I was an early adopter of digital cameras. They made life easy and better as a 20-something traveling engineer, parent, mountaineer, and cyclist. The old CF cards littered my desk and luggage. I still have like 8 digital cameras from 2001 (Canon 2.1mp Ixus) and onward. They are mostly point & shoot or small travel handhelds. I still shoot digital with a Canon – EOS R8 & Canon 77D and there is the Canon Rebel T5i that I blog and shoot YouTube content with (Magic Lantern is my friend!). You will come to see that I am a Canon nerd, tried and true, but that is only trivia as it pertains to this post…

In the vain of transparency and honesty, I take a lot of pictures and video with my phone as well. I mean a LOT! There may be 10,000 photos on my current iPhone. 98% of my social media images have been shot with an iPhone.

However, when I want to take pictures outside of people or cars or architecture – pictures that I want to be either iconic for family, or have just a little more gravitas to them, I shoot them on film. 35mm and 120 Medium Format is my go to. I will take color pictures, especially with slide film, but mostly I shoot in B&W.

I don’t have a closet full of random cameras and I don’t trade cameras or lenses constantly. I have been mostly methodical in my choices of gear, gotten to know it, and tried not to introduce a bunch of extra stuff or gimmicky accessories to my general and simple set ups. I feel that by doing so, I can concentrate on the shot or subject instead of fiddling with the gear.

So, here is what I shoot with:

After years of looking and waiting for a “real camera” to appear in my lap and after shooting thousands of pictures (mostly b&w and slide) with a very old/crusty Canon AE-1 (more about that later), I found my dream 35mm for a fair price at a shop in Kamakura, Japan – just south of Tokyo. It is a Canon F-1n from 1983 that is in perfect shape and takes stunning pictures even when I try and screw them up. No, it is not a Leica M3 or M6 Classic with a $7K lens, made with a unicorn retina… I have simpler dreams and a tighter budget. All the lenses for my Canon are available and affordable and it shoots stunning pictures.

I have outfitted the F-1 to be an extension my hand and set up for what/how I like to shoot. I have some really slick combo polarizing/tint filters for slide film, 3 types of amber/red for sunlight, hoods, a shutter button, Peak quick attach anchors, 3 different straps, a cold shoe, the works. I have had it CLA’ed twice in the last 3 years – I dropped it with the lens off in a horse arena… It is my go-to camera just pull out and take a shot or 4. It is always loaded with film just in case. Love this camera.

My favorite medium format camera that I own is a Rolleiflex 3.5a or Automat MX from 1951. It is one of my tangible loves. True Rollei connoisseurs want a model 3.5F or if they have deep enough pockets a late model 2.8F. Now, I wouldn’t say no to either of them if they show up at my house, but my Automat is a fine camera that was in my budget range in 2006 and is in perfect working order. I have been lucky enough to have composed some very memorable photos with it – some hang on my wall at home, on friend’s walls, and even a couple are on public display. I had the screen replaced by Bill Maxwell and recently (2023) had a full CLA and rework done by Harry Fleenor, the current guru of all things Rollei. The work was not cheap, but it is a lifetime camera for me. If all of my other cameras went away, my Rollei is the one that I would want to keep/run into a fire for. I hope to take my last picture with it and that one of my children uses is for decades after I don’t need it anymore.

Someday, when I am long-dead, and when there is a retrospective of my life, craft, criminality, art, and madness, I hope that there is a display of pictures that were originally taken on film with this camera.

My “studio” medium format portrait camera is a Pentax 67 that is a BEAST. I only ever shoot with it sitting on a tripod. I have a lighting set up, shutter speed, and lens combo that is dialed in for Black & White face close-ups and sitting portraits in my shop. I also have a setup that is sort of mostly worked out for using it set up in the field – like taking it to VW meets or for posed pictures of family and friends “en plein air”

I got the Pentax and all the lens for a screaming deal from a local shop employee that I am friends with. He needed some quick cash and I was there to help. I never get great deals and usually pay full retail, but I am proud of this snag. I wasn’t even shopping for a new camera, but couldn’t pass this one up! The image quality is outstanding and I would say that it rivals my Hasselblad – seriously I will stand by that statement. I have a 200mm Zoom lens, a 135mm, 105mm, and the 75mm. The later two get the most use. As far as accessories, I have a few filters (red and amber only ones really used) and a 3D printed right body grip. I recently sourced the much coveted wooden left hand grip. Scored at a local used camera shop!

Then there is my Hasselblad 500C/M… It is the Mercedes Benz of medium format cameras. I wanted it years and it takes amazing pictures. Amazing. I splurged during the last days of Velvia slide film availability and actually bought it is a camera shop in Hamburg, DE in 2008 with a couple different view finders and like 5 different film backs. It was a pro photographer’s kit that he sold in its entirety it was not cheap at the time, but nowhere near the prices today (body, lens, back =$3500 in 2024).

After using it consistently for two years, I sold it to a hobby photographer friend when we left Germany and actually bought it back from him a couple years later at a steep discount because he just never used it and needed some cash. I regretted that sale almost every day and didn’t bargain a cent when he asked me to buy it back – I like it that much and I wish I used it more. It is just heavy and awkward to carry. The Pentax is heavier, but it is always on a tripod. The Hasselblad is “handheld”. Because of the heft, I just don’t pull it out as much as I would like and take it outside. It does have a better flash sync capability than the 67 so is better for low light shooting.

My set up only includes 2 lenses: the Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 and the Zeiss 150mm f/4. I would LOVE a 250 zoom lens, but I would also love to be 6’2″ and have a body fat percentage hovering at around 5%… It is a crazy expensive lens for a hobbyist who’s Hasselblad looks pretty on a shelf. Of all my film cameras, this is my “Shelf Queen,” but won’t be giving her up again.

There are a few other cameras that I shoot with and love to use: The Olympus Pen-FT Half Frame that gives a lot of bang for the buck in relation to film cost savings and is fun to use for artsy diptych portraits and architectural stuff. Used mostly for travel photography due to the amount of pictures that I shoot per roll. I end up doing a lot of bracketing and photos of buildings and tourist attractions. I have 4 different cool lenses for it as well as the glass on this little camera is top notch!

Speaking of lenses, I keep a spreadsheet of what is available vs. what I have for all my cameras – you can find a copy here. It is a nice reference to pull up when I accidentally find myself at a random camera shop that has a wall of lenses for sale :-). My 35mm and 120 film recommendations are there as well.

Then, there in my father’s Zeiss Ikon Contina 1a that he bought at an Air Force Base Exchange in Italy in 1954 and that he used for 20 years before it went into a shoe box. I remember seeing it here and there and it even sat on his desk as a memento for a few years (next to the cigar box). the little camera was packed away again at some point in the late 1980’s for me to find many years later and after his passing. After a decade of it holding down a bookshelf in various houses, I had it CLA’ed, bought a few filters (super cheap!), screwed in a shutter button, and sourced a new leather case for it as the original had turned to dust. Because of the lens configuration, it shoots pictures that are VERY 1950s – Fun to run a roll of Provia 100F through (I sure do miss good old Kodachrome!) and I keep it in my backpack/laptop bag to pull out here and there.

Lastly, there are four (!) old and really battered Canon AE1s, the camera that I learned to shoot film on. People just keep giving them to me. Only 1 is presentable (my original) in public and the other three are the aesthetic equivalent of Quasimodo and one has the battery door permanently glued shut. However, all are solid cameras and I have all the lenses, flashes, and filters for them one would every want. They don’t see much action anymore, but with an eBay price hovering between $30-$60, I will hang onto them.

Some of my Medium Format shots that mean something to me.

Film at the lowest ASA (ISO) speeds is getting hard to come by, as is film in general, but Film Photography Project and Glazers, among others, are good sources for specialized film stock. I can still find Fujifilm Velvia50 here and there, but slide film is as scarce as a snake in heaven. I shop locally whenever possible, more than anything to keep some resources local. In Eugene, I shop at Dot Dotsons and The Shutterbug, the former being my favorite. When we lived in Seattle, I used Glazer’s and Ken’s Camera. When in Portland, I go to Advance Camera, who also get the lions-share of my cleaning and repair work. Quality work and they stand behind their warranty.

In Seattle, my Film goes to Glazers and in Eugene, I let Dot Dotson’s do my developing and scanning, but I send film out to The Darkroom when traveling or if I am going to have really high resolution scans done. They are affordable and have all the right chemical combinations for some of the Film Photography Project’s specialized film.

I am a firm believer in Peak Designs straps and accessories. I have their little buttons on every camera, but the Pentax 6×7 and the Hasselblad. I also have Peak Design Quick deploy strap clip. love it for my F1 and the Half Frame. I also use a Voigtlander external light meter. I don’t trust the ones in my 35+ year old cameras 🙂

I will continue to use film as long as it is offered. I am a hobbyist, at best. I will never make a living with a camera in my hand, so I can afford to be as anachronistic as my little heart desires.