I'm using cookies because I'm curious who comes here.
No commercial use of your data. This is my spare time after all...
Yeah, sure
Nope
Cat

So I've recently past my first year of shooting film. I've kept a Google Sheet tracking the rolls of film, and, being a data analysis type, I thought I'd share some statistics and thoughts.

Film:

  • Overall, I shoot about 2/3 black and white.
  • Recently, that's been more like 75-80% black and white.
    • My go to films for black and white are HP5 (half of all rolls shot), and Delta100 (12%).
    • When I shoot color, it's usually ColorPlus200 (17%) or Porta 160 (7%).
  • By format, ~ 2/3 of the rolls have been 35mm. The 120 formats are mostly 6x6 and 645. I have not shot yet in 6x7, though I have a few rolls in 6x9. About 5% are in 35mm half frame format.



Cameras:

  • My first camera was a hand-me-down Singlex TLS The rolls I shot with it I haven't counted, since it had a lot of problems and needed fixing. Using the wrong voltage battery, and a lack of understanding of exposure, may have contributed.
  • So I started over with a Pentax MX (which I bought so I could use lenses I'd acquired for my last digital SLR, the Pentax K-X, and because it had a working meter). This camera dominated my early shooting (75% of my first 3 months), and still accounts for ~ 20% of my rolls shot. I usually shoot it with a Pentax-M 100mm F4 Macro, or later the M 85mm F2.
  • My second camera was a Canon V series VL2, which I think sold for a L1 for the 1000th second speed. I love this camera, and it's (at least quantitatively) my favorite, accounting for ~ 35% of rolls shot overall, and about 50% in the last few months. I like the Jupiter 8 lens, but especially the Industar 61LD. Luxury I know, but I eventually got a Canon 50mm F1.8 and now don't want to use a lens without a focusing tab.
  • My first foray into medium format was the Moskva5. I initially hated it - terrible ergonomics, very fiddley - but fell in love once I saw the photos it takes. I've leaned into the slowness and it's now one of my favorites. It shoots 6x9 natively, though I now usually shoot it 6x6 with the insert mask (something else I initially didn't like). The Moskva5 accounts for about 15% of overall rolls, but closer to a quarter in the last six months.
  • I've shot about 10% of rolls on a Mamiya 645, but I need to get that serviced. Love the waist level finder, but it's big and I find myself always reaching for the Moskva5.
  • I love half frames. In the last quarter, about 20% of my rolls were taken on a procession of half frames, which I'll eventually get around to reviewing.
  • I found my first "big boy" camera, the Olympus AM-100, from when I was in school and shoot two rolls with it.
  • There are a few other random cameras in there that I've bought/sold/tried.
bar
bar
bar
bar
bar
bar