It’s been 8 months since I made the decision to leave Australia and move to Osaka, Japan and it’s been an incredible experience. One of the biggest challenges I had when packing was choosing which cameras to bring over to use during my time here. After much contemplation I settled on these three: Fujifilm XT1 (digital, I know), Fujifilm GA645 and the Lomo’Instant Wide camera (which I barely ended up using).
I have had my Canon AT-1 for 30 years this year, my first ‘proper’ camera when I first started to study photography in the 6th Form. I took it to Iceland with a 28mm f2.8 lens, alongside my D810 and IR converted D90 a couple of years ago. I chose to shoot Redscale as I had a camera that would take ‘normal’, albeit digital, pics.
I live in Singapore now, and the one thing that really bugs me here is the fact you never really get a clear view of the sky. Everything is built upwards, and it’s so dense that it almost feels claustrophobic sometimes. You pretty much have to point your head straight up to see a reasonably-sized bit of blue, and even then, you’re probably going to get three or four high-rise buildings peeking into your field of vision (and it probably won’t even be blue because it rains half the time here).
Dear Readers, I still have a few rolls of Ektar 25 in 120 size in my freezer. My rolls expired in 1995, but fortunately they seem to be responding correctly without obvious color shifts. Of course, now I wish I had bought much more 25 (or Royal Gold 25, which was the same thing) before it was discontinued around 2000. Winter in Mississippi has some days with drizzle or soft light with overcast skies, which are perfect for the Ektar’s unique palette.
Internet reviews of the Vivitar 35ES seem to agree that it’s a well built camera with a great lens, but which is otherwise uninspired. So why did I get get it?
