I was wandering through Value Village the other day, and spotted this big, pro-looking SLR in the display case. I took a closer look, and noted the model number. Next time I hit a computer, I looked it up, and it looked interesting. And Value Village was asking $60 for it, which was roughly on par with what KEH was asking (if they’d had any in VG condition, which they didn’t). Plus it had the accessory vertical grip. What the hell, thought I. So I bought a Canon EOS A2e 35mm film camera.
I just got back from my first brief session with a 35mm film camera in years. I only took 10 pictures, which is a shocking change from my digital habits. Thinking of that $5 roll of film in the camera dramatically changes my priority. It’s very interesting to work within that limitation again. I grew up shooting film, so this habit is nothing new. It’s just that I’ve been utterly spoiled by digital cameras, where even shooting RAW, I’m able to take many hundreds of photos before I have to think about storage space.
So now of course I’ve got thoughts of setting up my full darkroom again (I held onto all the equipment, figuring I might get interested again), and like some kind of gateway drug, it’s now ok in my brain to go troll through Ebay looking at crusty 35mm rangefinders and funky old cameras I never would have considered even a few days ago. It’s like a kind of madness.
Time to go home, mix up a fresh batch of XTOL, and see what I’ve got. It’s odd, disconcerting, and surprisingly calming to be back.