Stocking up and ready to shoot
Man/woman can’t live on bread and water alone. Judging on the contents of my fridge I seem to be living on olives and Neopan 1600.
The olives are from a misguided purchasing frenzy. Like an ill-informed Soviet five year plan I tend to focus on just one product. One year it may be 60 watt light bulbs, another anchovies, presently its olives, but I like olives.
The Neopan 1600 I got on a good deal. And stocking up seemed like a good idea. Buy it while it’s here, because in another year or so it’s a product I can see disappearing altogether. If it has not already been discontinued.
Having gone through a mental meltdown after Christmas with Roller Derby photography I set myself a challenge. If I’m going to get back in to it, can I cut it on film? Can I capture the action as well as photographers did prior to digital?
The first thing to do was to obtain a camera. I had shot Roller Derby on film once before on an old Pentax K1000. Totally manual, shutter, aperture and focussing. It was difficult, and as expected the results were disappointing. There was no way to capture the action. To do that I would need a better camera. Having changed systems to Canon, I already had the lenses, all I needed was a body.
I picked up an EOS 3 for a fair price. It looked brand new. I doubt that it had ever been used. The EOS 3, although being a camera designed in the 20th century it has one of the most advanced focussing systems Canon has ever produced. ECF or Eye Controlled Focussing tracks where you are looking and focus’s accordingly. Scary technology.
So the big question was could it be done?
It’s always with a bit of excitement and trepidation that I head down to the camera shop to pick up my films. What has come out? Will they be in focus? Will they be any good? On opening the packets I was mildly surprised. Most were in focus, they were sharp and with a bit of cropping as good as those shot on digital. A good scan would reveal more detail.
So the question has to be asked. Has technology really moved on all that much? For ease and accessibility, yes, but for the quality of the final image, probably not. It just takes a bit more time and belief that something will come out.
I booted up the computer, logged on and stocked up on Neopan 1600. I want to get to most from this camera, before its one Achilles heel, the availability of film, renders it obsolete.
The olives are from a misguided purchasing frenzy. Like an ill-informed Soviet five year plan I tend to focus on just one product. One year it may be 60 watt light bulbs, another anchovies, presently its olives, but I like olives.
The Neopan 1600 I got on a good deal. And stocking up seemed like a good idea. Buy it while it’s here, because in another year or so it’s a product I can see disappearing altogether. If it has not already been discontinued.
Having gone through a mental meltdown after Christmas with Roller Derby photography I set myself a challenge. If I’m going to get back in to it, can I cut it on film? Can I capture the action as well as photographers did prior to digital?
The first thing to do was to obtain a camera. I had shot Roller Derby on film once before on an old Pentax K1000. Totally manual, shutter, aperture and focussing. It was difficult, and as expected the results were disappointing. There was no way to capture the action. To do that I would need a better camera. Having changed systems to Canon, I already had the lenses, all I needed was a body.
I picked up an EOS 3 for a fair price. It looked brand new. I doubt that it had ever been used. The EOS 3, although being a camera designed in the 20th century it has one of the most advanced focussing systems Canon has ever produced. ECF or Eye Controlled Focussing tracks where you are looking and focus’s accordingly. Scary technology.
So the big question was could it be done?
It’s always with a bit of excitement and trepidation that I head down to the camera shop to pick up my films. What has come out? Will they be in focus? Will they be any good? On opening the packets I was mildly surprised. Most were in focus, they were sharp and with a bit of cropping as good as those shot on digital. A good scan would reveal more detail.
So the question has to be asked. Has technology really moved on all that much? For ease and accessibility, yes, but for the quality of the final image, probably not. It just takes a bit more time and belief that something will come out.
I booted up the computer, logged on and stocked up on Neopan 1600. I want to get to most from this camera, before its one Achilles heel, the availability of film, renders it obsolete.
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