Much of the fun of film photography comes from the cameras.
Believe me, in nearly 20 years of collecting and using old film cameras, the cameras I’ve shot with – and that’s several dozen of them – are only the tip of the iceberg.
The 20th Century saw tens of thousands of different cameras made by manufacturers all over the globe; huge large format cameras and tiny spy cameras, art deco folding models and premium compacts with a sophisticated electronic brain.
I have certain cameras for certain things – I shoot my soundcheck photography project on a Nikon FM2N and a Nikon F100, and use my Pentax ES IIs when I travel – but part of the fun is finding new (to me) cameras, loading them with film and shooting with them.
I literally can’t walk past a secondhand camera store or a market stall with cameras on it. I have to poke my nose around. You never know what gems might have mistakenly have a £5 sticker on them.
So ye, I’m one of those poor souls who suffers from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) – that disease that empties bank accounts and fills camera cabinet shelves the world over. There is no cure that I’ve heard of (or wish to try).
I have some kindred souls in this department – Bellamy Hunt of Japan Camera Hunter, Hamish Gill of 35mmc and the might Em from EMULSIVE. Together, we’ve decided to set up a Facebook group for fellow sufferers.
‘The Film Camera GAS Factory’ is our new group for all those afflicted with a pocket-emptying desire for film cameras. As Mr Gill himself says: “If only there was a platform entirely dedicated to film camera GAS… a place I can share pictures of film cameras and links to blog posts about film cameras on a whim. A social platform perhaps, where other people could join me in the sharing of film camera related content. A place where all this content could all accumulate in one place creating GAS for me and any other poor sucker who happened to accidentally stumble across it… a “GAS Factory”, if you like…”
If film cameras are your thing, come over and say hello. We just can’t be held responsible for any cravings you suddenly have…
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
