Komaflex-S

I got some of the film back from the Komaflex-S a few weeks back.

I say "Some film," and what I mean is "the first two rolls through this camera in more than fifty years."

Due to operator error, not much turned out - I was doing what I do with my 35mm cameras, which is "snap picture, advance one lever pull."  This camera, however, requires two lever advances (approximately) per shot. Otherwise, your photos will overlap.

Because of this, less than half of each roll turned out. It was entirely operator error - the camera itself functions beautifully.  Even if you need to make educated guesses at the correct shutter speed.

I shot mostly around my office, and a few of them turned out:



In the background, there, you can see Dasha. In the foreground, there is some tea and Polaroid flash. Because I always have camera gear with me. And I'm not sure why I like this shot so much, but I do like it a lot.



See? I can occasionally make things turn out. This photo was, for me, confirmation that the camera is good.

This last one was taken by a friend who was visiting.  It's a double-image, but it turned out very well (thanks in no small part, I'm sure, to some work done by the crew at Blue Moon Camera).



Believe me, I'd like to take credit for this one.

I have a few more rolls ready for processing - honestly, the 127 film is surprisingly cheap. It's only $4 per roll to process. And then it's $20 to scan the negatives, which is why I'll eventually be getting a dedicated negative scanner.  That $20 adds up quickly ...

Local Film Shops

My primary hobby is gaming.  This photography thing is a secondary hobby for me.

In gaming, there is a huge uproar in general about the role of internet retailers in the hobby. See, gaming is a very low-profit industry. Even one or two online purchases can badly hurt your local store.

I don't know what the bottom line looks like in photography, but I suspect it's not much better. Especially with more and more people going digital - you lose a lot of follow-up sales when the media is re-writable and anyone with a printer can create decent prints.

I will not take my film to be processed anywhere I can't visit in person.  In fact, I require such a visit before I turn my first roll in.  I just want to make sure that the people I'm trusting with my film know more than I do about photography, and that the bulk of my money is supporting a local economy.

Thankfully, I live in the Seattle area. We are rich with decent camera shops at a wide variety of prices.  I'm in Everett, so Ken's Camera is my first choice.  They're open Saturdays, and the guy knows his stuff.  And has some screaming good bargains.

I work in Tukwila, so I'll go to Tall's Camera on my lunch break occasionally.They're much more digital than film these days, but several of the staffers can still talk film intelligently (which I appreciate).

When it comes to the more obscure film types - 4x5 Sheet and 127 Roll, there are places downtown that can handle it.  Panda and Glazer's and Moon Camera.  But I've been sending that film to Blue Moon in Portland. Because when I walk into Glazer's, I feel ... uncomfortable.  I don't know what it is about the store, but I feel less like a co-hobbyist and more like a customer.  Blue Moon made me feel like a teammate or a partner. It helps that Blue Moon isn't any more expensive than the others, either. Even when you factor shipping into the equation.

And I've never had them steer me wrong.  Several times, now, I've sent them film that didn't turn out and they discounted the amount they charged me. Or didn't scan the negative that didn't turn out (and then didn't charge me for that negative, either).

It's a degree of honesty that probably doesn't help their bottom line on a case-by-case, but it certainly has kept me coming back as often as I could afford to do so. And I'm likely to keep on doing so into the future.

I honestly don't have a grudge against the Ritz Empire, either - Cameras West locally is part of the Kits/Ritz family of stores. And I know that some of them are ... not good. But the one that's a block from my office seems to have a manager with a good head on his shoulders who knows about film photography.

It's my backup plan. Once I move, I won't have much access to Ken's - which is a shame. It's a good shop.

I need to see if there is a good photography shop near my new house ...

Shooting With The Big Camera

A few months ago, now, my wife and I (and her best friend, Erin) went to a convention. This happens pretty regularly, actually. But this convention was - for me - pretty special. Because we were going to break out the big camera. If you've been reading since the beginning, you'll know that this refers to a Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic camera which was given to me by a customer. And the film was a gift from a co-worker whose father had been a photographer.

Erin is a bit of a photography nut, too, so we both geeked out for a bit before loading the film. It took us about half an hour to load the film. Because we were totally new at it, and we were loading all of the film holders I have.

Once the film was loaded, we realized we'd need to shoot out a window that didn't open.  And, as it was night, it would have to be a relatively long exposure. So we'd need stability.

In the room, there was a small end table.  But it wasn't tall enough to just set the camera on, so we brought out the camera box as well - it was just tall enough to work.

Then I focused as best I could, and Erin held a sweatshirt over the camera as a lens hood to avoid glare from the window.  My wife, meanwhile, stood there and laughed at us (with good reason).

We too two shots, and then went and unloaded film from the camera and boxed it in a light-tight box.

The next day, while Stephanie enjoyed the convention, Erin and I headed to Blue Moon Camera to pick up film for the Komaflex and see about having the film for the Big Camera processed.

We ended up finding a new strap for the Komaflex (which it needed), and we grabbed film for it, and we dropped off the 4x5 sheet film for processing.

The next afternoon, we took another few shots with the big camera. Those haven't been processed, yet, but the  shots from that first night have.

They were too dark, otherwise I'd be showing them off, here.

Don't worry - I'm sure I'll have photos to show in the not too-distant future.

The Mystery

The first day I brought a film camera into work, I shot a full roll of film.  One of my co-workers is young.  Very young. I had to explain the concept of film to her.

In fact, as soon as I snapped this shot, she looked at me, and asked, "Did it turn out?"

Now, admittedly, it'd been a while since I shot film.  Long enough, in fact, that I would snap the pic and then look at the back of my camera. Long enough that the film it contained was expired. Long expired.

So it's possible that it wouldn't have turned out.  Very possible, in fact.

That gamble - "I may have just wasted that shutter click," - is part of what makes shooting film so much fun.

I do enjoy expired film, because it usually works just fine, but once in a while you get something unique or magical that you couldn't replicate on your own, no matter what software you used.

This is far from my best shot, but I do like how it turned out.

Every shot on that roll was a mystery - more than the usual, "Will it turn out?"

What sparked the need for this blog, by the way, was the development of my first two shots from what we call "the big camera."  The Graflex.

I was pretty sure the photos wouldn't turn out, but I had to try.

I'll tell you about those next week.