A wrap-up of my life in film photography: 2022

Trunk sleeps three. The Cully, 2 Dec 2022 Camera: Minolta XD5 Lens: Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7 Film: Ilford HP5+

I’m just finishing up the third year that I’ve been back into film. It’s been a fun adventure, so far. This year I bought a few more cameras, sold or got rid of a few, and learned some valuable skills.

First, the cameras. I talked about my favorite three cameras for the year in an earlier post. What does my stable look like at the end of 2022? Here’s what I got. Any camera in bold is something I acquired this year:

• Minolta Hi-Matic 7s
• Minolta SR-T 101
• Minolta XD5
• Olympus 35 RD
• Olympus Pen EES-2
• Olympus XA2
• Ricohflex Dia

I find what’s interesting about the list is that all the cameras not acquired this year are from 2020, the first year I was back into film. ¹ There were several cameras that passed through my hands in 2021, but they have all moved on, along with a few more I picked up this year.

Here’s what moved on this year. Cameras in bold italic mean they both came and went this year:

• Minolta Freedom Zoom 160
• Pentax IQZoom (Espio) 928
• Smena 8M
• LOMO LC-A
• Agfamatic Pocket Sensor 2008 (110 film)
• Reto Ultra Wide and Slim
• Ricohflex Model VII TLR
• Canon Snappy K (part of my “catch-and-release” program, where I buy a cheap camera, test it, and bundle it with a Bikes and Film Cameras membership for cheap)
• Samsung Maxima Zoom 105 (part of my “catch-and-release” program, where I buy a cheap camera, test it, and bundle it with a Bikes and Film Cameras membership for cheap)

The two big things that have happened in my photography life this year is that not only did I start to develop my own film, but I also went into the darkroom to made my own prints! Accomplishing both is a big deal to me, and I hope to do more of both in the years to come.

I also wrote another post at the great film photography site 35mmc. I intended to write more, but got distracted. I hope to write more over there and maybe other blogs in 2023!

As for Bikes and Film Cameras Club, we had two successful rides this year: the Pedalpalooza one in July and Night Photography in August. We welcomed nineteen new members as well. I’ll have a full year wrap-up over on that blog.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post where I talk about photography plans and hopes for 2023. Thanks for reading!

And if you want to read more about my film photography experience, go here.

Like my stuff? Go to my Ko-fi page to buy me a coffee!

¹ Though technically the current EES-2 was bought in early 2021, after the first one failed. But it’s an apples-for-apples replacement, so I still think I got it in late 2020.

Advertisement