The nom de guerre “sneakerzoom” refers to my outspoken preference for not using zoom-lenses. As you may have noticed I also have a penchant for old-fashioned rolls of film and am fairly agnostic to which it is or what it’s in. I’ve been doing this picture-thing for quite some time now and keep returning to the unpredictability of film photography, as there’s something about emulsions, like cooking recipes, that makes me feel good about creating something ‘real’ – as flawed as it may be. That basically sums it up.
I have a small (not according to the missus) collection of gear and a dwindling stash of -sometimes very expired- films. Among the cameras you’ll find Nikon FE’s, a Nikon EF & an F100, an Olympus XA, a few Minolta Maxxum 7000s, a Minolta HiMatic 11, a few TLR’s (a Yashica Mat 124G and two Ricohflexes), a bunch of compact shooters like a Konica Genba Kantoku 28, Minolta AF-SV, ‘Leica’ AF-C1 and some other overpriced riff raff not worth listing, and a small selection of lenses. And yes, there are some zoom lenses in there as there is a purpose for them, albeit a small one (for me).
Cameras (and lenses) come and go which is sometimes regrettable but othertimes for the better. For example, I do miss my Zenit 12 coupled with a MIR 1B 37mm…but there’s no use crying over spilled milk as I replaced it with a HiMatic. Good move? Who knows and it doesn’t really matter. Do I have favorite cameras? Sure, and if I’d had to pick it would probably be the Yashica Mat. It has never failed me, is the easiest thing to operate and produces such nice pictures. And film? Possibly Vision3 250 (Kodak) or Pro 400H (Fuji). Those two emulsions have such a gorgeous look to them…there’s no other films like ’em. Of course, Fuji is no longer made, so Kodak it is (until Kodak decides us photographers are not worthy of their holier-than-thou film only meant to be handled by the likes of Christopher Nolan).
Can one ever own too many cameras? Yes, and no. I believe that if you want to become proficient in photography, throttle down the GAS and stick to one or two machines and one or two film stocks. But it’s just too much fun to try out all these wonderous pieces of (mostly) mechanical engineering and tiny cannisters with magical film inside. Maybe that’s why I’ll never be published, and who cares! It’s all just for fun – and in my case – brain-space. So, print your own pictures. It’s never been easier with all those photo book services on the interweb. A self-made photo book or print on the wall beats a phone screen any day of the week.
As an Old World immigrant, I am not native to Canadia, but I’ve resided in the Greater Toronto Area for a while now – and I love it here. This is one vast country, with wild nature, dense multicultural cities and a multi-layered history which is still being peeled back. In my allotted time on this tiny blue dot I hope to roam around even more than I already have as the luxury of space and opportunity offered to me here is something I could have never dreamed of.
Strap yer boots on, soak up the air, and get moving. There’s always some other place to explore.
* If you’re at all interested in how photographic film comes to be and the insane engineering magic that its creation requires, I highly recommend you have a look at a 3-part YouTube series Smarter Every Day made on how Kodak makes film. I think it’ll be very much worth your while. Here are the links for part 1, part 2 & part 3. Lastly, here’s a link to another Smarter Every Day episode when visiting Kamerastore in Finland (no plug), which illustrates the global challenges faced to source parts, repair and test gear – if at all still possible in this day and age. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply