ImpossibleFX - photography | filmmaking

July 5, 2008

In 1994 I was introduced to 35mm single lens reflex cameras with the Pentax K-1000, an inexpensive amateur device that required no batteries unless you wanted to take advantage of the exposure meter in the viewfinder. The K-1000 was assigned to me in journalism class during my sophomore year in high school. Before then I had used a little plastic point and shoot 110 film camera whose brand and designation I can no longer recall. It may have been a Kodak 104 Instamatic, but I’m not too sure about that. Regardless, I had never used an SLR until high school and the little bugger changed my life.

The next year, I was asked to take over the photography department while the journalism supervisor dealt with the reporters. I was then responsible for teaching use of the cameras, dark room technique and basic photography etiquette to my peers and upperclassmen students alike. And I was good at it. The kids learned a lot and their photographs got better as the semester trolled along.

My senior year, the school upgraded to Canon EOS Rebels. Gone were the days of K-mount fully manual, heavy metal cameras. Now, you could have a fully automatic experience with little photographic insight in a plastic, lightweight camera with an on board flash. These new auto focus cameras needed batteries and the consumer-class zoom kit lenses weren’t as sharp, fast or precise as the Pentax’s 50mm primes, but the Rebel did auto forward the film.

After graduation, I signed up for a Discover Card on my way out of an English class my first semester of college. One of the first things I ever purchased on a credit card was a Canon Rebel XS-II kit along with a Canon case from Best Buy. The setup worked fine for several years until one day the curtain stopped working. I never sent it in for repair and because of my hectic work schedule, I silently walked away from photography.

In 2002, after shooting some short films and getting my schedule in order, I decided to pick up a Canon PowerShot G3. I figured digital was the way to go for an uninterested consumer like myself and that’s because years ago I swore that I’d never go digital anyway. But that was also when I swore I’d never leave photography.

The G3 worked great as I started to feel the pull back to photography. In 2003, I figured I would stay digital and move up toward the SLRs again: this time I got the Canon 300D Digital Rebel. The Rebel worked great until I dropped it after one of my first model shoots (in fact, I think it was my second model shoot ever) in 2004. The damage to my Rebel was an excuse to upgrade to the Canon EOS 20D which I still use in 2008.

I have no idea how many shutter cycles I’ve actuated on my 20D. Considering it’s four years old, it may have something around 40,000 cycles on it. Regardless, it’s a great little camera and I love it to death. Even when I upgrade to the 5D or 5D Mark II in the fall I’ll still keep my little 20D around as a backup body. In fact, the 20D has been so good to me, I haven’t been concerned with camera bodies at all for years, focusing instead on purchasing awesome Canon L lenses. Because remember: a camera body is just a light-tight box with a hole in it. Image quality and control is all about the glass in front of the body.

This year, however, I’ve decided to apply what I’ve learned about photography back into 35mm film. One of those “if only I knew then what I know now” paradoxes. Except this time, I’m going completely old school and am currently bidding on Canon FD-mount manual cameras and lenses on ebay. If all goes well, I should have two Canon AT-1 bodies and two fast Canon FD prime lenses, a Vivitar flash and some JC Penney 80-200mm zoom…all for about $120 after shipping.

Then I’m going to pick up all this unused Kodak T-Max 400 film (I somehow forgot to give back to the school in 1997) and some newer consumer snapshot film and…see what develops. It also helps that I now own a Sekonic light meter which will definitely come in handy.

So, that’s a little history of my photographic journey. I can’t wait to see what happens and share it with you. But right now, I have to get ready for another model shoot. Cheers!