All photographers have gear acquisition syndrome (G.A.S.), which is almost incurable. Although lumped together, there are a few different types. Some people buy a camera for a look, or maybe the need for a special lens. Me? I got a Fujifilm GA645Wi because I needed a camera that shoots 220. Yes, I happened to be squirreling away expired 220 film (medium format that are twice as long as typical 120 film, without backing paper), but I had no way to shoot them… Until now! Decided to shoot a roll of color film around the 2024 New Year, as the weather was looking good.
Settings: Film expired April 2004, the camera autofocus and autoexposed all the shots. I set the film to ISO 40, overexpossing by 2 stops from the base 160 ISO. For some reason, there were two versions of Portra – natural colors (NC) are supposed to be more muted; whereas vivid colors (VC) probably have higher saturation. This film was Kodak Portra 160NC. Since it is 220 film, I got 32 shots per roll, each shot was 6cm x 4.5cm negative.
Walking around the Overlook neighborhood, I’ve always wanted to take pictures of the Happy House Chinese Restaurant that sits at a busy intersection. And I stumbled upon the Tiki Bar, which has cool neon signs.
The next set was taken at the first run of the year by the Northwest Trail Runner group. My first time running with these folks, and the weather was perfect. It was a good time.
The last set was taken near wetlands. I wanted to grab some great reflections off the pond, especially after the rain.
Overall, the photos came out really great. I love the colors, especially for films that are 20 years old, and I’m pushing two stops. There isn’t much color shift, but the shadows are a little dirty. It did work well with flash, which makes sense because there would be less shadow. Camera wise, no complaints except the random misfocuses, a known issue, but it is a 30-year-old autofocus system on a medium format camera.
Date: Jan 1st 2024.
Issue 89. Volume 15. Chapter 1. MA208_GAW