Okay, maybe that statement is a slight exaggeration. I started getting into photography about a year ago, and that was mainly thanks to my girlfriends diploma thesis. I started with a simple point & shoot, but it soon gets annoying to be held back by its restrictions, especially when there’s a Nikon D80 in the same household.
While it’s still fun to shoot with it from time to time, there’s something I enjoy more: photographing with film. In March I got a Polaroid which kind of started that new obsession. Polaroid photos have a quality and a uniqueness that can’t be found in digital photography.
It’s an expensive hobby, but it’s good fun. Recently I got an SX-70, a single-lens reflex Polaroid, from a friend in Boston. That one definitely takes Polaroid photography to the next level. It’s thirty years old, but is still good for excellent shots. The one on the right was taken with it.
The other affinity I have now is an analogue SLR, a BX20 made by Praktica. Almost twenty years old and one of their last products before the wall came down. My sister had one lying around unused. So there was a nice opportunity to get going with an SLR and I took it. I’m quite glad I did. That’s what comes out when using an expired Lucky Film (from China) with a 50mm lens:
I’m quite hooked to film right now. There’s nothing like that excitement to watch a Polaroid develop or picking up prints after development. Sure, you get a lot of weird looks from people, especially with a Polaroid, but who cares.