I will admit it. This has gotten out of hand.
I just finished roll number 10 with a camera I have not owned for a week yet. I have never gone through film this quickly before. There are cameras I profess to really like that have not seen this much use in a year.
What is it about this camera?
And I am already plotting my next roll of film.
This is weird. Usually film is an add on distraction for me. As much as I use film digital usually is my main use case. I think it may be as simple as this.
For me, the Fujifilm GA645 is a combination of everything I like about cameras that one could argue have nothing in common with each other.
- Compact: Despite it being medium format to my surprise I can easily slip this camera into my jacket pockets.
- Rangefinder: While not being manual focus, so not a true rangefinder, I do get that rangefinderish wider field of view of the real world that helps me frame the photo and take in what is around me.
- Medium format: Makes for wonderful medium format images that rank up there with the finest medium format cameras I have used.
- Discrete: Due to its relatively compact size and unassuming form factor folks to not pay much mind and it draws less attention than other medium format cameras like the Yashica MAT LM.
- Swift: Unlike many medium format cameras like the Yashica MAT metering, framing, and focusing are quick affairs.
- Ease of Use: No more complex to use than an SLR or even many modern digital cameras.
- Looks/Feel: Some may ding the plastic body but I find the build to be stout and it is not a bad looking thing either.
I will usually like a camera for a very specific thing. The look and feel. The resulting image. The ease of use. The size. For me the GA strikes a nice balance between all of these attributes. And it does this without being eye wateringly expensive.
It would seem the perfect camera for me was made in 1995.
On to the task at hand of this post. That 10th roll of film.
I took it along with me to chorus rehearsal. I wanted to see how it would do at night. Had no other plan besides that. To give the GA, and I, a fighting chance I chose Lomography 800. It was developed with Cinestill CS41.
CS41 Sidebar: Have been pushing this batch of CS41 further than usual. This was the 17th roll developed with it. At $5 a roll to have it developed locally that is $85 of film development. Not bad since the chemistry cost me $29. Anyhoo…
A solid film. I lost a few frames to hubris. It is a good camera, not a miracle worker. Light is still needed for a decent pic. Others were lost to my own uninspired framing. The ease of use will occasionally backfire by me taking pics that did not need to be taken because they are so easy to take. For example focusing a TLR requires a bit of concentration from me. As a result, I will not take just any pic with it. With the GA there were a couple of times where I had already snapped a pic before considering if I should. Here are the surviving frames.
Another good result.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 