In this blog post, I am going to share about my thought on bringing only film cameras to Taipei one month ago.
Lomochrome Purple, Jiu Fen (2017)
Feeling lighter
With that trip, we only had one film camera each; a Leica M6 for me and Contax TVS for Emilia. Although film camera is not necessarily lighter, but I think it helped to minimise the ‘space’.
For example, I didn’t need to bring 2 batteries if I were to bring my X-pro 2, and the charges. Okay, the charges didn’t take up much space but what I mean is that since film camera has no battery, I didn’t need to bother charging them every night.
That’s alleviating.
Lesser photos
Fujicolor Industrial 400, Shi Fen (2017)
Emilia only used 2 films for that 5 days. She’s the ultimate living example of making every shot counts.
As for me, I shot a total of five rolls. That means at the end of the trip, I had about 180 photos.
If I were to shoot with my digital, I could easily shoot 1000 photos for a trip. Which I don’t find myself looking at them after the trip because they were mostly just repeats of the same scene. And it makes me feel frustrated choosing and browsing, and they ended up in the hard disk and never get ‘published’.
Feeling like a hipster
San Francisco, Lomography (2012)
When I see everyone else is using the bulky dSLR or phone, I feel unique.
And I also feel the sense that I am documenting the world and my travel diary in a special medium that is gonna last a life time.
In a sense, you can say that I felt superior. Muahaha!
To be honest, I have seen a few travelers on the road that also use film. I just didn’t have the courage to say hi.
Save my time
Lomography CN 100, Xi Men Ding (2017)
For film, I shoot, I send to the lab, I get them back, I post them up.
No need to edit, because I love just they way they look.
Conclusion
Lomochrome Purple, Cat Village Taiwan (2017)
Right now, I am feeling so pleased that I ‘discovered’ film and travel with film cameras (film based traveler, haha).
Actually, I know there are many people who have also started to travel with films but mostly in hybrid style. Meaning they have digital as their main camera and film for occasional shots.
I challenge you to travel with only film camera in the future and be a film based traveler too.
If you are new to this film photography blog, start here. Or head over to Film Look for sample of each film.
