Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Film cameras in use

Jim Grey
22 comments on Film cameras in use
1 minute
,

Sometimes when I have film in a camera, I photograph it with my phone. I’m not sure why. But I was happy to see these photos when I reviewed all the images I made with my iPhone 6s to write a forthcoming review.

Pentax ME
Olympus Trip 35
Olympus OM-1
Nikon Nikomat FTn

Three of these photos were taken on my desk at work. Sometimes people notice my old cameras and say something, but mostly they don’t. Every now and again I discover a kindred film spirit this way, and that’s always nice.

To get Down the Road in your inbox or reader six days a week, click here to subscribe!
To get my newsletter with previews of what I’m working on, click here to subscribe!

Comments

22 responses to “Film cameras in use”

  1. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    First thing that came to mind when seeing these photos was my remembrance of how heavy those Nikormats were!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      They are indeed heavy!

      Reply
      1. Kevin Thomas Avatar
        Kevin Thomas

        Hey, you never know when you might need to take a picture, hammer a nail, and anchor a boat 😁😁

        Reply
  2. Marc Beebe Avatar
    Marc Beebe

    That’s some nice equipment.
    Have I ever mentioned the couple of dozen Nikons I gave … oh yes, I have. Repeatedly. Sorry.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Not that the memory hurts or anything.

      Reply
  3. Rick Avatar
    Rick

    My Dad’s 1957 C3 sits on my desk at work and every once in a while someone will comment on it who knows anything about it.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      It’s a distinctive camera. When someone comments on one of my cameras it’s usually, “what is that?”

      Reply
  4. arhphotographic Avatar
    arhphotographic

    Hi, do you have film in more than one camera at any one time? If so is it different film stock or the same?
    Andrew
    P.s all the best with the new job!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I do sometimes have more than one camera loaded. I might be putting test rolls through one or two, and then load another to do a specific shoot with it. I use whatever film stock feels right for the job. I have Fuji Superia X-tra 400 in an auto-everything SLR I’m testing right now, for example; it felt like a good match. But if you handed me an old MF folder to test I’d probably use Ilford FP4+.

      Thanks for the well wishes!

      Reply
  5. arhphotographic Avatar
    arhphotographic

    Thank you. The reason I ask the question is that I’m currently using one set of chemicals for black and white film. Another developer for my printing that I’ve just started. But with spring not so far away I was going to start with colour and another set of chemicals. I wonder if that my be too much for my brain to keep track of ???
    Andrew

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I have decided not to move into color processing, not for the foreseeable future. I can have the camera shop downtown develop and scan a roll for a very reasonable $10, with 24-hour turnaround. During the pandemic I mail my color to Fulltone Photo in Kentucky — costs about the same, though turnaround is slower. I shoot 75% b/w anyway. This keeps my home dev kit simple. I even plan to whittle down to the one developer I always use. At the moment I’m leaning toward HC-110.

      Reply
  6. Khürt Williams Avatar
    Khürt Williams

    Nice kit. I’ve sold off the Pentaxes and fallen in love with Minolta and I’m slowly “collecting” some bodies and lenses.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Minolta made great cameras, especially SLRs (though I gather their TLRs were wonderful too). I had a lot of bad luck with them continuing to work so I sold all of my Minolta gear in Operation Thin the Herd. But now some Minolta AF SLRs have found their way into my hands.

      Reply
  7. Khürt Williams Avatar
    Khürt Williams

    Forgot to say, since I’m a digital and analogue photographer, I shoot my analogue kit using my digital kit. Example: https://khurt.blog/2021/01/07/what-do-you.html

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Nice. I do the same, but not with results anywhere near as lovely as yours.

      Reply
  8. Joe shoots resurrected cameras Avatar
    Joe shoots resurrected cameras

    With the iphone I suppose it would be easy to add these to your instagram feed…but I wanna see your film cameras shot on film!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Your wish is my command! Nikon F2AS, 50mm f/2 AI Nikkor, Ilford Delta 400.

      Konica C35 Automatic

      Agfa Clack

      Ansco B2 Speedex

      Agfa Clack

      Yashica TL Electro

      Argus C3

      Kodak Retina IIa

      Olympus Trip 35

      Reply
      1. Joe shoots resurrected cameras Avatar
        Joe shoots resurrected cameras

        Wow nice, now I have to figure out what I want for my other two wishes…

        Reply
  9. Kodachromeguy Avatar
    Kodachromeguy

    The Olympus Trip 35: A brilliant piece of engineering. I had one for a few years but decided that the two shutter speeds were a bit limiting for the pictures I take. Excellent lens!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      It’s a fine camera to take along on a sunny day. That’s what I use it for!

      Reply
  10. Sam Avatar
    Sam

    I like this kind of post because it reflects my own thinking of what I’m using most. Nice cameras!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Thank you!

      Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: