New Analog Cameras for upcoming trip
I just bought my first two “Film” cameras in probably over 10 years for my upcoming trip the middle of September. My sister and I will spend three weeks driving to California and back with the longest stops for my Combat Camera Reunion in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit friends in California and several days at Moab, Utah to do some shooting at Arches National Park. We will also stop overnight in many other place along the way of course… but I’m off the topic of my first post here, so let me get back to the cameras.
I wanted to do something different for this cross country trip, which I’ve done several times before over the years, mostly following the railroad to photograph trains. I saw a post on Facebook where a photographer had done a really nice series on events around the site of the twin towers in New York using a camera called a Sprocket Rocket. It’s a film camera that allows you to shoot panoramic photos on 35mm film and you can choose to use the sprocket area of the film to record your image on or not. I really liked the idea and purchased one from lomography.com for the upcoming trip. I’m currently working shooting some test shots for my first roll and will post a sample photo soon.
The camera has two settings for shutter speeds, 1/100 and Bulb, with two settings for f/stops which are 10.8 and 16… basically cloudy and sunny. So, it should be a fun camera to play with during my trip.
The other camera I bought from the same place is a Holga 120 Wide Pinhole Camera, It uses 120 film and since it’s a pinhole (f/stop around f/135) the only shutter speed is bulb! It’s also a superwide panoramic camera that shoots a negative/positive of 6x12cm, which is about two standard exposures on 120 film on one piece of film. Since I’ve got a bunch of refrigerated 120 film and still have my traditional darkroom, I’m in the process of shooting my first test roll of TMax 400.
I’m excited about the prospects of shooting with both these cameras for this upcoming and future trips over the years.
Of course I’m not going to be totally analog when it comes to the finished product with these cameras as I also bought film holders for both that will allow me to scan the film in to the computer and use my darkroom of choice these days, Photoshop.
Stay tuned… Jim
While he was here, we went to a Renaissance Fair in Eastern Kentucky, and the zoo in St. Louis. In October, I will be traveling to Baltimore to pick another grandson up from the airport. He’s stationed in Germany, at the moment, but will be moving to Montana this fall.
It’ll be the longest vacation I’ve ever taken and we’ll be passing through places I haven’t seen since the late sixties, plus visiting 3 states where I’ve never been at all. As we plan a tentative route, collect brochures, and make reservations, I feel as excited as a little kid. I’m ready to start packing today.