Since last year, 2018, I’ve been providing a point & shoot film camera to each family member that travels with us on vacation. I make it completely easy for them by loading the film and giving them a quick tutorial: just point and shoot, basically. For the most part, they shoot about 1-3 rolls of 35mm over the course of the trip. Thirty-six exposures is a lot for someone used to just shooting with their phone.
Their reaction is always one of amazement once they get the images back and I LOVE that. My hope is that they really enjoy the experience and continue shooting with film cameras. As always, there are no strings attached. This is all for fun.
In the summer of 2018, my grand-niece shot with the Golden Half camera, using Fuji Superia 800 and 1600 film. I did a post May 2018 about the Golden Half and you can find it here. This roll traveled to Bombay Beach, White Sands National Park, Los Poblanos (in Albuquerque, New Mexico), Telluride, Southern France and Italy. The images are so much fun and it’s interesting to see her perspective, I especially love the ones where the images look panoramic.
This year, I purchased the Olympus Trip AF Mini, a 35mm compact camera with a Zuiko 34mm f/3.5 lens. Pricing is decent and they’re easy to find on eBay or Etsy. It’s quite sharp and easy to carry around. On a side note, it’s not necessary to purchase a point & shoot, there’s always the option of shooting with a disposable camera. Fuji, Kodak, and Ilford still have them available.
For our Spring Break holiday, I loaded the Olympus with Fuji Pro 400H for our trip to Tokyo, and handed the camera to my sister with the simple instructions of “turn it on, point, and shoot”. Amazingly, she finished the whole roll, even as she endured me constantly asking if she was shooting. The results of her images are great, especially for a non-film-camera shooter. I was very proud of her.
Now these images will get incorporated into a photo book we make, to commemorate our vacation. We can’t just let the images in sit on our hard drives. Besides, it’s so fun to relive the experiences with the photo books.
We have a big summer planned, so the Olympus Trip will get a lot of use. And as ever, I look forward to all the images.
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Live this idea! And I love those Tokyo images.
These pictures remind me of the reason I love photography – for the joy of it! It sometimes seems as if we are always trying to “make better pictures.” And it’s easy to lose sight of fun in the midst of all that striving and trying. Love the idea of the point and shoot cameras for vacation. Think I’ll give this idea a try on our next day-trip adventure.
What a fantastic idea, Cindy!!
And I love all these film images…
What gorgeous images!
As a variation, I have given our children waterproof film cameras for summers when we are next to the sea. They have loved the images they have produced.
Thank you. x