Film Roll Sticky Notes By Kikkerland

This is a roll of sticky note I just had to get. Sticky note, but like film. One of heck of a novelty item for anyone who still enjoys shooting film. Funny thing is you can use the box as a dispenser for the notes. Each "frame" is 3" by 3.25" leaving a lot of space to write on them.

Thankfully, 80 "frames" are included instead of 36. It may not exactly be a high number of "frames", but it is a fair trade for the novelty. I bought mine at the Midoco Art & Supplies store near Bloor and Bathurst, but I'm sure they exist elsewhere for a better price than Midoco's as many items they carry already are.

And yes, with the price of film forever rising, my shopping for film takes priority over milk.

Canon EOS-3 (Not Really a Review)

This is Canon 5D of the film-era. It's also a good way to piss away film.

I had a silly thought in the Summer of this year: "Hey, what if I get an AUTO-FOCUS FILM CAMERA?"

Okay, maybe this is a bad way to start this post. EOS-3 is an amazing camera. It has 45 AF points, and even seem to focus as fast as a 5D MK.II- if not, faster. It has a good enough build quality. Not quite like the Canon 1V or the Nikon F5, but it's not made out of paper, either. And most of all, I enjoyed shooting with it through out this Summer. Well, until I got my negatives back from the photo lab.

Having the auto-focus system that spoils its user, every time I used the EOS-3, I shot like I shoot with a digital camera. Shooting things several times just in case and because I think I got the room in my memory card. The only difference here is my memory cards for the EOS-3 came in either 24 or 36 shots and were meant for single use. It's not a pleasant thing to see a roll of negatives where most of the shots are the same. And to add insult to my own injuries, they were not even moving subjects.

Owning the EOS-3 more or less felt like having a very, very enthusiastic girlfriend: You keep having to use condomsfilm. And you really shouldn't use the same one over and over.*

There are things that I am still excited about the EOS-3, though, like the Eye Control Focus (ECF) system. Upon calibration, the user simply looks at the part of the viewfinder, and the camera will focus in that area. Considering this camera came out back in 1999, that is a very impressive feature. It doesn't really work with people who wear glasses, and I did use this feature less than a handful of times, but it's probably one of the features I like the most.

Going back to the thought I had earlier this Summer, it really sounded like a good idea back then. It works with all my Canon lenses, it even loads my film for me (I only have to pull the film a line in the back, and it will latch on automatically once the door is closed) and it knows what film it has been loaded with and sets the ISO automatically. I don't even have to wind the film, it does that by itself, too. Once the film is finished, it winds it back. Again, by itself. Heck, even Ken Rockwell likes this camera. And funny enough, this is the only full frame Canon camera I own!

As I said before, Canon EOS-3 is an amazing camera, but it's just not for everybody. Despite shooting with digital the way I do, I like doing everything myself once it comes to film. The loading of the film, the winding, the focusing, the rewinding of the film, etc. I even miss going to a dark room now. Maybe I'm just the type to work harder than I need to for my own photos, but that's just me, I guess.

Regrettably, my EOS-3 that I shot 4 rolls of film through, is now up for sale. Thankfully, I still have my other film camera , which I use more often.

*: Unless you like multiple exposures.

One More Camera: Minolta XG-M

I remember getting my Minolta XG-A. I still like it, but it does give me some light leak every now and then and the worst part is, it's caused by the shutter and not the light seals. It showed up here and there just randomly. Some rolls had more light leaks than others, while a few had none. I wasn't aware my XG-A came with a "mood swing" feature. Unable to adapt to liking the light leaks like some Holga users, I decided to get a replacement camera.

This time I grabbed myself a Minolta XG-M, which was launched the same year as the XG-A. Looks similar but with few major differences. The major difference is that XG-M gives me the control of the shutter speed as opposed to XG-A that is always in Av mode. A huge lift in terms of limitations I was facing with the XG-A. Though, I feel as I wont be setting my shutter speed on my own all the time, it's a nice feeling to know that I can.

Another difference worthy of noting is the viewfinder. The viewfinder size is the same but on the XG-M, it also tells you the value of the apature through a little mirror at the bottom of the viewfinder. Ah, the technology.

I've only had the XG-M for a few days. Ran a test roll through and it doesn't look like there are any issues with this one. If you'd like to know more about pretty much anything related to Minolta, The Rokkor Files is an excellent site to visit. Very informative as it helped me decide which camera would be a good replacement for the XG-A.

I Miss You, Colour Film

I'm gonna flat out say it: This Winter sucked. I don't normally hate Winter, but this one was just so depressing. Now, that's assuming Winter is done. *Knocks on wood*

I talked about the C-41 B/W film XP-2 by Ilford in February. It's been roughly two months since then and I didn't post anything about this in March (though, I should have), but I did develop my first true B/W film. Just one though, but it's enough to say that I did it. I have picked Kodak TRI-X as my choice this time.
The experience of developing my own film and photos were rather exciting and repetitive. Agitating (shaking) the film with precision and timed, it almost felt like baking where precision of the amount of the ingredients going into the mixing bowl, or how long it's going to stay in the oven matters. It's still part of art, but knowing the science of it is a must. I wont go too far into details about that, though. I will however, talk about how careful CAREFUL you have to be. Any dust or even a trace of just about anything will turn out in the photo once you develop that into the paper. I made a newbie mistake of leaving my finger print in one of the photos (which is posted in entry) and I didn't notice it until after. This mistake is now engraved into my memories and I will try my best not to let it happen again.

I've shot B/W (mostly XP-2's) through out the Winter, I most likely wont be shooting any B/W for a while as I am quite sick of it and want to see some colours in my photos. Although, I did learn about film and the whole developing process quite a bit over season that just passed. *knocks on wood* I will still shoot B/W every now and then, and as much as I do enjoy the convenience of just dropping off a roll of XP-2 to a lab and not spend time on it, let alone worry about it, I'm more inclined to get back to a lab and develop it myself. Like I said, it's like baking. It tastes better when you make it, and if it turns out bad, you got only yourself to blame. Good thing is, it can only get better.

The first two photos are from my XP-2 and the last one is one from my Kodak TRI-X as you will notice it is more grainy. Apologies in advance for my rather crappy scanner and dust I couldn't get rid of for some reason.

As mentioned, you can see my, and this is what I will be calling it from now on, "FINGER PRINT OF DOOM" on the top right corner. And a small thanks to my friend Karmen who let me use a photo of her in this entry. She is rather shy, but she agreed anyway.

Weapon Film of Choice: XP2

I came across XP2 while I was on a search for something like B/W not long after I got my XG-A , but honestly didn't have the luxury of time or the equipment to process it on my own. And XP2 is just that. It's like B/W since it's still a C-41 type film. While it's not true B/W film, it gives me the luxury of convenience of time as I can simply drop it off at a near by photo-finishing lab. There is still a part of me that wants to shoot true B/W, but that part is just gonna have to wait and take what's available in the mean time.

I originally wanted to just shoot B/W because I thought I wouldn't have to worry about white balance since I do shoot a consider amount of photos indoors, which is covered in tungsten lighting. Yes, I'm that lazy. Against my originally path of being lazy however, it forced me to do some research on the whole B/W film topic and ended up making the choice of trying out some different rolls here and there and eventually came across Ilford XP2. Afterwards it forced me to go outside and take more shots than I would normally have. It was a dynamic situation since I was trying out something new. A good unintentional transition, I thought.

I have scanned some of the shots that I took (and they were printed on colour paper), so bare with me here as they aren't anything too special.

Prior to the XP2, I used the Kodak version of C-41 B/W, CN400, and when I looked at the results of both rolls, I was convinced that XP2 should be the one I'll be keep investing into instead of the Kodak.

The reasoning behind it was simple. XP2 is purple based. More neutral coloured closer to the actual B/W. Kodak on the other hand, I was looking at more orange, colour base negative. Now that I think about it, I think I liked the idea of just being closer to true B/W but now I think I made the right choice.

I will continue to shoot with XP2 as my main choice of film. I'm sure I'll make the leap to true B/W sooner or later, but until the time comes, I would like to stay static for a while, in a realm of good ol' XP2.

Yet Another Film Camera

"I swear, this is the last film camera I'll buy. No more fooling around like some collector." That is what I keep telling myself and it doesn't really seem to be working.

So enter the Minolta XG-A: now another part of my "sin of indulging."


I picked this little guy up about a week ago, and am quite happy with it. I've wasted used up a few rolls of film at Nuit Blanche that took place over the weekend and I've gotta say, this one is a keeper. Due to the lack of having a good scanner, I don't have any of the shots I took with the Minolta XG-A in digital form. There are simply negatives and prints, which I am more than happy with (for the most part).


So far, I picked up only one lens for it and see no reason to pick up another one (and I hope it stays that way for a while). The 50mm f/1.7 offers me plenty of versatility, low-light capability being one them. While it is not a zoom lens, I have a pair of perfectly fine legs that can "zoom" for me. The lack of zoom is really a fair price to pay for the sharpness in the lens you get in return.

I suppose the major reason why I'm going to be using this (for fun) is the viewfinder size. It's an actual viewfinder of a traditional SLR, what's not to like? I did a quick comparison with a Canon 5d Mk. II's viewfinder and almost lost a heartbeat due to the gap of difference between the two. For a second, I even thought I was comparing the viewfinder to a Canon 7D until my colleague stated otherwise. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't believe I was missing out on all this (analogue) fun for so long!

Up Is Higher Than Up in the Air and Why You Watch a Film

The 82^nd Academy Awards is now behind us. Needless to say James Cameron’s Avatar took quite the spotlight but, was painfully beaten against The Hurt Locker. Even still, that doesn’t mean the society sees James Cameron’s Avatar any differently than before. Up in the Air wasn’t anywhere near cloud 9, but was as good as being 6 feet under compared to Up. A Pixar animation flew higher than George Clooney; I’m having hard time believing it, but that’s because I don’t really look up to anything Pixar or Disney related… no matter how high they go up.

Putting all the award talk and puns aside, lately, I’ve been thinking about why people go watch a film. Is it to get away from reality or is it something simple as feeling the joy of watching something blowing up? Perhaps it’s really different from person to person, but there is something just about everyone has in common when it comes to watching a film; what the film makes everyone feel.

I remember reading something along that line back in high school, “People go to theatres not to enjoy the film, but to feel.” If you think about it, it does make sense. Take the film District 9 for example. In case you weren’t forced to watch it as I was, I’ll fill you in the details. Basically a guy gets infected by some alien oil and starts transforming into the alien race that crash landed floated on Earth. I’m sure I don’t need to explain the rest (and spoil it) at this point. Despite not winning any awards, people loved the film. Hold on, let me rephrase that. People loved what they felt while watching the film.

As you probably and accurately guessed by this point, when the main character starts turning into one of the aliens, the humans simply run rather painful and inhuman experiments on him until he realizes he is strong enough to beat people up and run away, later establishing somewhat of a friendship with other aliens so that they can go back to the ship (in not so friendly road up ahead). Feared by humans and hated by aliens is the situation the main character seems to face most of the time, which at that point, to you fellow audience of the film, you will feel sorry and rather sympathize with him. We like how that feels when we feel it, because unlike the human race presented in the film, we, who sympathize with the main character are understanding and kind. In short, District 9 made us feel like we’re better human beings compared to before we watched the film. Whether we realize it or not, that feeling puts somewhat of a "rush" in our minds. You can call it a form of an ego-boost, if you will.

Whenever I try to explain that to a friend or something, it somehow gives the impression as if I’m saying, “Shame on you!” but it’s not anything like that (I swear!). There’s absolutely no reason why anyone should feel on the lines of being an idiot if they didn’t notice it either. And who knows? Maybe without realizing any of this, a person can enjoy a film to its fullest potential. But ask yourself the question: What makes you watch films and/or what are you looking for in a film? And don’t say the classic “good looking, funny, and non-smoking” =P