SHOOTING FILM (AGAIN) // OLYMPUS TRIP 35 + KODAK BW400CN

by: Maira Martins

About two months ago I did something crazy: I placed a bid for a batch of 41 rolls of expired film on ebay. And I won! Back in 2005, when I started learning photography, I shot film. It’s not a glamorous story, really. There were not many digital cameras available and even if there were plenty, I simply couldn’t afford one. All I had was an old Minolta XG-1 from 1978, inherited from my father, and one single lens, a 49mm f/1,7. Heck, I was so broken I couldn’t even afford buying and developing film! But I loved that camera! I read and studied a lot and practised by doing air-photos (I was pressing the shutter, I just didn’t had any film inside the camera, lol!) so that on the few occasions I could use film, I wouldn’t blew completely my chances – and my finances.

Fast forward to 2011. I moved to SWEDEN to live with Jaanus and he bought a digital camera for us. He knew I loved photography and wanted to stimulate me to get back to learning it. That was my first DSLR. I had a simple point and shoot digital camera (and plenty of film ones, for with time I ended up building a little collection of cheap 35mm compact cameras) but that was a completely different game. A DSLR!!! I finally had the chance to take millions of photos of the same thing, and to understand how light works by actually seeing the results right there and then! I still think this is a fantastic learning tool, to be able to shoot as much as I want and then download everything and immediately SEE what I have done. However, it also made me a bit more lazy. Suddenly, knowing I could take 1000 photos of ___ (insert any subject you want here) caused me to stopping doing an effort to actually find the best combination of light, angle, lens for that same subject. Digital photography made me more comfortable in so many levels, but film photography used to make me take more risks. And risks are a big part of the learning process and developing one’s style.

So that’s why I bought 41 freaking rolls of expired film. I have no pretensions of being the next José Villa, I don’t even plan to buy medium format cameras and call myself a film photographer. No. But I felt I had to go out with the oldest and cheapest camera I could think of, with expired and unpredictable film and to risk coming home without a single picture to tell the story. That would be an exercise for me to get back to that mindset I had before, that every single frame was precious, was expensive and I only had a single chance to make it right.

So here it is, world. My (re)first roll of film. Have fun!

Shot with a 1967 Olympus Trip 35 (bought for 75 sek in a 2nd hand store, or about 10 usd) and a roll of Kodak BW400CN expired in 2007, developed by CARMENCITA FILM LAB. The whole film was exposed with +1 to compensate for the age. Not sure if that was the best move, as the film is quite contrasty under bright light and absolutely useless in low light. The camera works with focus zones, which is haaard. Still trying to get the hang of it. And loving the results, so far!