i love film cameras, part one

I love them so much i've decided to make my first November blogpost all about my cameras!  I hope the world never runs out of film and film labs.  *wish*

First up is the Polaroid 320 Land Camera given to me by my dad.  I think he was into exploring ebay then, haha.

quite dirty

old battery's still there!

i like the little red shutter button

hello.

Next is another camera from my dad, the Kodak 177x Instamatic.  It uses 126 film which is really hard to come by--the only brand I know of that is still sold is Solaris.  However, I could try to put 35mm film in the Instamatic--there's a tutorial on YouTube--but I would need to find an empty 126 cartridge first.

My dad collects toy cars, and I think he supports my camera "collection" by giving me cameras even though I won't get to use them, haha.  But he did give me a toy camera that I was able to use:

 

a Japan Football Association camera.  Awesome.

That's it for the "cams from dad" portion--now I'll show you the cameras I "inherited" from my grandfather:

the Argus C3 and

the Canon FTQL.

I learned basic photography with the Canon FTQL--one summer vacation (2003, I think) I was thinking of a new hobby to do so I wouldn't get bored at home, and I remember my dad saying that my lolo's camera was at my cousins', and it still worked.  I asked one of my cousins to bring the camera over to my house (since the cousin who used it didn't need it for school anymore).  I read up on the basics (thank you Internet!) and taught myself how to use the camera.  It was then I realized that photography really is for me.  :)  

The FTQL has since contributed photos for a book of poetry and it has accompanied me to many places, including an immersion in Magat Dam in Isabela.  It's old, it's heavy, but it has never let me down.  Right now it's the camera I use for the Whilst We Wait project.

One of the photos from that first-ever test roll with the Canon FTQL.  That's my cat Mozie, probably the most legendary of all our cats.  One day he came home with a hole in his skin by his stomach, but he still went prowling that night (with a bandage on).  Like all beloved cats, he spared us the sorrow of seeing him die, by simply disappearing one morning.  Up to this day there are still stories exchanged about the great Mozie.  :)

And that's it for the first part of my film camera treasure trove.  Two more posts coming up!