I am constantly in struggles in not picking up any of my film cameras. However, they do speak in a silent voice for a photographer for a picture, a stroll in my neighborhood, a story to be told, a poem in the making, a song to be sung and a journey to be discovered. I am in the crossroads in falling in love with digital and films at the same time. And I wish I have the all the time as a full time professional who can fund my hobbies without guilt. Time and Money are the constraints in the hobby.
It is not my Dell, not my Macbook but my Pentax is calling me for actions. But it is expensive to fund my photography hobby as an enthusiast. All the gear, accessories and film processing put a dampen effect on the hobby. I keep asking for practical means others have thought about in funding their hobbies. And I have added three Affiliates marketing banner in my blog page on the sidebar. Please help support this site through your future potential purchases of photography gear and accessories from affiliate banner links with BPPhoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Film is always beautiful and intriguing to me along with my digital gear. I got my first roll of Fuji Superia 200 developed and I am surprised with how good color film can help capture the scene in my weekend hiking trip with my Ricoh xr-p and Cosina 55mm f/1.2.
All shot with Ricoh xr-p and Cosina 55mm f/1.2
in Fuji Superia 200
in Fuji Superia 200
I thought about giving up on my film gear to cut down on cost. And that includes my Pentax 645N and my 35mm film gear. That will help in cost but likely to suck huge time in my hobby. If you check on my past gear and knowing what I have been through in various control exercises as in three months LBA moratorium in the past, they don't particularly work well for me. I always love trying out something different, be it on film or digital. And I surely love to blog about them in this blog to share my experience with others. I know that gear hunting is not photography and having another lens or another camera won't do a thing in improving my skills in photography. But I see the lame excuse of freedom, excitement and enthusiasm with a strange tool that invites me to explore with pictures and journey to be untold. I do extend my dilemma with my readers and I ask for your help to consider your future potential purchases of photography gear and accessories with affiliate links that you see on this blog. Your help and continued support is very much appreciated.
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6 comments:
Personally, I would probably give up any 35mm that didn't have sentimental value. I'd probably keep that 645N too, since it is amazing. In the end I think it all comes down to balance. Clearly the future (and present) is digital, so I don't see a point in keeping more than one or two 35mm lying around.
My K-7 arrived today and I've just finished charging the batteries and updating the firmware. In addition to the two kit lenses, I also won an e-bay bid for a Pentax-M 50mm 1.7 ($39 shipped) that should be here tomorrow.
As badly as I would like some of the nicer lenses, I can't afford the new stuff. So I'm keeping an eye out for cheap glass now. I'm an Amazon associate as well, and B&H contacted me to join them, though I declined for the moment. Seems like a good way to make extra hobby money if you can get the traffic (and clicks).
Well, Hin, sometimes I just wonder how much those photographic gear costs us and will cost us? And, how much money could we earn by including all those Ads in our websites? In fact, I think our hobby is not much costly when it is compared to other more expensive ones. And more importantly, for most of us, the gear we have is indeed just far more than what we need in taking photographs! Say, nowadays, an elementary DSLR kit set will do many things, already!
Hin, I hear you and can comment with pages of rants regarding this very topic...But let me address this with a short simple rant. First I agree that this hobby can get expensive. I shutter to think of what I have spent on this. I though Golf was expensive enough...
Ok, I really love to shoot film. I love the feel and look of the film bodies. I love the hunt for that one picture that will make the expense of shooting analog 35mm worth it. I love raising my camera and look through the view finder only to see that there is no picture there. I also love it when that picture is there. (atleast for my taste)So for me, I enjoy the tool. But then comes the cost..Well personally since 95% of what I shoot is street, the grainy, dirty, offly composed, imperfect images work great. So most of the film I use is cheap 99 cents film. I also have a fridge full of expired Superia 400 and tons of Ilford XP-2 that I bought from a brick and mortar store that closed down. Found it on ebay and drove to the store.I paid 99 cents for each roll as well. I will usually shoot 2 rolls at a time and have the film processed at Target. Processing at target cost 99 cents and the cd is another $1.99 for a total of $6.00 + the 10% sales tax that we Californians pay..So to me this is very reasonable. On the other hand, I just loaded a roll of Velvia 50 that cost me $8.00 and will cost me $20.00 for the processing and cd at the pro shop. So I will be into this roll over $30.00 with tax. ''OUCH''!!!!...But I am so enjoying the hunt for the perfect light and scene. The last roll of Velvia 50 I shot took me nearly 4 months to shoot and was well worth it to me.
I would just let go of the film bodies but keep all the 645 lenses because you'll want a 645D(yes ...you will) and for 35 keep all the ltds...everything else just let them go.
You know People need people like you Hin. You are a connoisseur of cameras and especially Pentax. With all your equipment I see a chance for you to start a rental company that rents equipment. There are many for Nikon and Canon but very few for Pentax. You should also start a Photo Meetup Group with small affordable membership in your home town and you can teach what you know since Photography has gotten so Popular these days but really the Newbies don't know how to use their cameras and take nice pictures. These two ways could really fund your Photography Hobby and maybe even lead to more. I too at time feel a bit over spent with my equipment as i have recently acquired the smc M 28 2.8 and M 55 1.8 but have not had a lot of time to use them and they sit waiting for a day. Hopefully the day will come soon.
You could also volunteer at a boys and girls club and teach photography there. I still have my Pentax film camera but its just sits in an air tight bag as the Dslrs rule these days.
Thank you all for the kind comments and supports. I will hopefully reply thoroughly soon when more time allows. I still love film and I need to sort out my priorities to keep the cost down. And that includes great suggestion from Justin in learning to develop your own film in b&w. Time is the bigger factor that makes things more complicated. I ain't ready to stop film as I find it very enjoyable and rewarding experience though the cost and time involved. Thank you all!
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