The Film Photographs of 2016

In 2016, I have been shooting digital over film all the way. My film camera, Nikon EM on a drawer caught my eyes. I realized I had two rolls of 100 ISO, which will be expired more than a year. I decided to let my best friend, Carlo learn how to open the film camera and put the roll in it without the instruction. He couldn’t figure out until I gave him some hints. He finally did it! haha!

Therefore, the roll began. I found it difficult to carry the film camera with me everyday because the photos with both of film and digital cameras are similar. I kept forgetting to grab the film camera before it got dark. It doesn’t have a built-in flash. I tried my best to capture the perfect pictures in good time.

Here are all of the developed photos. I opted out a few underexposed ones.

What Vancouverites look like

Vancouver is obviously a multicultural and happy city. There are various people — Canadians, Asians, Europeans, and more. They set up several events such as Canada day, Japanese Festivals, and many more! If no events, people still have fun activities on their own.

How to get 35mm film out of its canister

Well, I accidentally rewinded the first roll of 800 ISO after loading it in Nikon EM. I thought I would toss the roll or just keep it for my treasure. Nonetheless, there is something lucky I found on the Internet. I successfully got film out of its canister!

First, you have to rewind the roll until it is smooth. Then, put the blank film in the canister deeply just like half inch. Lastly, rewind it until it gets stuck. If it doesn’t work, take the blank film out and put it again. Rewind it. See the GIF.

See how I can get the film out of its canister! Whooo!

Brighter moments

I tried the first roll of 100 ISO with Nikon EM. That ISO requires bright light just like outdoor on a sunny day. I mostly took photos of people and objects with the direct sunlight. The undeveloped film has been over a month until it was finally done! I can’t believe how much patience I had. haha!

As for the previous rolls, the images didn’t get burned in DVD as I didn’t know about new tech things. I decided to tell the customer service to burn DVD and to print photos. Once developing, I was slightly surprised by how bright all of the pictures are! Different kinds of ISO totally confused me, yet at least, I learned this already. Next time, when the rolls get done I will order DVD instead of the prints. I won’t get a stack of photos. haha! Of course, I can get prints for decorations.

Nikon EM

It seems like I am a camera hoarder. haha! Nope, photography is just my hobby. The photos intend to be great moments!

The history of photography on Youtube is very interesting! I checked Craigslist website. I found Canon AE-1. I heard it’s good and popular; however, I am considered about it. It won’t work without a battery. The battery will drain fast during the cold temperature (winter). Then, Nikon EM was found! It also has a couple of batteries, yet it still works without them! I met a seller and finally bought the camera!

I tried the first roll of 800 ISO film. I realized I didn’t properly load the film in the camera before the pictures got exposed. It means I shot all in one frame. My mistake. haha! I tried the second roll. It worked!

I was a bit nervous about 800 ISO as it gets exposed quickly. But at least, I have already set up “auto” mode with the camera. After developing the film, I learned a few pictures are blank and dark because of the lower brightness (not exposed enough). I was lucky! I did take many photos in the dark places. I didn’t get the first film developed yet. Whew~ See the pictures.

Konstruktor DIY 35mm SLR Camera

For this year, I wanted to try something new. It’s a film camera. I first saw film photos on Instagram. I couldn’t stop viewing them. I never knew how film camera works. I, of course, used to have a film camera (owned by my family) a long time ago; nevertheless, it was simple and automatic. I currently have DSLR cameras.

I have been searching for DIY film camera until I finally ordered Konstruktor Super Kit from Lomography website. I went to a superstore to buy film rolls. Yet, I realized the photo laboratory in the store and some places shut down already. I was supposed to buy lomography camera 3 years ago, but I was broke. haha! I purchased film rolls (Lomography Color Negative 400 ISO 35mm 3 packs) from Beau Photo Supplies.

The package arrived. Let’s get started to build! It took 2 hours as the instruction book is terrible.

I first pressed the shutter release and I was like, “Did I shake the camera? It has no screen!” After developing the film, I was very nervous as I thought the photos would be ruined. They come out nice, though.

Here is the first roll. I chose the good photos. (click to view the larger pictures)

Second roll

I will post another blog about other SLR camera and 800 ISO. It’s so exciting!