Getting Mad at CVS

When I dropped off the first roll of film at CVS (the grossly expired roll that Dad loaded 30+ years ago and I finished two weeks ago) I was told I’d get the results back in 7-10 days. That was 12 days ago.

I can’t seem to find any photo processing labs here in the Merrimack Valley so I’m starting to look into online services. I don’t want to, but I will if I have two. Come on, CVS. Get your ass in gear.

Also, twice this week I’ve told myself I was gonna go-a-thriftin’ at lunch time in the hopes of scoring a film SLR fer cheap, and twice I’ve just stayed home. Tomorrow. I mean it this time. Seriously.

Nope, Total Failure

That last post? Forget it.

The roll came out of the canister completely. It broke? I rewound until it stopped resisting, opened the back, and the roll was still around the spool, disconnected from the can.

Fuck.

Let’s Try Again

The sun comes up at 5:11 tomorrow morning. The forecast, via the epic Weather Kitty app, predicts that the skies above Methuen will be clear and sunny.

Let’s try that playing with Dad’s camera in the morning before work thing again. Please Please Please let nothing go wrong. If anything does go wrong I will literally cry in my protein shake.

So photography nerd in the morning followed by a half day at work followed by a doctor’s appointment followed by (maybe) a trip to a music store to investigate trading in my Fender followed by visiting my mother followed by dinner with my love. That’s the plan.

Save That Roll

I did some Googling and some YouTubing today looking for ways to maybe save the half roll of film that I think I lost this morning. I found nothing.

Later, after work, I was on the Reddit app and I saw a post on a photography subreddit asking how to fix a roll that was accidentally rewound. Not the same problem I had today, but the same result.

The suggested fix was to reload the film and shoot blank pictures until you are past the last photo you knew you took. I think I was at shot number 12. I should put the film back in, sit in a dark room with the lens cap on, and click/wind at least 12 times. I’m thinking 14 to be safe.

Cool! I’m going to try it. Worst case scenario is I screw up a few pictures that likely weren’t good anyway. I can handle that. Not until the roll I loaded this morning is out though. I don’t want to do this twice.

I’ve also been poking around for Nikon SLRs that are as simple as Dad’s Pentax. The hope being I could use the lenses I already have for my D90 with a film camera. Unfortunately every model I look at is way more expensive than I expected. I was hoping to find old stuff for sub-$50 or so. Not likely.

It doesn’t matter. I’m good with what I have. Assuming it’s not somehow broken.

Almost Time to Punch In

I’m sitting at my desk eating some scrambled eggs (two eggs, four ounces total). My exercise ring is closed. Dad’s camera has been reloaded. I could use a shave, but otherwise the full morning routine is complete. It’s 8:53am. Time to punch in for the day.

I screwed up the Time Machine backup on my Mac the other day. I tried to restore it but failed (don’t ask). I kicked off a new backup yesterday after work. It still has 15 hours to go. Urgh.

I have a meeting at 10:00. I have to wait 60 minutes after eating before I can drink. I am not going to finish these eggs before 9:00 so I am going to be pretty dehydrated when the meeting starts. Coworkers are going to see me sippin’ not long after the meeting starts.

I tried Googling the problem I had with Dad’s camera today but didn’t come up with much. I found a few more tips on loading film so that it winds, but nothing about what happens if it stops winding halfway through the roll.

I checked the forecast. Tomorrow will not be a good day to try again (too cloudy), but Thursday might be. We’ll see. I’m kinda pissed off. Partly at the camera, partly at the roll of film, partly at the universe in general (fucking Covid), but mostly at myself for getting so hyped over something so stupid that could so easily go wrong.

I wonder if Nikon makes an equivalent, fully manual film camera that can also use the lenses I already own for my D90. Also, I wonder if such a mythical camera would be really cheap on ebay. That might be the next thing I research.

Okay. Time to punch in. Happy Tuesday, folks.

I Don’t Have a Clue

I experienced my first loading of a film camera today, and I sure as hell fucked it up. Of course. The question then is… how bad?

I’ve been sitting here watching youtube videos both on my camera and on tips for shooting film, and common mistakes. This video is on common mistakes:

One of the mistakes noted is failing to advance the film after each shot. Specifically, the film comes off the track and doesn’t move when you wind the film. I took two pictures earlier today but I thought to myself, what if I am guilty of this? I took a third pic, advanced the film, and nothing happened. I had to open the back of the camera and fix it. In doing so I exposed the film to the light. My question… how much did I expose? Just the area that I could see? Did I burn the entire roll? I won’t know until I get it back from the developer.

Yippee Skippee. The first of a lifetime of film related fuck ups has been fucked up. Amen and Huzzah.

I Have the Bug Again

I have it again. I definitely have the ol’ shutterbug once again. And I ain’t talking about no iPhone here.

I took the roll of film that was in Dad’s camera to CVS today. They will send it somewhere to get developed and I should have it back in 7-10 days. Still no clue how much it will cost.

I spent some time today trying to find stores that actually sell 35mm film. There are none. At least not in a reasonable radius from home. I even put a post onto a film photography subreddit and got nothing back. Looks like film shopping is a fully online experience for me. No instant gratification for this guy.

So I don’t have any film for Dad’s camera. I guess I’ll go shoot the sunrise with my digital tomorrow. The sunrise is at 5:09am. My alarm is set for 4:00. I’m a psycho idiot and proud of it. We will see if I actually get up, and if so we will see how the pictures come out. I’m going to try to use Manual mode as much as I can, duck and cover.

Light Meter

Dad’s camera has a built in light meter. It runs on a little watch battery. The battery hasn’t been changed since the 80’s (if ever). Luckily I had a pack of the correct batteries (thanks to the pocket watch reclamation project from last year) and it turns out the meter works!

I took a couple of pictures, despite my microscopic knowledge of full manual camera operation. I’d use one of those pics for my photo a day thing but… you know… film. No instant gratification here.

The film in the camera has been sitting there since the 80’s. I don’t know anything about expired film besides the fact that it does expire. When the roll runs out, will anything be developable? Will anything work? Who knows. Also, there were six or seven shots taken before I got involved. I’m a little afraid to find out what they were. I haven’t a clue.

I think I’m going to try to put the other lens on next. Sweet!