Film Days Revisited

I've been collecting film cameras for a few years now and the time has finally come to start using them. A few things have happened that have motivated me to get them off the mantel and into my hands. First is that a film camera store has opened up in Tremont - its called Aperture - I plan to make the trip up there this weekend for some 35mm film. I also just realized that my local camera store, Dodd, develops film and gives you digital copies. I'm not sure what the quality will be but I'm going to give the local guys a chance first - if that doesn't work out I'll find somewhere to send the film too.

But the thing that had really been holding me back was that many of my old cameras took mercury batteries that were no longer made - that problem was solved when I found these on Amzon.com.

The battery issue was huge because many older cameras didn't have voltage regulators because mercury batteries were so reliable - in other words if you had put modern alkaline batteries into your old camera you would get erratic reading from your light meter. I'm not made of money and can't afford to waste rolls of film guessing exposure.
The first camera I plan to shoot is my Minolta SRT-101 pictured on the main page. I have two of these and lots of Minolta MD mount lenses. I've just always wanted to shoot this classic camera.
My parents gave me the Minolta XG1(pictured here) and that is what hooked me on shooting with SLRs. I learned how to develop negatives and make prints from this camera and I shot with it right up until making the leap to digital in 2005.
As I said, I plan to start off by having others develop my film - but if I do find I'm really enjoying myself with film I may decide to get back into doing some of my own enlarging. More on that and everything else soon.....