My very first photograph!

Taken in 1968 with my mom's Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. 1 year later I went to photojournalism school... Winning my first State wide, first place award, in 1970. It was a series of 5 photos that had to tell a story with no text, just photos, taken, developed and printed by yourself.

Now a word about film cameras:

Medium Format:

Also called "120" and "220" and 645 and 6 x 4.5 cm and 6 x 6 cm and 2-1/4" and 2-1/4 x 3 - 1/4" and 6 x 7 cm and 6 x 9 cm and more. All these cameras use the same rolls of 120 and 220 film. They just space out the images differently which leads to all the different sizes. Each format makes an image with one side equal to 6 cm (2 - 1/4").

120 film was introduced about 1902 and is still used today. In fact I still use it. 120 film is a black paper roll with a strip of film taped inside which is drawn through your camera as you shoot. The paper has markings on the back so you could advance the film by looking through a red window in the old days before rapid wind levers. These markings were for 645 (16 shots) , 6 x 6 (12 shots) and 6 x 9 (8 shots) formats. The black paper lets you load the film in daylight. To load a new roll of film you move the empty spool left from the previous roll to the other position and put the new roll in its place. You thread the roll onto the empty spool, wind the camera till the arrow on the backing paper aligns with an index on the camera. Close the back and wind till you get to frame one. Some cameras even have automatic indexing so you don't need to fiddle with aligning arrows, i.e. a Rollieflex or a Hasselblad with a film back that starts with 'A', e.g. A-12, A-16 or A-24.

In the 1950s a smaller spool was used for the same roll of film for snapshot cameras called 620. 620 is no longer made, and you can respool 120 onto 620 spools, if you have a spare 620 spool, a darkroom and the talent to do such. Hey... Kodak... film still lives beyond 35mm.

220 film has no backing paper. Instead there is twice as much film with only a paper leader and tail. You get twice as many exposures. 220 film can't be used in all cameras. e.g. in a Haselblad you would need an A-24 back.

120 was the most popular film format in the 1960s. It was replaced unfortunately about 1970 for journalism use by 35mm with the rise in popularity of the Nikon 35mm cameras.

Medium format gives far better technical quality than 35mm and is just as easy to use, since the film comes in rolls you can load in daylight like 35mm.

35mm:

35mm is the world's most popular film format. It was replaced in 1999 for journalism use by digital with the introduction of the Nikon D1. The journalism formats of digital and 35mm are so popular that unfortunately many amateurs never consider other formats that could be better suited to their work. In fact, to most people 35mm is the only format they know.

35mm is a strictly amateur format. The only legitimate professional use of 35mm was for newspapers and sports, and they've already gone digital.

35mm film, processing and equipment are available everywhere, and for images not reproduced bigger than 8"x10" on paper it's a fantastic format.

Also 35mm cameras are often designed by camera marketing departments to sell more cameras to non-photographers by adding more features you don't need, and removing the ones you do need (like conventional cable release sockets and mirror lock-up), unlike the larger format cameras that are usually bought by professional photographers and almost always have the right features.

Hobo W149's Photos on Flickriver

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