Here is my more in depth history with film photography:
My first film camera was a Fisher-Price 110 camera that was made by Kodak. It was a Hannukah gift that I got in the late 80s. I put a few rolls of film through it and I only have two of the pictures left. In high school I got my first 35mm camera, I felt all grown up with it! It was an inexpensive point and shoot with a single shutter speed and fixed focus. Shortly after that my grandfather gave me his old Yashica Electro 35 GS which I still have. My senior year in high school I was given a Canon EF and a Nikon EM along with some lenses. That year I also took a photography class in school where I learned how to develop film and make prints in the dark room. I was overjoyed to have an SLR and I used them for a year or so until I got my first camera phone at which point I put them away until now.
My ADHD has me tend towards complete obliviousness towards things I am not paying attention to. I didn’t notice the decline of film photography as it was happening. I didn’t see the one hour photo labs being taken out of stores, or the decrease in availability of film. I read an article about the last photo lab that was processing Kodachrome and how that was coming to an end, but I thought that the film had been discontinued years before and people were just bringing in old rolls. I had no idea that Kodachrome processing was ended only a year after the film was discontinued.
About a year ago in the late winter and early spring of 2025 my youtube algorithm started showing me analog photography videos and those awoke something in me and I knew that I had to get back into it. I have always been somewhat retro inclined and this fit right in with that. My old Yashica had been on display in my condo and I went to my storage unit to get my Canon, Nikon, and lenses. I found the Nikon the lenses, and even an old unused roll of film, but the Canon was nowhere to be seen. This is when gear acquisition syndrome kicked in.
The Nikon had a sticky shutter button and light leaks around the mirror. The Yashica had no battery. I ordered a new Canon EF and got a Canon FT QL delivered by mistake, at the same time I also ordered a Canon A-1 and with that A-1 I started taking pictures. One day I was at a thrift shop and I found a medium format camera. It was a folding camera, a Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 523/2 for only $35. The shutter seemed to work so I bought it. I fixed it upon and found that it was fully light tight! I got chemicals and equipment for film processing and I haven’t looked back.
Now I am relearning the things that I used to know, and learning new things as well. I try to learn at least one new thing from each roll of film. I have also joined the Colorado Photographic Arts Center so that when the time comes I can avail myself of their dark room.
I am incredibly excited to be on this journey and I hope that you will join me!