Film Days

It is hard to believe that film is all but gone. A massive industry in media and cameras and all of the employment and artistry that came with it .... virtually extinct. I don't know about you but what has taken place in the last dozen years makes me very nervous. What other underpinning technologies and traditions that we knew from childhood will all of a sudden simply disappear? Would provoke a fascinating discussion.

For my part, it was principally about three film types - all of them Kodak. I was a very young man when I became enchanted with the glorious colours of Kodachrome II (ASA 25) and later the somewhat faster (but fussier) Kodachrome X (ASA 64). I loved transparencies. Later when I shot commercial pictures it was STILL about transparencies because that was the preferred medium for colour print publication. Of course later I had to switch to Ektachrome because I could get those processed faster as deadlines became tighter. I never liked the colour nearly as much though. After a long, long time this newcomer, Fuji came along but I was well past saving by then.

When it came to black & white I pretty much always went for Tri X. I know the local old pros were using Ilford, but all my heroes in the monthly Photo magazines and journals shot Tri-X ... so what could I do but follow? Good and fast. Nice and versatile.

Come on. Spill the beans. What did YOU use?