We’ve been playing around with a variety of vintage film cameras – pictures from several are represented here, including a 1954 Leica M3, a 1962 Rolleiflex 3.5f, a 1974 Polaroid 195, a 1982 SLR 680, and a modern Fujifilm Instax Mini 50s. They’re fun to use, though from a technical standpoint an iphone takes better pictures. Despite their flaws, sometimes the film shots are better just because people seem to have more patience with the photographer fiddling around with the focus and exposure, and because they’re not as ephemeral as digital.
Apart from the Instax, good film for the Polaroids is getting scarce. We had one role of Polaroid film that expired in 2009 (and the color looks it). Film for the SLR 680 is still available through the Impossible Project, though the quality is very hit or miss. Fujifilm just discontinued film for the 195, so it will gradually fade away.
The Leica uses standard 35mm film – all the pictures here were shot on Kodak Portra 400. Similarly, the Rolleiflex uses 120 medium format film (Kodak Portra 160). These were all developed in the basement using C-41 chemicals bought off the internet – hence the occasional scratches and watermarks.