You may have heard that my camera broke. I finally got through to the right people and got the right clearance and have now sent the camera off to Sony, bless their little hearts, at their expense. I await its return in 3-5 weeks fully functional, or a check in the mail with an explanation that the CCD was so far gone, there was nothing they could do. Should that happen, the $179 from them is really going to go far in getting my new camera. Not. Why they gotta make crap?
In the interim, I have been reeducated in the ways of film, the likes of, I have not seen for years. And lo, I was rusty and unsure of myself. And I saw the images, and they were bad. Very bad. Aperture who? ISO what? Shutter speed where?
The camera I borrowed is lovely. It takes very nice photos when I actually set up the shot right.
And the lomo 4-lens I played with was fun. I like looking at the rusty images.
Fun. Yes. But not fast. I am an instant girl in this instant world and waiting to see what the image looks like – whaaaaa? I want to point and click. I want the camera to read my mind. I had no idea I had become so lazy.
I have tried to get back into the feeling I used to have with my Nikon F70 back in the day, before I found digital. Truly tried. And I think if I had my digital to use whenever I wanted, the film part would be more fun, because Hey! maybe I want to shoot with Fun Film today. But if I have no choice and I MUST shoot with the sloooow and slooooooooooow film that I won’t get to see for days and will cost me money I don’t have to develop, then it is. not. fun. If I HAVE to pick up the Rollei and figure out the light reading and film speed and, heaven forefend, FOCUS the lens, then I am a sad, sad Leahpeah who has been put upon to no end. What a whiner, eh?
And yet, still I persist with the whining. I know what I like, and I like to see the image right away. And I want to take photos and photos and photos until I puke without worrying that I’m blowing $20 bucks down the drain of unusable pictures.
Now, I love the look of some of the images I took with those two film cameras. And I also like the look of Polaroids sometimes. But day-to-day, give me back my digital. I have no desire to go out and buy developer and create my own darkroom anymore. Does this make me less a photographer and more a user of newer technology? Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, it doesn’t matter. Because I’ll have my images right after I take them and shoot willy-nilly the entire time I’m on vacation or at the basketball game. And I won’t waste money on developing film I’ll never use or have to spend time scanning images in to get them in digital format and remove noise from the crappy scan. So, I’m ok with that.
i feel your pain and understand. i look at old stuff and cringe. and the scanner? yes, nice, but not the same. *sigh* i wish i could wish you a new camera.
You just reminded me that I have not used my film camera since I got my digital. And I don’t miss it one bit yet. Does that make me a bad photographer? I’m starting to feel this weird bit of guilt about neglecting my Canon for so long.
I love the tree shot.
Not sure I could go back to film. It would take too much effort to get the dang stuff developed (we live far from a city with a photolab).
digital is a wonderful miracle.
in college, for some really fucked up reason, design majors MUST take “intro to photography” – and i wanted to kill myself. for many, many reasons including the photo majors and instructors, but also because i would spend time listening to the lectures, taking notes, and trying SO HARD only to come out of the darkroom with stuff immediately deemed as failure by my instructor.
if only i had seen it on the screen first! then i could have fixed it, for i do not have 30 more hours and a zillion more dollars to spend on all of this!
never again film, never again. [except polaroids, because they are instantaneous…but sadly expensive. and the occasional lomo.]
FYI: the CCD on my little Canon Elph broke, I sent it in for the free repair, and guess what came back? The newer model!!!! and they exchanged all of my accessories for free (since the newer model uses different cables, batteries, and memory cards).
Life before digital: What?
Friends of ours recently returned a film camera to us that APPARENTLY we had lent them, and we were like, “What are we supposed to do with this thing? Wanna keep it?”
So, I feel you. Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to the F717.
I upgraded to digital from disposable. Big jump. I used to collect about 6 disposables before I’d take them in to be developed, and then I’d gripe about how much it cost. Now I can click and delete and click and delete and click and delete and click and delete….
Love the lomo 4 lens shot – cameras turn over so quickly these days – I am thiniking of upgrading (if I can get it as a gift at the end of this year or maybe with my bonus next year) I hate to wait!
Holy crap! I am surprised you even able to write about it so (seemingly) calm. This is unacceptable, Leah. Somebody, for the love of all that is HOLY send her a CAMERA!
She’s got talent and she needs to use it, lest someone get cut. Don’t say I didn’t warn you people.
For some crazy reason I was a commercial photography major… and at this particular collage they felt that although digital was a viable way of shooting, film FILM was the way to teach. So I spent two years perfecting the art of making beautiful photographrs with film, developing them, printing them and have them critiqued by jaded old instructors. Where has this gotten me? I’ve rarely touched my Hasselblad since my son was born and I’m considering starting a love affair with my tiny (but wonderfully powerful) Pentax Optio. So there’s irony for ya.