Over the years I've owned a number of different film cameras, I still own a few of them from a Kodak Instamatic 25 camera to a more recent Canon EOS 30 Single Lens Reflex (SLR) film camera.
My use of film has dropped dramatically over time, but I have maintained an interest in it on an occasional basis.
Like a lot of other analogue things (planners included!) there has been a resurgence in people wanting to go back to using film photography, in the same way that there has been an increase in the number of LP vinyl records sold in the last few years.
I decided that this year I should do some more film photography. It is quite a challenge after using digital photography with the benefits of instantly being able to see your results.
To help with my understanding of the results of the pictures I hope to take this year I decided I needed to record the details of the photographs I take so I can look back and see the settings I had used.
One of the very first Filofax inserts I created/recreated was the Photography Exposure Record, I had some of these old Filofax inserts from the 1980's but they are no longer available.
Having used my own version I decided that there were a couple of things I could do to improve on the original version.
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| 1980's Photo Exposure Record insert |
Like the original I decided to do it in Personal size because this is very easy to carry around in my camera bag and it lends it self well for note taking whilst out and about. I also kept it in landscape format so that the rings don't get in the way, even less so in a slimline organiser. In the photos it is in a Holborn, but I also have a Finsbury which has smaller rings.
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| Original version at the top and the new version below |
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| The reverse side is the same format, printed on to Filofax Plain paper |
Photo Insert to be printed on Personal size paper: Word or PDF
Photo Insert to be printed on Personal on A4 sized paper: Word or PDF
Of course I could have used a smart phone app, or a simple notebook, but where is the fun in that!
I can imagine why the original sheets had 12 rows in total (6 per side), because the standard 35mm film lengths were 12. 24 & 36 as I recall. But I think you were sensible to use the space better by having 9 rows per side Steve.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, as usual, Steve. I never quite saw the point of the exposure record insert, but it hadn't really occurred to me that they were designed, primarily, for film photography, in which instance they are of considerable importance, bearing mind the time delay in taking a shot and seeing the end result. I suppose that way you are able to highlight mistakes by comparing the actual print with your actual settings, conditions etc.? I shall be interested in seeing how you get on if you also use them for digital photography. As a matter of interest, do you process your own films?
ReplyDeleteYes with EXIF data on digital files there's no real need for these sort of sheets, but very useful for film photography with the time delay as you say.
DeleteI have processed my films in the past mainly Black and White but I no longer have the developing tanks etc. I passed them on to students along with some older film cameras that I still had! Prackitca LTL3 and an Olympus OM30, there's only so many cameras you can hang on to? !!
These inserts are immensely useful. Being able to record all of these things for every frame is a necessity if you want to repeat results or make adjustments for next time. Also locations are often forgotten. Film/analogue photography is still fantastic to practice. It is harder to get correct exposure, etc when the exposure latitude is narrower on film (especially slide) than digital & therefore you must be more skilled. Also each picture taken costs money, so this is always in the back of your mind, making you think carefully before you shoot.
ReplyDeleteGood luck going back to your roots, Steve! I only shoot film these days and it has been so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI think it is going through a bit of a revival at the moment with Kodak announcing a return of Ektachrome film
DeleteI never liked the FF insert pictured at the top of the post - or any other similar one. I found everyone more or less has to develop their own based on what they want to record. I do shoot film and use a FF Malden Pocket as my shooting and darkroom organiser. It has my film log and printing log sheets as well as various data sheets (exposure guide, DOF tables etc).
ReplyDeletePicture here:
http://www.pbase.com/image/165130237
It goes in this bag:
http://www.pbase.com/mononation/image/158988465
Dave.
Does this platform allow you to direct link to a picture?
Hi Dave
DeleteThanks for your comment and for sharing the links to your own pages. The links worked fine.
Yes I know what you mean, the original one dates back to the 1980's when there was a huge number of inserts available. They got discontinued sometime in the 1990's I think, I still had some among my insert collection from then!
Thanks
Steve
I just wondered if the platform allowed direct links though, an image from my pbase account comes with a link that can be placed elsewhere on the web (e.g. Philofaxy comments) when it will show the pic - but without using up space/bandwidth on the, e.g. Philofaxy site.
DeleteDave.
Yes we can link external photos in to posts by knowing the url to link to.
DeleteThanks! I'll try that method in future.
DeleteDave.