Camera Connections
Using my dad's film cameras...
I’ve never really loved a camera. I for sure have feelings towards some, and I can chart memories with them. I still have my Canon Eos 1Ds. That felt like the first ‘proper’ camera that was mine. The files were great and it made a brilliant sound. As long as you didn’t have to shoot above 800iso or need to let a burst go…which I often did at the time. I’m also very fond of my Leica M6.
A moment in my history was when I downsized from the ‘larger’ Canon bodies to 5D’s. But they came and went in my life. My point is I see them as tools, and that’s about it.
However, I do have a draw towards cameras that belong to my Dad. It sounds obvious, but that connection to his work, and him, I do appreciate. As I’ve tried to use a little more film over the last year or two, I’ve leant into this. He has kept a collection of Nikon film cameras that meant something to him down the years. His FM2 and 85mm lens is a fave of mine. I first used it properly in 2019 when we made a film of Angus Morton riding an elongated 500km Coast-to-Coast. My goal was to make a few portraits of him along the way. Ironically I left half the roll unused in camera, then Covid happened and somehow I forgot about it. Only getting round to developing it a couple of years later. Gus described it as a ‘document long thought lost’.
I took it with me whilst shooting a jersey for an Albion launch. I rattled off a few frames on a roll of Tri-X, and as is often the way, these are what I look back on most fondly. Switching the brain into manual focus mode is a challenge I relish.
Seun and Molly, Wales.
The Battle for an F5
The Nikon F5 was one of the last ‘pro’ film bodies. Digital had begun and I think it kind of slips in the cracks of history. It also weighs a ton. Dad had left the AA batteries in it since it was last used somewhere at the turn of the century. Which had done it no favours. I tried in the Spring of 2024 to get it to work, but no luck. I tried multiple times through the summer, but each time it just wouldn’t come to life. Someone asked why I didn’t pick one up off ebay, but I didn’t want an F5, I wanted my Dad’s F5. Eventually with some white vinegar, the battery ports gave way and it came to life. I hurried a roll of film that had been badly kept (and expired twenty-plus years ago) through it to see if it worked. Same 85mm lens.
(The film was Fuji Superior 800 - now extinct I think)
I’d wanted to photograph a bike race on film, which was my part plan for this camera. Hence the rush with the test. I did so here, also alongside my own Leica M6. I enjoyed the process. My friend Charlie was the first finisher, which made it more enjoyable.
He looks dead. Might well have been after a 33hour ride with 20mins stop time.
Somewhere along the North Norfolk Coast, Portra.
Portrait of Harvey on Portra on the last morning.
My Mum was not a photographer. She’s been gone more than seven years now, but I was hoping to make use of her old Olympus Mju. I don’t have really strong memories of her using it, but I can picture it sat in the centre box of her car, or in a basket by the door in the kitchen. It was always around. It feels like a relic of the 90’s, and a connection to my childhood.
I’ve put a few rolls through it on holiday/around the place, and I’ve had to admit that it’s not in great condition. I’ve taken it apart to clean the AF window (electric shocks along the way), but I can’t get a marked improvement. My hunch is the AF window is impaired, and so it is at best inconsistent beyond about 3meters. Which makes a point and shoot a bit useless. I have looked into a full repair, but I’ll save that for another time. If it wasn’t my Mum’s I’d for sure cast it aside. But using it is fun. I love that it was my Mums.
Tenerife on Kodak Gold, Jan 2025.
What’s the point of this post? I’m not sure. I think the ease with which we just snap away through modern life on phones/the latest tech, I want to find a place to slow down and use film, and sometimes feel a connection to the camera I’m using. It feels important to me. Maybe one day someone will enjoy my Leica because it was mine. Not because I did anything great with it, but because it is a connection to me. If someone felt that, I’d probably meant something to someone.
Great article and wonderful photos. I particularly enjoyed the shot of the sky taken on your dad’s F5. The expired film and composition came together to create a really powerful image.
I’m a big fan of bringing old tools and machines back to life, so I completely agree with your perseverance in extending the life of things that hold real meaning. This constant push for performance often ends up detracting from the experience and connection we build with the tools we use.
Older, well-made equipment carries its own character and quirks, and that’s where the bond is formed. It’s a far cry from the sterile ease of new technology that does the same thing again and again, without asking anything of us in return...
Looking forward to the next one Rupert!