Every Roll is a Test Roll
*was
Late last year I purchased a new-to-me film camera and as usual I ran a roll of black and white film through it to test it out. I bought it on online and had to test it quick before my return window closed, I wasn’t proficient in developing color at home at the time so black and white film was my go-to.
I drove up to my local Publix and rushed through a 12 exposure roll behind the strip plaza, then home and developed it at my kitchen sink, as soon as it was dry I was scanning negatives. I’m happy — the scans look great, the camera works, though I couldn’t get the battery to connect which means no light meter, no worries, I’m going to send it off for a CLA anyways so I’ll just have the electrical repaired and hopefully the meter will function after, so I decided to keep it.
About four months later the camera arrived back to me un-repaired, it seems the camera is in worse shape than I thought, someone had tried to do a diy repair on the electrical and I got a message “this is the worst case Leica M5 that I have ever seen in my entire career since 1975” — a direct quote from Don Goldberg. So, un-repairable, un-returnable, and back in my possession, this M5 just became my black cloud. I try to remain positive despite all of my overthinking and I decide since it’s mine I’ll just run this thing into the ground. I mean, it still works sans light meter so what the hell, right.
I started putting a good amount of film through it, using my new favorite stock Kodacolor 200, as well as some Gold 200 sprinkled in, and right off the bat I’m happy with the scans that I’m getting, like damn happy. My other cameras are good and all but this was a step up in quality for sure, of course with lots of heavy lifting being done by the wonderful Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 Nokton.
So, I’m shooting and developing and scanning and — oh yeah, I learned to properly develop color by this time so now I’m doing everything at home which is so much more convenient — and it was in this stretch of time that I noticed my film photos are looking more consistent than ever, the colors are pretty cohesive from using the Kodacolor and Gold film stocks exclusively, and the Voigtlander lens is keeping the images looking really tight. It probably helps that my subject matter during this time mostly consisted of scenes around downtown Saint Augustine, so there’s another similarity that is surely working in my favor, so things are looking up.
One of my goals this year is to start making diy zines, I’ve already began printing and binding samples using images from the M5 and I seriously couldn’t be more stoked *rubs hands together, things are looking very up.
If abstract, minimalism, light study, or architectural observational work are your thing, then please be on the lookout for some fresh zines coming soon.
Meanwhile, for the foreseeable future I’ll be shooting film like this while praying my M5 doesn’t need any repair work, ever.
One camera: Leica M5
Limited film stocks: Kodacolor 200, or Gold 200
Same general style of shooting: Observational Minimalism…?
Not as a rule, but as a way to remove the noise, because I like where this is headed. And finally my test roll days are over.
Talk soon!
What a wild, rewarding ride! Thanks for taking us along (: