I recently purchased my first analog camera and shot my first few rolls of film. It was a nice experience overall and I'm happy I made the experiment. Here's how it happened.
I got into photography fairly recently. I felt it was a good hobby to build on as I moved abroad. My first move was to get a digital camera, and I am the happy owner of a Fujifilm X-S10. Going digital at first was essential, because it gave me much quicker feedback when I make obvious mistakes. This allows me to experiment and learn quicker.
Still, I was curious about analog photography. I don't know how, but that classic film look makes me feel very nostalgic. This is a kind of impractical mystery I have learned to accept. I think of analog photography the same way I think of the vinyl renaissance. It's more complicated, occupies precious physical space, for the sake of texture and mood. Surprisingly, a lot of people think it's worth it. That includes me, especially after seeing the potential in my first few shots.
Here is how I got started. I wanted a camera that has manual options to play around, but is still relatively cheap so that I could try things out without committing too much. I ended up getting a Ricoh 500 ST on LeBonCoin. It had all I wanted and a cool retro look. The 500 ST is a shutter priority camera, which means that I fix the shutter speed and the camera will try and adjust aperture for good exposure.
Next I needed some supplies. I got one roll of Kodak color film, and one roll of Ilford Delta 400 in black and white. I also had to deal with the battery issue. These old cameras were often made for 1.33V mercury batteries that are now unavailable. I got a modern replacement on Amazon for about 15 euros. You can also get away with using common 1.5V batteries, but then your light-meter might give inaccurate readings. With the battery in place, I was ready for a quick trip to visit friends in the Netherlands.
I got the hang of the Ricoh pretty quickly, and it was a lot of fun. Its tactile experience is very satisfying. I am amazed that people have been doing photography with these relatively simple mechanical devices for years. The Ricoh's design feels approachable, like something that could be invented by one person. As you can see on the photos, the weather was very sunny during the trip. A lot of there pictures were shot at Schevinge, a beach resort area close to the Hague.
When I came back for the Netherlands, I quickly got first two films developed and digitized. It was exciting. Given that these are rolls number one and two, I was surprised by how much I liked some of these shots. I was aiming for no blank roll.
The main difficulty I am experiencing with this camera is related to focus. The 500 ST has area focus, which means I must estimate the distance between me and my subject at every shot. Analog shots are expensive, so I try my best to check for exposure, framing, etc. These are things I can control fairly reliably. But estimating distances is harder, and I think it's unavoidable I will end up with blurry images once in a while. Let's call them happy accidents.
How would I summarize my analog experiment? Well, the rumors are true. That little camera was fun. It feels more challenging than my digital camera, but that makes it feel more rewarding. The look of the photos is indeed unique, or at least, I don't know how to replicate it with my digital camera. However, I'm not sure if that is enough to make film photography a big part of my life. Accounting for the film, development and digitization costs, my rule of thumb is around one euro a shot. Not cheap, considering I have space for a thousand free photos on my SD card. Despite that, I will be on the lookout for a Ricoh 500 G or RF in the future. They are very similar to the 500 ST, but with a range-finder instead of a viewfinder. This would allow me to focus my images better. I might give an update here by then. In the meantime, if you want to see more of my photos (both digital and analog), feel free to visit my photography page or my instagram account.