My memory of my childhood is somehow considered “Childhood Amnesia”. I do not remember many personal milestones or achievements I had when I was young. As for photography, I remember I used a film camera before during a family outing or two. I also know it was an autofocus point-and-shoot film camera but I no longer remember which camera model and brand.
Kodak is one of the few companies that is still manufacturing focus-free point-and-shoot film cameras. To name a few: Ilford, FilmNeverDie, and Yashica. The two good points in this category are usually priced affordably, and come with many attractive designs. With these, they usually attract many younger generations to explore with different film rolls and the process of making photography the fun way.
Usually, none of the film cameras are attractive to me. The design is okay to me and I am lazy to send to develop the roll after finished.
Anyway, somehow, this Ektar H35 caught my eye simply because it is so beautifully designed. Very retrospective and minimalistic. First of all, it’s a half-frame 35mm camera. It has a fixed 22mm focal length, a fixed f9.5 aperture value, and a fixed shutter speed of 1/100 seconds. So it is literally a true “point-and-shoot” film camera from this perspective.
I purchased it and loaded it with Fujicolor C200 (because I’m Fuji Fanboy) with a 36mm exposure (in this case, I have 72 exposure with this camera). The results, well, kind of expected because I am so dependent on technology for my shots. Many overexposed, many underexposed with some “passable” shots.
Handling of this camera wise is okay. Not the best in the market. Obvious plastic feel all over the camera but probably the lightest camera I have been using over the past decade.
Since it is focus-free camera, it’s Minimum Focus Distance (MFD) is 1 meter. Pretty standard for a film camera of it’s class. But the viewfinder will not tell you where is your MFD is, so this is where you will wonder if your shots are in “focused”. The good thing is that it is at f9.5. So the shots might still look okay if you off the MFD by a little.
In short, it does bring back a nostalgic feeling every time I used it. I am so used to previewing my shots taken and reshooting them if possible and what happens here is not possible. I cannot do anything besides clicking the shutter button makes me very curious about the results. When I look at them, another nostalgic feeling comes back to me. That’s the film color and quality that I used to see when I was young.
Will I ever shoot again with a film camera? I think I will do it again when time allows.
Thank you for reading.
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