I’m going to do something radical – go back to film!

Ok ok, not really going back but I will get a film camera again. I think I once mentioned half kidding that I want a medium format camera (2nd hand kits come cheap these days), but now I decided to settle with 35mm. The reason it’s happening now is that my 40D has to go to service and although I’ve played with the thought of relying on my G10 during that time, in the end I just couldn’t cope with the idea of living without an SLR. Besides, an analogue SLR is a whole lot more fun than a digital compact!

The running costs of shooting film will be high, because now I have to pay for each exposure. But then again this is a hobby – the most important part is that I enjoy it. The feeling of seeing the new slides on the light table is quite simply unbeatable, I’ve missed it from the very beginning when I switched to digital. You can think of it this way – with film you have to finish the picture before you press the shutter, so you better make sure you got everything right. With digital, you can snap and check the LCD, and try again… and then download the RAWs and start working on them. It kind of dilutes the sense of achievement even if the picture turns out to be great. I’m not very disciplined so if an easy road is offered to me (like checking the histogram instead of double checking exposure beforehand), I’ll take it. Slide film doesn’t offer any such shortcuts.

And let’s face it – digital captures may be cheap, but the digital cameras sure ain’t!

A 5D mkII costs about 25000 SEK and a used 5D (mk I) costs about 10000 SEK. I’m getting an EOS 3, which is roughly the film equivalent of a 5D (mk whatever). Back when it was still sold as new, it cost about 12-13K but I’m now getting it for about 10% of the original price. Before I switched to digital, I had an EOS 5 which was 3’s predecessor. The 5’s can still be found and they would be even cheaper than a 3, but I didn’t want the same camera I once sold myself and the price isn’t an issue in any case, not when people are just trying to get rid of their old kit.

Having said that, my decision has nothing to do with money (other than realising that it isn’t such a big investment at all). It’s just a desire to try something new – or old, as the case may be!