User:Livestockgeorge

I'm George Parkins, and in the last year or so I've gotten into film photography, especially medium-format. I very much like the sensation of shooting with a fixed-focus, fixed-exposure medium-format camera and still getting better results than a small-format with AE and autofocus. I re-spool modern 120 onto 620 spools, with mixed to positive results. My list of 620 cameras is pretty huge.

My opinion is that roll-film is a perfect invention, one of those things that do not become obsolete merely because more advanced options are available. Bicycles did not make walking obsolete and motorcycles didn't make bicycles obsolete. Digital may be more practical for most applications, but film is a better medium, and roll-film holds a special place in my heart as a solid, straight-forward piece of 19th/20th century engineering. No sprocket holes wasting film space, a built-in frame counter, no cumbersome cassette to open before developing... it's perfect for what it does. Plus, there's something about the feel of a roll of 620 with the metal core.

I'm also hugely into stereo photography, but unfortunately it's extremely impractical right now for me to use and process film with my Delta Stereo. Once I start developing my own film (which is soon) it'll be a simple matter of cutting and sending the negatives to Darkroom and paying the "half-frame" fee for special manual scanning. That being said, low ASA 35 film will still be expensive, so shooting my Delta will always be a very occasional thing for me.

Cameras I Own:

• 135:
  • Canon AE-1 -- my baby, at least as far as small format goes. I love the physical-needle-style meter. I only wish it could take an action grip like the...
  • Canon AE-1P -- a hand-me down from Mom! While I don't love the LED meter, I must admit that it's a better all-around camera in many ways.
  • Canon EOS 650 -- which I got out of an optometrist's automatic camera machine in a dumpster, in perfect shape.
  • Delta Stereo -- funny story about this, but I doubt the man who sold it to me wants me to tell you. It leaks light badly and any ASA above 200 tops is useless in daylight with that slow shutter, but it's still such a cool format.

• 620:
  • Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash -- My very first camera, though I've since gotten one that works better, and my original has fallen apart.
  • Kodak Brownie Bull's-Eye Flash (black model) -- You can see one identical to mine in "In the Time of the Butterflies," believe it or not. That movie is hard to watch, though.
  • Kodak Tourist (Kodet Lens, fixed focus) -- with a complete flash setup, no less. It looks like a miniature press camera with the flashgun mounted, and the gun makes such a nice action grip.
  • Imperial Reflex 620 Duo Lens -- Lee Harvey Oswald's camera, but also a very functional camera.
  • Argoflex EF -- my newest one!

• 120:
  • Diana (Original)
  • Diana Plus (missing the mask for 4x4)

• Instant:
  • Some Polaroid for 600 pack film that doesn't work too well.

Cameras I lust after:

• Argus C3
• Kodak Retina Reflex -- I almost bought one at a thrift-store once and I've regretted missing the chance ever since.
• Horizont (Original)
• View-Master Stereo Color -- This would give me even more troubles with developing and printing (what with the tiny staggered frames), but it's so cool.
• View-Master Personal
• Olympus Pen F -- What can I say? It's a cool little SLR and it's adorable.
• Kodak Medalist II -- Easily the apotheosis of the 620 format, a beautiful Teague design and easily one of the best medium-format rangefinders of its day.