Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.— Voltaire
Q: You haven’t written any Film Friday posts in a while, what’s up with that?—Igor, Seattle WA
A: It would be glib of me to answer that “I’ve been busy” but that is partially true. The other part is something that has been repeatedly told to me by many readers and that is “film photography is expensive.” This past week I spent some time doing some digital infrared photography using a camera that I had long ago paid for and didn’t even have to recharge; it still had a charge from the PhotoWalk I made with my pal Barry Staver. My out of pocket for the image I recently posted on Instagram and the one that will be featured in a post next Tuesday was just about zero. All of which is a long round way of saying, “I can’t afford it, right now” but I hope that will change soon.
Speaking of free…While this blog is free to access, it’s not free to produce. There are domain and server costs associated with producing it including the software to run and protect the site. My Webmaster is paid to maintain the structural and technical aspects for this and my car photography Blog. I don’t have personal sponsors as many manufacturer-paid bloggers do and the sponsors the blog does have don’t cover the operating costs. You can help by making a monthly contribution via Patreon. Memberships start at $1.25 a month with levels at $2.50 and $5 that include special benefits.That same page lets you to make a one-time contribution.
How I Made this Shot; I photographed this 1955 VW Beetle at the April Cars & Coffee at the Vehicle Vault using my limited edition Jaguar-themed Leica Z2X loaded with my favorite Kodak Gold 200 film. You can read all about it here.
Q: A while ago you wrote about getting some Frankenstein film that’s available from the Film Photography Project but you never did an actually review of the film, This black and white film is something I’m really interested in, so when will you review it?—Barbara, Wildwood NJ.
A: Depending on what your definition of “interesting” is, there’s an interesting story behind my experience with Frankenstein film. It started with me ordering a 35mm and a 120 roll of the film from the Film Photography Project. They sent me a 35mm roll but the 120 roll wasn’t Frankenstein but another, different roll of black and white film. My initial email to them went unanswered until much later and after I send a second email their reply was, “just because you sent an email doesn’t mean I received it.” That is certainly true but they did not offer to send me a replacement roll of film.
Initially I planned to shoot the 35mm film with my Hasselblad XPan but that turned into a fiasco when the camera ate the film. Yup, the dog ate my homework. I looked into getting the XPan repaired but it was challenging to find someone to do it and ended up being expensive to repair, if even possible. So I sold the camera as-is. I eventually received a 120 roll of Frankenstein when Used Photo Pro sent me one as part of their Film Fix monthly subscription. I have not shot that roll yet because my Seagull TLR doesn’t work all that well even after I spent good money having it repaired. Hence my hesitation to waste more money repairing the XPan. So, with Halloween coming, I thought I might give the film a try with my Holga.
Q: Did you join Mike’s (Camera) Smile Club as you mentioned in your post on comparing photo labs? If you did, are the benefits worth the initial cost?—Harry, Centennial CO
A: While the counter experience at my closest (Lone Tree) MIke’s Camera varies from barely adequate to highly professional, the quality of the products and service they deliver has been both consistent and first class while being available at a reasonable price. I expect the savings that are offered by their film club will be helpful to my wallet and plan to join when I shoot the next roil of film and take it to them for processing. In fact, I plan to write a Film Friday blog post about that experience, so hang in there with me…
If you would like to send me some 35mm film to review or any other film photography gear that could be used for these posts or in my YouTube videos you can mail it to: Joe Farace, PO BOX 2081, PARKER, CO 80134
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Used collector copies of my film-based book Part-time Glamour Photography – Full-time Income are available on Amazon starting at $36.48, with new copies selling for $62.96.