I like gadgets. I suppose in this day and age, very few people don't. Among the gadgets I have, aside from the essential laptop and smartphone, I have a particular sweet spot for the camera. There's a saying that goes, "The best thing about pictures is that they stay the same even if the people in them have changed." I suppose that's what makes it me love cameras. Happy moments are always fleeting and if I have my way I'd preserve it all. A picture paints a thousand words. I have taken tens of thousands of pictures. I dare say close to a hundred-something thousand even. To that effect, I guess you can say I "painted" millions of words.
I have been dabbling in photography for quite some time already. I think I've been taking pictures before I even knew how to properly read and write. I started taking pictures with point and shoot compacts during the film days when it costed substantially to get a roll of film that gets you 36 shots and even more when you have them developed for prints, which due to less than stellar skills in organizing skills, got misplaced. (Maybe it's also partly because the shots were relatively forgettable. Or maybe I just enjoy shooting more than organizing the images.)
The experience was first brought to me by my dad's old Kodak Ektralite 10. I think I've been taking pictures before I even had an idea what it's about. All I knew was pointing it, pressing the button and the flash goes off. That means that a picture was taken. I remember it used a weird cartridge loaded at the back. It had a number indicator too showing how many shots were taken. I remembered I would open the slider that covered the lens things and that's what turned it on. It used batteries too, AAs if I recall it correctly. Sadly, this platform is practically extinct. Especially when the 35mm format took over the market.
I was first intrigued with the 35mm format when I saw a pro photographer pop out a roll of film from behind his camera. It was cylindrical and it was weird to me. But the next thing I noticed it has become the norm. Not very long after, I got to play with one.
My first experience with the 35mm format was with the fully automatic Nikon RF2. It was a pretty straightforward affair. The sliding switch at the bottom turns the camera off and on along with closing and opening the lens cover. There's a button that switches the timer too. This is where I first learned to half-press the shutter button... And to force a fill flash as well. It's when I was handling this baby that we always had to buy a couple rolls of film minimum. Because a single 36 shot roll just wouldn't do.
Back in the day (damn I feel old for saying that.) I had no idea about zoom lens. I was happy stepping closer. That was until I got my hands on a newer camera- The Olympus Superzoom 700. It was a fun compact for me at the time. I really enjoyed the zoom feature since it was very new for me. At an age when I had no idea what aperture was, it was cutting edge as I remember it. Of course I didn't have any idea about SLR cameras. Those things were rather arcane for me.
Eventually, however, the fun and interest kind of wore off. I wasn't bored with it, it's just that between the studies I had to keep up with, videogames and my daily expenses, It was a hobby that was prohibitively expensive to maintain. At the time it cost more than a week's worth of allowance to buy a roll of film and another expense around the same amount to get 4R or 5R prints. I suppose this is when my journey in analog photography came to an end.
But my journey in photography was far from over. The best is yet to come. But for that to happen I had to undergo a transition and leap to a new medium. More on that next time.
All images are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement was intended.
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| My first ever camera, I've been taking pictures before I even learned to read and write I think. |
I was first intrigued with the 35mm format when I saw a pro photographer pop out a roll of film from behind his camera. It was cylindrical and it was weird to me. But the next thing I noticed it has become the norm. Not very long after, I got to play with one.
My first experience with the 35mm format was with the fully automatic Nikon RF2. It was a pretty straightforward affair. The sliding switch at the bottom turns the camera off and on along with closing and opening the lens cover. There's a button that switches the timer too. This is where I first learned to half-press the shutter button... And to force a fill flash as well. It's when I was handling this baby that we always had to buy a couple rolls of film minimum. Because a single 36 shot roll just wouldn't do.
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| The Nikon RF2, The first camera I mastered to use, |
Back in the day (damn I feel old for saying that.) I had no idea about zoom lens. I was happy stepping closer. That was until I got my hands on a newer camera- The Olympus Superzoom 700. It was a fun compact for me at the time. I really enjoyed the zoom feature since it was very new for me. At an age when I had no idea what aperture was, it was cutting edge as I remember it. Of course I didn't have any idea about SLR cameras. Those things were rather arcane for me.
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| Mind-blowing zoom experience! I forgot if it was this or its cheaper sibling the 700BF though. |
Eventually, however, the fun and interest kind of wore off. I wasn't bored with it, it's just that between the studies I had to keep up with, videogames and my daily expenses, It was a hobby that was prohibitively expensive to maintain. At the time it cost more than a week's worth of allowance to buy a roll of film and another expense around the same amount to get 4R or 5R prints. I suppose this is when my journey in analog photography came to an end.
But my journey in photography was far from over. The best is yet to come. But for that to happen I had to undergo a transition and leap to a new medium. More on that next time.
All images are property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement was intended.
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