I’ve shot with my film camera for around a year with no problems. No issues loading or anything.
I also take the time (I’m a virgo) to meticulously bulk roll each of my film rolls, and cut the ends with a film leader cutting tool. I have a 200 foot roll of short ends of Kodak Vision 250D, which is what all of this blog is shot on.
A short end is a partial roll of unexposed film stock left over during a motion picture production and kept for later use.
However, for the Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards, I wanted to channel my inner Greg Williams and shoot on Black and White. Being a virgo, I also wanted to shoot on Kodak XX B&W Cine film. Because I bought the rolls, the ends were cut really short, so short I second guessed whether I should re-cut them myself with my fancy $80 tool. I ignored my gut and did not. This is important because your film leader needs to be long enough for your camera spool to grab it and roll the film after you take a photo and advance the lever.
The photograph above is one of the 3 photos I was able to get on the red carpet, one of the others is a photo of me below, taken by my friend Amaya with my camera. I shot the last photos on my color roll of 250D, and in the rush of the fame about to descend on me, I loaded the B&W film without really making sure the spool caught the film correctly. It didn’t.
All of my black and white film rolls were blank. :(
I’ve been really keen on not having digital with me. I’ve become so comfortable shooting film now. However, I think for high stakes red carpet events, I will need to, like I did last year, for my first Hamilton Awards I attended.
Anyway, I will break tradition and post the photos that were on my phone from the event.
