I use to think shooting film required a focal hit to miss ratio. This always made me nervous to shoot important things (paying gigs, personally interesting people/places/things) since I really wanted my shots to nail it. I had the right composition, light, vibe, subject, etc. but always found myself in a position of missing shots due to focus issues. If I shot digital I would nail the photograph every time; so why should this be any different with shooting film?
After exploring several different styles of film cameras I’ve come to the conclusion that in some cases, what I’m shooting with (camera/lens/film) will affect the quality of the photograph that I’m trying to achieve. Now… I know this may seem very obvious but I love finding the underdog in cameras to present great shots without having to invest in high dollar equipment, I mean… shooting film is already expensive enough as it is.
These were all shot with my Yashica FX-3 Super and Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 lens with Kodak’s Tri-X 400. Absolutely amazing lens! Not so great camera body. Killer film! The camera body doesn’t really let me shoot any faster than f/4 if I want to actually hit the right focus. Although the focus hit on these shots pretty solid, I’m going to switch over to my reciently revived Canon ELAN using the same lens utilizing manual focus as well as the Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens that’s really killer.
Lets talk about good ol’ Canon for a minute. The Canon ELAN is so underutilized in the film shooting community. I mean, it’s large and plastic, but light weight and super effective. You can easily pick one up for $100, throw a solid lens on it and be confident you’ll capture some amazing images.
When I first started shooting film I shot with the ELAN. The first time I took it on a ride (like I said, it’s surprisingly light) I was hit by a car and thus the Canon was no more… so I thought. Really the crappy lens that was on it was no more. The body survived the impact while I went through a cars window; so although the camera body is plastic, it can take a punch.
OK… now lets talk about the best kept secret in Canon’s arsenal of lenses… the 50mm f/1.8 STM. SO. GOOD!!! And can easily be found for about $100. If you can put aside the build quality of both the Canon ELAN and the 50mm f/1.8 STM, and focus on the precision and quality glass you’d be shooting with, then you’ll have a VERY nice film shooting combo you can be confident in. I know I am and super excited to have discovered it.
Thanks for reading my take on some fun topics. Here are some of my favorite photographs from my recently developed roll of Kodak Tri-X 400. Cheers!
