THANK goodness for the digital camera. Back in the yesteryears, our options were either the 35mm or 110mm. Having owned both a 35mm and 110mm camera, I’m appreciative of the modern day digital models and smartphones.
Unless you were a professional, using a non-digital camera was kind of similar to the lottery: hit the shutter button and hope for the best, then find out if you’d got lucky when the photos were collected from the chemist.
My previous experience of using a non-digital camera and developing films went something like this:
Drop my three rolls of used film off at the chemist. A week later, I’d pay an absolute fortune to collect the developed photos. Filled with excitement, I’d dash home and look forward to seeing the fruits of my snapping. I’d start flicking through the photos… great photo followed by shaky photo… blinding bright photo followed by pitch black photo… no photo followed by another no photo… the whole shebang was a bit like the lottery.
The final calculations were as follows:
Photos taken = 72
Cost to develop = Painfully expensive.
Acceptable photos = 40 (at a push)
Success percentage = 55.5%
I love digital cameras but the thing is this: I now rarely have any physical photos. With the non-digital camera, I received physical photos that could be stuck in an album and quickly be showcased to guests, but with digital photos, I tend to store them on an external hard drive or a USB stick and only see them again whilst searching frantically for something urgent.
Maybe, just maybe, a non digital camera may be more beneficial for building up my physical photo collection. There’s just the question around whether I’d send the rolls of film away to be developed, or will there be a collection of undeveloped rolls of film stashed away in a drawer?
5 jolly good reasons to subscribe to Retrohen #keepitretro
- Original posts – none of this cutting and pasting cheating stuff.
- Landing straight to your inbox – no need for any frustrating searches.
- No pop-ups to distract your reading pleasure.
- No annoying adverts flashing in your face.
- There are some sites, that once you’ve subscribed, you wish you hadn’t – with Retrohen you’ll only receive nostalgic memories.
Reminisce on the Keep it with Kodak advert below
True accounting of the modern vs film photography. I found myself nodding throughout! I like the two pronged approach too. What really clinched it for me was that my Mom on every visit would nag me to go through the old photo archives (Polaroids, box cameras and some digital disk prints). Of course I left it for the last minute of my visit and would just take a few. She passed in 2022 and reflecting and reviewing these gems really was a wonderful photo essay of our family life. My last visit in the Fall was productive because I attempted to separate the photos for my siblings, nieces/nephews and me. Many happy tears shed! Only went through about 1/3! Thanks for this article, David Henningham!
Thanks for your comment and memories, Linda. Sorry about the passing of your dear mom. You comment really just shows the wonderful emotional side of having prints ❤️