film photography has grown from a hobby i struggled to get to stick to a passion. i have over the past few years developed enough of a collection to develop and scan my own film, and hopefully soon i will even be able to respool my own film.
i am so gracious to have a small community of photographers around me that i can share my work with and who i can grow with. that definitely helps me keep shooting.
there will be a gallery of my work on this site eventually, but for now you can look at my glass to see if im good or if i suck.
https://glass.photo/emma-abitia
my film lab project can be found at timege.ist
gear
fully taking this idea from a good friend. a short list of the cameras that i use regularly. i have other weird cameras in my collection but this is what i shoot most often.
cameras (regular rotation)
- Nikon N90s – top tier 90s tech. having autofocus on a film camera feels like cheating, but it is nice to have a good, reliable camera that will work through anything
- Nikkormat EL – the only way to shoot Aperture Priority with pre-Ai lenses. A tank of a camera (as all Nikons are) and my dedicated black and white shooter.
- Olympus XA – 35mm f/2.8 this little camera looks like an ugly 80s toy but takes some incredible pictures. the lens is way sharper than it has any right being.
- Minolta x-370 – honestly everything that i could want out of an SLR. it’s brilliant, its works with my brain, and i’ve gotten some absolutely incredible shots with it.
- Bronica ETR – a poor woman’s Mamiya. A wonderful little system camera that shoots incredible 6×4.5 120 photos. It is a little heavy, but that’s well worth the added quality and bokeh over 35mm. Very quickly working its way up to being an all time fav
lenses
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D – the Nikon standard issue nifty fifty. every Nikon shooter loves this lens, and for good reason.
- Nikon 28mm PC – a “Perspective Control” or shift lens. i have so many thoughts.
- Nikon 70-210 f/4-5.6 AF – I want to take my photography a bit more seriously. and to achieve that, i went back on my “primes only” rule. i’m sorry.
- Minolta MD Rokkor-x 45mm f/2 – everyone needs a sharp nifty fifty. Super compact and a dream to use.
- Bronica ETR 90mm f/2.8 – medium format equivalent of the Nifty Fifty. The lens that lives on my Bronica
- Bronica ETR 150mm f/4 – mild telephoto/portrait lens for the Bronica. Very heavy, only gets pulled out when i need it.
film
i’m still experimenting with film stock. turns out there’s a LOT of different films out there, even after they got discontinued. i mostly shoot Ilford HP5 in black and white. i did mostly shoot Fuji Superia 400 for color, but sourcing that has gotten a bit weird so i think my default color might move to either Kodak Gold 200 or Portra 800. tbd. most of my shooting is in the beautiful but forever rainy Pacific Northwest. so ya know, that does influence me a lot.
darkroom/scanning
i’ve been bitten by the “you dont spend enough money on this hobby, here’s a tangential hobby” bug. now i wanna make my own darkroom.
black and white is deved either normally using HC110, or Stand Dev in Rodinal in house by TimeGeist Photographic Systems. color film is developed either by Panda Lab in Queen Anne or by Taco Bell Labs in Capitol Hill.
all film scanned on a V600 or a Nikon Coolscan (whatever liz has)
because what good is taking a bunch of photos if no one else will ever see them.