I’M BACK TO TALK ABOUT FILM
AUGUST 30 2022
It’s starting to become a bad habit that I write on this blog for a little while then forget about it for months. It’s not great for continuity and really not great for catching you up on all the things film related that have happened since I started shooting film. For reference my last post from May about shooting landscapes included photos that I took 2 years ago, and the post before that about Kings peak was about a trip that I took on my 23rd birthday and I’ll be turning 25 soon!! So yeah, I’m super far behind on this blog and it’s not helpful that I periodically just stop writing posts.
But anyway, enough talking about how far behind I am and how inconsistent I am, I felt like writing today so I figured let’s make it a fun one at least. I’ve been trying to post chronologically and to cover my significant film events in the order that they’ve happened, but for this one I want to jump out of that timeline and just share some point and shoot photos :)
Since the blog is still kind of in 2020 I’ll share mostly my earlier point and shoot photos, but the goal is really just to share some fun photos that aren’t really related but that I enjoyed taking. That first one, of my roommate’s birthday was before I even owned a point and shoot camera. I think I had one SLR film camera at that point which didn’t have a flash so I had to go to the grocery store to get a single use camera so that I could shoot in the dark. And of course so I could get the super vibey party shots on film you know.
Pretty much as soon as I got those scans back, I started looking for a proper point and shoot though. I really wanted something that I could reuse and I also wanted something with a better lens because the edges of the disposable shots were very soft.
I got really lucky and found a Nikon L35AF locally which was the perfect addition to my growing collection of Nikon SLRs and it turned out to be an excellent camera on it’s own. When I first got the camera it was mostly to take pictures of friends, however, after a few rolls through it I discovered that the lens is amazing and the shots that this camera produces can pretty much stand up to photos from my F3. Safe to say it was a huge upgrade from the disposables that I was using earlier.
A little while after purchasing the L35AF I picked up a much cheaper Fuji Discovery Mini. After realizing how good the L35AF actually was I wanted to get something cheaper and more.. disposable.. if that makes sense. Basically I just wanted a camera that I wouldn’t care about if it breaks or gets spilled on.
There are a few things that I suffer from regarding camera gear, the first is babying my gear and the second is gear acquisition syndrome. They REALLY don’t work well together because the first is a tendency keep my cameras pristine and safe and the second is a tendency to buy more gear, so, what happens is I buy a camera that I really like but don’t want to break so I keep the camera "locked-up" and need to buy another camera or the same one again so that I won’t feel as bad using it knowing that I have another one tucked away. It’s like a scarcity instinct or something, but it basically means that if I buy a camera that I like I will usually end up shopping for a lesser version of it for peace of mind.
Whatever it is, gear acquisition, scarcity, or caution, it is a terrible habit because I end up spending more on crappier cameras and then I don’t even use the good one that I fell in love with. But oh well, I guess I’ll be glad if the Fuji breaks at a party that it wasn’t the L35AF, and I still do really like the shots from the Fuji. It has that softness like a disposable camera that is playful and unserious whereas the L35AF delivers sharp and technically good photos.
I hope you enjoyed those little point and shoot shots! After the L35AF and the Fuji Discovery my point and shoot obsession kind of exploded, but I really believe that every film photographer needs a good point and shoot. They just perfectly fill the shortcomings of an SLR, they’re small, fast, have a built in flash and super unintimidating. They're kind of like the perfect shooting companion.