sitting at home that had not been used in 15 years, and it was mine if i wanted it... Damn right i wanted it! So a couple of hours later, and a debate about price, i was the proud owner of a Bronica S2a with 2 120/220 backs, 75mm, 35mm, and 200mm Nikkor lenses.
I found myself suddenly looking film, thankfully ebay, trademe are great to find 120 film so i quickly had some delivered, and its been a fun learning curve.
I made the decision to take the Bronica with me to the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka airshow, armed with film in the backs, and a free light meter app on my smartphone i had some fun. While nearly every other person was shooting digital cameras, tablets and smartphones, i would wander up to a parked airplane or something on the ground and many people would think i was taking pics with my smartphone, but all i was doing was taking a light reading, then off the shoulder came the Bronica, shutter, aperture set, frame the shot, focus it and take the pic, i still chuckle when taking a pic of a parked airplane and the loud clunk of the shutter made someone standing next to me flinch, look at me and wonder what the hell i was doing... The one thing i found was people see a smartphone out and when it got put away try to push me off my spot while i try to take pics.
On the digital side of things, my OM-D performed flawlessly, the images were fantastic, and so was the video taken, over all i took 5 rolls of film, shot 5000+ still images and about an hour of movie over the 3 days of the show.
Digital definitely is the standard now, but film photography has so much to offer any photographer, im happy ive gone back to film in part, now to get those films scanned!
