Embedded Files
March 10, 2026 - The "New-Old" Camera
When turning in my first two rolls of film, I realized that I'm already quite addicted to shooting film, and that regardless of the quality provided by the Praktiflex I knew I wanted to have something more modern that didn't have the photo clerks scratching their heads I approached the manager asking for a recommendation, fully expecting a $2,000 pricetag based on a few models I'd been drooling over online. She opened the case and gave me three to pick from, recommending this mechanical 1980 Nikon FE for about $250. Despite being over 45 years old, it is now the "new" camera.
Fully loaded up with a fresh roll of B&W, I took both this old Nikon and the Praktiflex to Old Sacramento (an 1840s Gold Rush era tourist trap) to find a few interesting images to capture of the old buildings and horses. Once fully exposed, both rolls were dropped back off at the camera shop while we wait for the results. I don't have high hopes for the Praktiflex, as the images were taken while I was still waiting on its last B&W roll, but this Nikon's exposures will be a whole new world.
March 8, 2026 - The B&W Shots are Back!
The Three Images that are in Focus, 4 by 6 inches, 35mm B&W photograph, 2026
The first roll of film I shot on my grandfathers 1949 Praktiflex (but not the first to come back since my local photo counter processes color film (~5 days) faster than Black and White (~2 weeks). I was absolutely thrilled to see that three of them actually turned out in-focus-ish. Growing up with Kodak Funsavers and the Advantix APS camera I had in 1998, I've never had to spend time doing things as foolish as focusing a lens. All my film camera experience up to this point has been point-and-shoot.
March 4, 2026 - Yikes
Start the Trials, Release The Files, 4 by 6 inches, digitally altered 35mm photograph, 2026
I've just received my scans of the first roll of color film to come out of the Praktiflex. Hoo boy, while I'm glad to find out that the camera does indeed function, I also found that there is a tiny flip up magnifying glass inside the viewfinder that is required to be able to see whether the lens is properly focused. With few exceptions, they are all catastrophically out of focus. My B&W roll is still being developed and I expect similar results. Fortunately I expected to come away from this first attempt with more notes than actual photos.
March 1, 2026 - The First Click
I have been obsessed with process photography since attending a lecture a few weeks ago on Daguerrotypes and the early days of the medium. This week, on a lark, I dug out a box of my grandfather's belongings from the hall closet. Upon my father's passing in 2024 I inherited a number of old cameras, mostly digital and most from the late 90s. Included in the box was a 35mm Praktiflex FX camera my grandfather had purchased while serving in Germany during and after WWII. In 1949, camera shops in the newly-formed East Germany sold this Soviet-made (and stamped with "made in Germany" - in English) primarily to American soldiers as a souvenier.
Resurrecting this camera,I took it down to my local shop so they could give me the all-clear to start dropping film into it. They'd never seen anything like it before, and had never seen a camera with the viewfinder on top, meant to be shot from waist height. After picking out a handfull of rolls of film and receiving a demo of how to load it (I hadn't loaded a film camera since high school, which was longer ago than I tend to admit), I was on my way. A few hours of experimental yet boring pressing of the shutter in my neighborhood yielded pexposures of every color, composition and range of light that I could find. One roll of black and white and another of color film later, I handed my canisters to the employee at the development counter and came back home to load even more film for even more experimentation while I wait for my results to develop.
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